CINCINNATI — With under two minutes remaining at Nippert Stadium, Ohio faced a first and goal from the 2. Nathan Rourke turned and handed the ball to A.J. Ouellette.
Ouellette ran to the left side and celebrated with Connor Brown, Joe Lowery and DL Knock after he got up.
He thought he crossed the north end-zone goal line, giving the Bobcats the lead and possibly the win. Lowery told Ouellette that he pushed the running back across the line. Brown was certain Ouellette broke the plane. But the officials ruled Ouellette down at the 1-yard line.
It wasn’t reviewed.
“The refs have to review that,” Ouellette said. “We’ve got to review that.”
Rourke threw a pass intended for Papi White on the goal line two plays later. White tripped in his route, and there was contact. The ball was intercepted. The sequence was the final of various blown second half opportunities for the Bobcats. After jumping out to a 21-point first half lead, Ohio squandered it in the fourth quarter and fell to Cincinnati 34-30.
“I could not tell. Our guys could not tell from upstairs. So the only thing we had to to go on is that they called it short,” coach Frank Solich said about the ruling of Ouellette’s run. “A.J. came off the field and said he was in.”
This loss is different for Ohio. Last week against Virginia, the Bobcats fell into a 28-point first half deficit and couldn’t dig themselves out of it. This week, however, Ohio threw the first punch. And the second. And the third.
It was 21-0 before the Bearcats could respond, and it seemed as though Ohio would comfortably walk away with an impressive nonconference road win. But Cincinnati cut into Ohio’s lead in the second quarter before receiving the second half kickoff.
Boasting a 17-point lead during the first possession of the second half, the Bobcats forced the Bearcats into a third and 12 from the 23-yard line. Ohio hadn’t given up a big play yet in the game, a stark contrast from its first two games.
Bearcat quarterback Desmond Ridder hurled the ball down the Ohio sideline, where it was caught by Rashad Medaris, who scampered the rest of the way to the end zone. The Cincinnati student section erupted.
10-point game.
“We got them in a third-down situation a fair amount of the time,” Solich said. “We changed things around. We went to more man coverage, which I think helped us at times. Obviously there was a big touchdown early in the third quarter, but you’re going to have some big, explosive plays.”
After trading punts, Ohio found its way inside the 10-yard line, threatening to put a nail in Cincinnati’s coffin. But two incompletions and a sack later, Ohio settled for a field goal, foreshadowing events of the fourth quarter.
Points were nice. Cushioning the lead was nice. But it wasn’t enough. Ohio wanted to punch the ball in the endzone and quiet the Nippert crowd that grew louder as the half trudged on.
“I just missed some things that I usually hit. We can’t settle for field goals,” Rourke said.
Two possessions later, Papi White, who has become Rourke’s favorite target and Ohio’s best weapon, coughed up the ball. Cincinnati recovered and scored not long after.
6-point game.
Ohio again marched down the field, and it looked poised to seal the game in the fourth quarter. On a third and three from the Cincinnati 31, however, Julian Ross’ run was snuffed out at the line of scrimmage. What was a promising drive, ones that ended in touchdowns in the first half, stalled with another field goal.
What could have been a 13-point fourth quarter lead was 9. Daylight for Cincinnati.
And again, the Ohio defense that seemed to have figured out its woes were gashed for a 26-yard touchdown grab. Ohio’s monster lead was cut once more. But this time, it was down to two.
Cincinnati’s defense came up with a stop, and Ohio punted. The Bobcats’ defense, which held Cincinnati to 20 yards in its first 13 plays, needed another stop. But the Bearcats methodically drove the ball down the field, scoring with under four minutes to play.
Which brought the game back to the play: first and goal for Ohio from the 2-yard line. Ouellette was called down at the 1. The next play was stuffed in the backfield.
Then, Rourke tried to connect with White one last time, but White was tripped up. No penalty was called. As the pass was picked off, Ohio realized it had blown its last opportunity with the ball.
“There should have been some kind of penalty there,” Rourke said. “But at the end of the day, I’ve got to take better care of the ball. It’s something I’ll be thinking about for a little bit.”
But the last opportunity to score a touchdown in the second half wasn’t the first.
