Ohio Football Blog
Bobcats drop third in a row
Mistakes mark theme of the game
By Michael Weisman, Senior Sports Writer
October 2, 2007 | 11:12 a.m.
Junior safety Michael Mitchell pounded his head against the table during the post-game press conference after the Bobcats suffered a 33-25 loss to Kent State. The team dropped their third consecutive game and their MAC conference opener.
If the Bobcats last-minute loss to Wyoming was a collapse a week ago, Ohio utterly crumbled in Saturday’s game against the Golden Flashes. The Bobcats committed 17 penalties, dropped numerous passes, and allowed Kent State running back Eugene Jarvis 100 yards in the first 10 minutes of the game and 230 for the day.
“There’s not one phase of the game we did well enough in,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “I’ve never been associated with a game where we’ve been penalized 17 times. Give me a break. You’re not going to get anything done with that.”
On five different occasions, the Bobcats handed Kent State a first down via penalty, when they otherwise would have been forced to punt. An offsides penalty allowed the Flashes to take a field goal off the board and end up with six early on, while pass interference and roughing the punter also handed Kent first downs in the first half. The second half was no different with a roughing the passer on an incomplete third and long, and a defensive holding, both of which gave the Flashes first downs.
“You can’t make bonehead plays. It comes down to playing assignment football,” Mitchell said. “I don’t understand it. I’m as mind-boggled as you guys are. When you got a chance to get them off the field, you have to get them off the field. You can’t give up a penalty or make a bonehead play. Something’s got to change.”
Even without the penalties, Jarvis still managed to run up and down the field, for his fifth consecutive 100-yard game. Jarvis ranks first in the MAC and third in the nation, averaging 153.8 yards per game. It was the second consecutive week the Bobcats have allowed over 230 yards rushing and nearly the second game in a row where one back has run for over 200 yards, as Wyoming’s Devin Moore ran for 198 yards a week ago. The Bobcats only contained Jarvis in the second quarter when they held him to 13 yards, but he had touchdown runs of 35 and 42 yards in the first and third quarters, respectively.
“We knew what to expect. They weren’t confusing us out there, they were just hitting the gaps,” senior safety Todd Koenig said. “They’re talented, but we’re also talented and we just missed a lot of tackles. We got to keep working on being disciplined.”
Ohio missed tackle after tackle, as Jarvis often didn’t go down until being hit by the third or fourth Bobcat.
The Bobcats’ offense, on the other hand, had their own problems throughout the game. The offense was called for seven holding penalties, several of which stalled drives putting Ohio in third and long situations or negated first down plays.
The holding penalties and long third downs also limited Kalvin McRae’s ability to establish the run. McRae hasn’t rushed for over 100 yards since the season opener against Gardner-Webb and was held to 74 yards against Kent.
“I’m not frustrated to tell you the truth,” McRae said. “Both quarterbacks are playing well but we have to be able to run the ball too. We just have to be patient and know my time will come and just continue to play my role in this offense.”
Both quarterbacks, Brad Bower and Theo Scott, had opportunities in the game, with both showing flashes of good plays against the Flashes, but it wasn’t enough. Scott took over for Bower in the third quarter and was able to establish the option and showed his ability to scramble, but still threw an interception late in the game.
Bower went 6-16 for 110 yards, an interception, and was sacked, but many of the incompletions were dropped passes by wide receivers Chris Garrett, Chido Nwokocha, and tight end Andrew Mooney, all of which would have extended Bobcat drives with a first down.
“We wanted to give Theo an opportunity in this game,” Solich said. “I think Brad made some plays, that’s obvious. He had some passes that were dropped that would have helped us very early in the ball game. There wasn’t anything there in terms of us being critical of Brad. It was more a matter of wanting to get Theo an opportunity and fresh legs, Theo’s got excellent capability and we thought he’d be able to create some plays.”
Scott finished 16-24 for 161 yards, two scores and the interception. Even with the impressive outing, Solich said Bower will still start next week at Buffalo. He did leave it open to the possibility of Scott seeing more time, however, if the opportunity presents itself.
“The fact that [Scott] was able to make some plays I think now enables us to feel comfortable about having two quarterbacks to get things done for us offensively,” the Coach said.
The lone bright spot on the day for Ohio were the tight ends, which combined for nine catches for 142 yards, two touchdowns and a two-point conversion. Mooney, who made up for his drops earlier in the game, had both scores and the two-point conversion but David Carter had a game-high 99 yards on five catches.
There is good news for the Green and White, however—they’re in the same position they were in a year ago. The Bobcats sit at 2-3, having won their first two games, then dropping the next three, including their conference home opener.
“It’s a completely different group of guys this year. Different people respond differently. Last year’s last year and we have to find something new to spring back this year,” Mooney said.
“You can’t point fingers. We all accept responsibility for what transpired in that ball game today,” Solich said. “We’re the only ones that can fix that. There are a lot of games yet to be played and this thing is not over in any way, shape or form.”
Injury update: Wide receiver Matt Donahue left in the second half with a hand injury and center Tommy Stuck exited in the third quarter with an arm injury, depleting Ohio’s already banged up offensive line even more.
Double duty: Coach Solich has been disappointed with punter Matt Schulte’s ability to switch field position and may try kicker Michael Braunstein at punter this week against Buffalo. Schulte averaged 36 yards per punt against Kent and is averaging 37.9 yards on the season. Braunstein both kicked and punted in high school.