Ohio Loses 48-20 at Iowa State
Contact: Bob Lee
9/6/2003
Anthony Hackett (left) and Scott Mayle became the first pair of Ohio receivers to each record over 100 reception yards in the same game in over a decade. |
AMES, Iowa ? Big plays for the Ohio offense could not offset a huge disadvantage in field position Saturday afternoon as the Bobcats fell to Iowa State 48-20 at Jack Trice Stadium.
Ohio (1-1) scored on a 68-yard option keeper by quarterback Fred Ray and an 80-yard strike from Ryan Hawk to Scott Mayle in the first quarter but could not contain the Cyclone offense in the first half.
After a three-and-out by the Bobcat offense to start the game, a Todd Miller 27-yard punt return gave Iowa State (2-0) the ball at Ohio?s 32.The Cyclones settled for a 26-yard field goal by Adam Benike on that drive to claim a 3-0 lead with 11:26 remaining in the opening quarter.
After Ray?s 68-yard scoring run ? the longest of his career ? on the following drive gave the Bobcats a 7-3 lead, Iowa State used a 43-yard kickoff return to begin its second drive at its own 44-yard line. That drive ended with a three-yard scoring run by Michael Wagner at the 6:30 mark.
With Ohio facing a 3rd-and-2 at its 28, Ray left the game with a stomach ailment and was replaced by Hawk, who fumbled the snap and turned the ball over to the Cyclones. Iowa State capitalized four plays later on a six-yard pass from Austin Flynn to Jama Montgomery to make the score 17-7 with 4:22 left in the first quarter.
The Bobcats, however, quickly responded on the very next drive. Following an incomplete pass on first down, Hawk found Mayle for the second-longest completion in school history. The 80-yard score made it 17-14 at the 4:06 mark.
In the second quarter, the Cyclones used 44- and 59-yard scoring drives and a 41-yard field goal as time expired to claim a 34-14 halftime advantage.
?Coming into this game, we felt like we had a good shot,? said Ohio head coach Brian Knorr. ?I think Iowa State got a little bit better from week one to week two than we did. I was disappointed in our ability to handle adversity in the first half.?
On the Bobcats? first possession of the second half, Ray connected with Anthony Hackett for a 71-yard completion to Iowa State?s 4-yard line. Ray then capped the seven-play, 86-yard drive with a one-yard dive for his second touchdown of the day. Greg DiMarino missed the extra-point attempt, however, and Ohio trailed 34-20 with 10:24 remaining in the third quarter.
The Cyclones put the game away in the fourth quarter with two nine-play drives ? one totaling 88 yards and the other 74 ? capped off by Hiawath Rutland runs of seven yards and two yards, respectively.
For the game, the Bobcats gained 380 total yards compared to Iowa State?s 503. Ohio?s 215 yards passing were the most for the team since 1993. Mayle led the Bobcat receivers with three catches for 109 yards while Hackett finished with five receptions for 108 yards.
?We did not run the football as well as we need to,? said Knorr. ?We knew we could make some big plays in the pass game and I thought we connected on some of those but we still have to be able to run the football. I was disappointed that we didn?t control the clock at all and just had too many three-and-outs.?
Next up for Ohio is Minnesota, who will become the first Big Ten school to ever visit Peden Stadium next Saturday, Sept. 13. That game time has been changed to 3 p.m.
For ticket information, please contact the Ohio Athletics Ticket Office at 740-593-1300 or 800-575-CATS. You can also order and print your tickets at home, if you choose, by CLICKING HERE!
