Referee, Buckeyes Halt Foggie, Gophers, 23-19

MINNEAPOLIS —  Minnesota quarterback Rickey Foggie was poked in the eye and kicked in the groin, but he wasn’t going to let that keep him out of the game.

Instead, a referee did.

Foggie was injured with 52 seconds left in Saturday’s game against No. 9 Ohio State. The Buckeyes held the 20th-ranked Gophers on fourth-and-one at the Ohio State 12 and held on for a 23-19 victory.

Minnesota Coach Lou Holtz called a timeout to give Foggie a chance to catch his breath but after a commercial break, the referee told Holtz that Foggie could not return to the game. The official said because Foggie was injured, he had to miss one play.

“I couldn’t say anything to (reserve quarterback Alan) Holt,” Holtz said. “It’s one of those situations where you have everything under control, then all of a sudden the 25-second clock is running and they say (Foggie) can’t go back in the game. It was just boom, boom, boom.”

Ohio State (6-1, 3-1) stopped Valdez Baylor on the play to disappoint a Metrodome-record crowd of 64,455.

“It was a heckuva football game, a heckuva football game. No doubt about it,” Ohio State Coach Earle Bruce said.

Minnesota (5-2, 3-1) led, 19-10, in the final quarter, but the Buckeyes got close when Jim Karsatos threw a one-yard scoring pass to Ed Taggart on fourth down. Ohio State then scored the winning touchdown on a 16-yard run by freshman tailback Vince Workman with 10:36 to play.

Ohio State cornerback William White intercepted Foggie with 13:31 left, the first time the Gopher quarterback has been intercepted this season. Karsatos connected with Mike Lanese for 23 yards to reach Minnesota’s 16, setting up Workman’s score.

Ohio State All-American running back Keith Byars, playing his second game after a broken foot, rushed for 67 yards in his first start. He left the game late in the third quarter when someone stepped on his right foot and reinjured it.

Foggie scored two touchdowns and completed 12 straight passes before the interception. Foggie rushed for 57 yards in 18 carries and completed 14 of 20 passes for 147 yards.