Bobcats give Buckeyes a scare
By William Strome, Staff Writer
September 9, 2008 | 8 p.m.
On paper it was a classic David versus Goliath bout, but inside the Horseshoe last Saturday afternoon, Ohio came up one quarter shy of slinging down the giant that is The Ohio State University in the battle for middle America.
The Bobcats (0-2) fell for the second time in as many weeks, 26-14, after clinging desperately to a two-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. The No. 3-ranked Buckeyes rallied with 14 fourth quarter points, capitalizing off three costly Ohio turnovers in the last 16 minutes of regulation to avoid the astonishing upset to the 34-point intrastate underdog.
"We have to refocus now and refocusing means not caring where we play or who we play, but just getting ourselves ready to play our best ballgame," Ohio coach Frank Solich said. "This game is gone. We have to go out and play our very best against Central Michigan to get that game won."
Ohio State (2-0), now with 34 consecutive wins against other Ohio universities and a dominating 6-0 record in the overall series against the Bobcats, took the lead one minute into the final quarter of play when Brandon Saine scored on a two yard carry up the gut to recapture the lead for good. However, the Buckeyes only had to travel 25 yards for the score following a detrimental muffed punt by Mark Parson late in the third.
But the Bucks were far from finished. The Bobcat's ensuing drive ended in an interception by the All-American and Butkus Award recipient from a year ago, James Laurinaitis, but the Bobcat defense spoiled the chance for a potential two score lead only for the time being.
After an Ohio State punt, the Bobcat attack went three and out and unfortunately for Ohio, the worst was yet to come. Ray Small took the ensuing punt by Matt Schulte the distance for a 69 yard return for a score to lift the Bucks to a 12 point lead.
Heading into conference play, the loss to Ohio State is not even the worst of Ohio's problems. Starting quarterback Theo Scott went down in first quarter and carted off only to be replaced by Franshaw "Boo" Jackson. Scott suffered a left shoulder injury and did not return. As of Monday, there was no word on whether Scott will be healthy for the Ohio home opener against Central Michigan this Saturday.
"Theo and I rotate in every other play in practice because you never know when someone's going to go down," Jackson said. "Once I got in there, I just wanted to shine."
Jackson, who spent most of the afternoon on the run eluding pass rushers, finished the game completing only nine of his 25 attempts for 86 yards but did hook up with Taylor Price for 30 yards in the second quarter. Even under pressure, Jackson looked confident moving in the pocket and ran for 55 yards on seven tries including a 20 yard scamper.
"I was a little intimidated at first, but once I got set in the pocket I thought they got my back, I got there back," Jackson said. "Once I stepped up in the pocket I could run out and find some receivers."
Not all the pressure was on Jackson, with Chris Garrett and Donte Harden splitting the tailback duty. Garrett, who started the game, had seven carries for 23 yards while Harden scored on his first touch of the game from 15 yards out. He lead the Bobcats in rushing with 63 yards on 11 carries and the only offensive score for Ohio on the day.
"That was going to be a key for us to establish some kind of running game," Solich said. "If you just drop back and throw the ball, they're just going to tee off on you and you're in for a long day."
Defensively, the Bobcats kept a flat Buckeye offense at bay for most of the afternoon and made their presence known in the backfield. Lee Renfo, who anchored the defense with nine tackles, tacked on a sack along with linemen Curtis Meyers and Kris Luchsinger. Early in the second half Meyers recovered a fumble in the endzone off of a botched shotgun snap over Todd Boeckman's head to give the 'Cats a 14-6 lead.
"[Defensively] I think we played very fundamentally sound," Luchsinger said. "Our techniques were what we were supposed to do. Everybody did their jobs well and that's what allowed that to happen."
Now the defensive focus will be on quarterback Dan LeFevour and the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-1) for Ohio's home opener this Saturday at 2:00 PM. The last time these squads went head-to-head was the 2006 Mid-American Conference championship where the Chippewas dismantled Ohio in Detroit, 31-10.
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