With 26 seconds to play and Ohio set for overtime Saturday night, punt returner Chris Garrett muffed Brett Kern's punt ' and the game.
On fourth down and 21 with the score tied 40-40, Kern lifted a punt to Garrett, who fumbled away his second punt of the night. Toledo recovered, and kicker Alex Steigerwald nailed a 40-yard field goal as time expired to give Toledo a 43-40 win.
Garrett's fumble was the seventh and most costly turnover of the game for the Bobcats (3-5, 1-3 Mid-American Conference).
It was obviously a very good return ball. This kid's (Kern) a great punter
but he didn't get all of this one. (Garrett) would've had a chance on the return but he did not field it coach Frank Solich said. It is ridiculous. There's no way that
no matter how hard you play
that you are going to win with that many mistakes.
Toledo came into the game with just 13 forced turnovers on the season, but created more than half of that against the Bobcats. The Rockets had just three interceptions going into last night, but Ohio quarterback Brad Bower padded those stats by throwing four more.
Rockets running back Jalen Parmele ran for a career-high 241 yards on 38 carries, including 194 in the second half, but it was his fumble on the goal line that gave the Bobcats a chance.
Parmele was looking to pad Toledo's 40-32 lead with 2:52 remaining when cornerback Julian Posey knocked the ball loose right on the goal line. Ohio's Michael Mitchell recovered at the Bobcats' 7-yard line.
Quarterback Theo Scott, who came in after Bower threw his fourth interception early in the third quarter, capped off a seven-play, 93-yard drive with a 35-yard touchdown pass to tight end Andrew Mooney. The Bobcats tied the game at 40-40 after Scott threw a strike to Chido Nwokocha to complete the two-point conversion. Scott finished the day completing seven of 13 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Theo did some good things. I like the fact that he took them on that drive
Solich said. He threw the ball fairly accurately.
Bower did not have a good day, going 9-of-17 passing for 163 yards, one touchdown and the four interceptions.
With Ohio up 7-3 in the first quarter, Bower led the Bobcats down to Toledo's 23-yard line. He then hit Toledo linebacker Alex Johnson in the chest for his first interception. The interception would lead to a field goal to pull the Rockets within one at 7-6.
Bower would redeem himself on the next drive with a 54-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Taylor Price to give Ohio a 14-6 lead.
After Posey forced a fumble from Kern, Bower was picked off again, this time by Myshan Pettis.
On the Bobcats' next drive, Bower looked to extend Ohio's halftime lead, but tried to force a pass to Kalvin McRae near the end zone. He was picked off by Barry Church at the 4-yard line just before halftime.
(Bower) threw a couple of good passes early on
and then bam
the turnovers just kept coming
Solich said.
McRae opened the second half with a season-long 65-yard touchdown run to extend Ohio's lead to 21-6.
Toledo (3-5, 1-3 MAC) cut Ohio's lead to eight when Bower decided to help the Rockets one more time. He nearly threw two interceptions in a row, before over throwing Mooney on his third passing attempt on the drive, this one completed to Toledo's Drey'Lon Pree. The interception led to another Rocket touchdown.
When asked if Scott would replace Bower next week, Solich responded, We'll see on that.
In the end, the turnovers were just too much to overcome.
I like our kids' effort
but we just have not played well enough to make it work
Solich said. There is tremendous disappointment on this team right now because of what happened and how it happened.
