Ohio's offense, like quarterback Theo Scott, was sick.
The Bobcat starter admitted that he wasn't feeling well physically before the game and said he threw up following Ohio's second offensive drive in the 20-11 loss against Kent State.
I was feeling queasy
he said. My body wasn't really feeling it today.
Scott wasn't the only one being affected by the flu-like symptoms. Chris Garrett sat out because of sickness, and Scott said other guys have been sick all week.
I think there's something going on. Actually I was sick earlier this week. A couple of guys were trying to get over that. I don't know what's going on but we got to take caution into that.
And it showed on the field.
Scott completed 8 of 15 passes for only 62 yards and two interceptions. He also finished as the Bobcats' leading rusher with 17 yards on the ground.
Scott had to be replaced on multiple occasions by freshman Tyler Tettleton, who didn't perform much better. Tettleton went 7 of 15 for 111 yards and an interception.
When asked why Tettleton played instead of senior Brandon Jones, Solich said he's able to do some things in Ohio's offense more effectively than Jones. Playing Tettleton and getting him experience was best for the program, he said.
But whoever was on the field for Ohio offensively had trouble.
The Bobcats gained only 164 yards offensively, throwing for 173 yards and losing nine yards on the ground.
Outside of the first drive when Ohio scored three points, the Bobcat offense wasn't able to score. They had only two drives inside the red zone, one resulting in Matt Weller's 22-yard field goal, and the other an interception in the end zone by Tettleton.
The offensive line also gave up seven sacks after going five games without allowing any. Tettleton was sacked four times in the last two drives alone.
It was our worst performance collectively for quite some time
Frank Solich said. You have to go back maybe into last year to see us not perform well in virtually any phase of the game.
The effects of the sputtering offense weren't felt until the fourth quarter, when the Kent State's offense finally broke through.
Kent State started the quarter with a 6-3 lead and proceeded to score two touchdowns, one after a failed fourth down conversion by Ohio and the other off a Theo Scott interception.
Ohio's defense, by this point, was tired. Kent State's offense was on the field for 34:32 and 11:32 in the third quarter.
We were out there quite long as the game progressed
safety Patrick Tafua said. It just started a little wear and tear. But that just comes with the game. I know that we're way better conditioned than that.
The failed fourth down was a back-breaker for the Bobcats. It was fourth-and-inches just inside Kent State territory with Ohio driving, down 6-3, and 12:10 remaining in the game. Solich decided to run a play action pass, rolling Scott out of the pocket. Scott hit a wide-open LaVon Brazill, who dropped the pass.
Ohio never recovered. After the game Solich said the decision to pass instead of run on the fourth down was because Kent State stacked the line, and had stifled other teams in similar situations.
It was the time to change the momentum
get the ball back in our court for a little bit
Taylor Price said. 4th and inches- we got to get that. The play action was there. The ball just didn't bounce our way.
Both teams played sloppily for most of the game. The teams combined to score six points and gain 201 yards of total offense in the first 11 series of the game. In that time span, both teams had five different players punt the ball, including Matt Schulte and Paul Hershey for the Bobcats.
There also were some odd plays for the Bobcats.
The first occurred at the 10:03 mark in the first quarter. Scott threw an interception to Kent State's Brian Lainhart at the Golden Flashes' 42 yard line. He tried to run with the ball but fumbled after 3 yards. Tight end Jordan Thompson picked up the ball and returned it 41 yards to the Kent State 4-yard line. This led to Matt Weller's field goal.
The Bobcats forced quarterback Spencer Keith to fumble the ball inside the Ohio 5-yard line at the beginning of the second quarter. Both Patrick Tafua and Dak Notestine combined to force Keith's fumble, and Stafford Gatling recorded the fumble.
With 11:17 remaining in the third quarter and Kent State driving, Keith threw to his receiver. Tafua drilled the receiver and the ball popped out to Julian Posey. Posey caught the ball and returned the ball to the Kent State 32.
But as was typical for the Bobcat offense on Saturday, Tettleton threw an interception two plays later in the end zone.
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Sports
Matt Wagner
