CINCINNATI (AP) - Ben Roethlisberger took the snap and tried to stay upright long enough for his receivers to get open on the fourth-and-17 play with time running out.
James Harrison made sure there would be none of Big Ben's sleight of hand in this one. The linebacker sacked Miami of Ohio's first-year quarterback, securing Kent State's 24-20 victory on Nov. 24, 2001.
It was the final play in a sensational game by the senior linebacker, who had a hand in all of the Golden Flashes' five sacks that day. The win clinched Kent State's first winning season in 14 years.
That Mid-American Conference game also became a subject of teasing when they got together with the Pittsburgh Steelers and started winning Super Bowls together.
"We always had a lot of arguments about when he was at Kent and I was at Miami," Roethlisberger said. "He claims that he sacked me like six times in a game, so we've had some fun with that."
So, Harrison's game wasn't quite so impressive?
"Of course not," Roethlisberger said. "He may have gotten me once or twice, but not as many as he thought."
On Monday, the linebacker and the quarterback will go at it again.
The Steelers (0-1) visit Paul Brown Stadium to play the Bengals (0-1), who are Harrison's new team. He left Pittsburgh when they couldn't agree on a restructured contract, going 300 miles down the Ohio River for a new home.
This one will be a lot more memorable than the last one, which has blurred in their memories.
"I had a halfway decent game, I guess," Harrison said.
When Harrison signed with the Bengals, he acknowledged he would have some extra motivation when he played the Steelers for the first time. Now that the game is at hand, he's been trying to play it down.
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