KENT — Entering Mid-American Conference play, Ohio knew it needed to set a strong tone after questionable play in its nonconference slate.
Saturday definitely wasn’t the start the Bobcats were hoping, but Ohio (3-2, 1-0 MAC) finished strong beating Kent State (1-5, 0-2) 27-26 at Dix Stadium.
Big plays
On the first play of the game, Kent State quarterback Woody Barrett found Isaiah McKoy for a 75-yard touchdown pass. It was the fourth time this season Ohio's allowed a one-play drive.
The woes continued throughout the game, Golden Flashes running back Justin Rankin had rushes of 24 and 37 yards. Whenever they needed to escape a situation, Barrett didn't struggle to find an open receiver, such as a 21-yard pass to Johnny Woods 4th down.
It continued to show the struggles of the Ohio defense on a day where the secondary was without lead cornerback Jalen Fox, for an unknown reason.
Turnovers
One of the keys to winning for any football team, and especially a Frank Solich team, is to not turn the ball over. On Saturday the Bobcats turned the ball over three times — an interception and a fumble.
The first was a Nathan Rourke interception. Inside the red zone, Rourke saw an open Connor Brown and threw it high to the tight end, but Kent State linebacker Nick Faulkner came down with the ball. The last two were fumbles. Rourke tried to pitch on a 4th down option in the third quarter, but the Golden Flashes broke up the play.
The last was an A.J. Ouellette fumble, which he put on the ground headed into the Kent red zone.
Rushing attack
A week after his first 100-yard game of his career, redshirt senior running back Maleek Irons didn't touch the field once. Ouellette and Julian Ross split reps for most of the game, but when Ross was shaken up on a punt in the third quarter, Ouellette stayed in for the rest of the game.
In a game where 3rd down conversions were hard to come by, it would've been a great situation to use Irons, giving Ouellette a breather.
