Ohio defeated Eastern Michigan on the road Saturday by a score of 28-21, but the final score in this game makes it look a lot closer than it really was. Ohio came out slow, allowing touchdowns on the first two drives by Eastern Michigan, highlighted by its quarterback, Noah Kim, who was responsible for both, one on the ground and one through the air.
The Eagles' strong start had them up 14-7 on the Bobcats after tallying 177 yards of offense in the first quarter, but a switch flipped during the quarter break as the Bobcats limited them to just seven points to finish the game. The Bobcats may have come out of the gate slow, but they played until the final whistle blew in Ypsilanti, Michigan, making all four quarters count.
“It's a four-quarter game,” junior safety Jalen Thomeson said. “We just play through four quarters. We don't really let stuff that happens during the game deter how we play. Our motto is play until the fourth quarter and there are zeros on the clock, so we just don't stop, don't give up and just keep playing.
This defensive turnaround would not have been possible without all three levels stepping up and keeping this one close. Football is always a team game and can be won or lost due to motivation. Sometimes a quick pep talk among teammates can be exactly what is needed to turn around a poor start, and that is exactly what helped Ohio on Saturday.
“We just came together a lot more,” Thomeson said. “We just made sure everybody was playing hard and didn't give up. (On) defense, we've got to be a glue, and we really glued together this game. Everybody was cheering each other on. You know, motivational talk on the sidelines was a huge help, and we just made sure we weren't giving up, we weren't stopping, we just kept going.”
The biggest way to help slow down a veteran quarterback like Kim is to make him uncomfortable in the pocket. Ohio may not have logged a sack Saturday, but the second half saw a surge of pressure on Kim, even from just the defensive line, which allowed the secondary to settle in and get off the field.
“I thought they did a good job mixing up some coverages, and what always helps is when you can get more of a rush, and you can create some pass rush, especially with four,” Ohio head coach Brian Smith said. “I thought that the (defensive) line started doing a better job of that and moving the quarterback off to his spot and making it more uncomfortable for him.”
The turnover battle is always a talking point of any game, and after the first half, Ohio was on the wrong side of it with two. In the second half, however, the offense played clean, and the defense forced a huge missed field goal and secured a crucial fumble in the fourth quarter to help salt away the game.
"Just what a great team win is,” Smith said on what he took away from the game. “You know how the defense rebounded early in the game and made some great stops, great turnovers in the second half. Now, the offense just kept grinding throughout the game and really played Ohio football.”
The biggest aspect of any comeback win is keeping your team motivated and allowing them to play their game. Smith knows that his team and culture want to play 60 strong minutes of football, and his belief in this effort, and the players in each other, helped keep them in the game. This will be a pivotal piece of the rest of the season as Ohio eyes another run toward the Mid-American Conference title game.
“I always believe in our guys, so I guess I wouldn't say there was a moment I didn't know, but I always have believed in our players that they care enough about each other, that they have enough trust in each other, that we're going to find ways to win the games,” Smith said of mentality during Saturday’s comeback.
