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FOOTBALL

JD Sprague throws

Football: Bobcats defeat Zips for seventh straight meeting

By Alex Busch | Oct. 18, 2014

Josh Kristoff said Ohio needed to win Saturday.The Bobcats’ 23-20 victory over Akron not only snapped their two-game losing skid, but it moved them back to 4-4 overall and within a game of the top of the Mid-American Conference East Division.The defense was the driving force to the seventh-straight win against Akron.The unit, led by Kristoff, a redshirt senior safety, intercepted Akron quarterback Tommy Woodson two times and recovered a fumble, which ended up being the turning point of the game.Kristoff’s interception with 59 seconds left in the fourth quarter sealed the win and allowed Ohio to finish in victory formation.“This one’s special,” said Kristoff, who led the team with nine tackles and two pass breakups. “We’ve been struggling the past couple of weeks, we really had to win this game. For us to battle and pull it off is a great feeling.”Ohio (4-4, 2-2 MAC) forced the fumble with 3:38 left in the game, as Devin Bass hit an Akron wideout hard by the sideline, forcing the ball out of his hands. Jovon Johnson eventually scooped up the ball and ran it back from the Akron 45 to the 21-yard line.The play occurred while Akron (4-3, 2-1 MAC) was driving in a tied game, attempting to take the lead.Bass said the play came from execution on a hard tackle and he didn’t even realize he forced the ball loose until he saw his teammate pick up the ball off the ground.“It was an exciting moment because we hadn’t had a many turnovers,” Johnson, a redshirt junior linebacker, said. “It was exciting to get that turnover and try to get our offense in a good situation to put us up.”Before Saturday, Ohio had forced three fumbles all season and recovered just one.Coach Frank Solich alluded to winning the turnover battle as one of the keys that led them to the victory.“Some things that we really needed to get done was to win the turnover ratio,” Solich said. “That’s something that we’ve struggled with all year long.”With the defense staying strong throughout all four quarters, it gave the offense less pressure when they were out on the field.The biggest difference from the two prior games was that they offense didn’t allow scores on the first two drives and didn’t start the game in a 14-0 hole.“We came into the game knowing that the past two weeks we had got down early,” Johnson said. “We wanted to go into the game and make sure that we did what we needed to do so we didn’t go down early and give them a head-start and try to play catch up.”Solich’s decision to receive the ball when the Bobcats won the coin toss stemmed from that previous issue.It worked out for Ohio, as the offense opened up with a four-play 66-yard drive capped off with a 49-yard touchdown pass from JD Sprague to Ian Dixon.Bass saw positive production in stopping what Akron was trying to do, an oppositive to what he’s seen all season.He admits that it’s been a tough season personally, but his interception, forced fumble, pass break-up and three tackles shadowed a different player than we’ve seen this season.Bass not only is estatic about his play, but the fact that Ohio is right back in the race for the MAC East with Bowling Green dropping its game Saturday.“Today I felt pretty good,” Bass said. “There’s still four games left so I’m pretty adamant on trying to finish it pretty strong and do whatever I can to be a positive influence on this team.”

The Post

Football: Staff Picks

Oct. 16, 2014

@ThePostSports staffers — two of which are perfect — attempt to pick this weekend's game against Akron.

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