Oct. 15, 2005
Final Stats
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. - Despite an early touchdown toss from Austen Everson (Brentwood, Tenn.) to Scott Mayle (Philippi, W.Va.), the Ohio football team lost 37-10 at Mid-American Conference West Division foe Central Michigan on Saturday.
The Bobcats (2-4, 1-2 MAC) held a 10-minute advantage in time of possession (35:00-25:00) and gained 196 rushing yards but managed only 101 through the air. Ohio quarterbacks completed only 12 of 36 attempts with one interception to go along with one score.
"Central Michigan is a big, strong football team so to get the running game going was a plus for us," said Bobcat head coach Frank Solich. "We just needed to have something in the passing game to match it a little bit and we weren't able to get that done."
In the first quarter, Central Michigan (4-3, 3-1 MAC) did not waste any time getting on the scoreboard. After a 50-yard completion from Kent Smith to Jacob Brown on the opening play, Ontario Sneed rushed for 20 yards on the very next play, taking the Chippewas down to the Bobcat 10-yard line. Following an incompletion, Smith found Justin Harper in the end zone for a scoring pass just 29 seconds into the game.
Ohio answered right back, however, as a 38-yard strike from Everson to Mayle capped a five-play, 75-yard drive on the Bobcats' first possession. Senior Matt Miller (Westerville, Ohio) converted the extra point to tie the game at 7-7 with 12:05 left in the opening period.
The touchdown catch by Mayle extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one catch to 28, which ranks as the 12th-longest such streak among active NCAA Division I players.
Ohio had a chance to take the lead early in the second quarter when Miller lined up for a 24-yard field goal attempt. The Bobcat punter missed his first career field goal attempt, though, stretching Ohio's string of consecutive missed field goals to five.
Following a three-and-out by Central Michigan, true freshman Brandon Jones (Marietta, Ga.) took the field as Ohio's quarterback for his first collegiate action. The Bobcats were unable to generate a first down in two straight possessions, however, as the Chippewas added a three-yard scoring run by Sneed for a 14-7 lead.
Central Michigan kicker Rick Albreski missed a 37-yard field goal attempt later in the second quarter but made a 28-yarder with 2:02 remaining before intermission. Then, with 1:03 on the clock, a Miller punt was blocked and returned 78 yards by Damien Linson for a Chippewa touchdown. The point-after attempt was blocked so after an Everson pass was intercepted by Keith Thomas on the CMU 8-yard line as time expired, Central Michigan took a 23-7 lead into the locker room.
After moving into Chippewa territory on the first possession of the second half, an Ohio drive was halted when a fumble by sophomore tailback Kalvin McRae (Decatur, Ga.) was recovered by Central Michigan. Two possessions later, the Chippewas pushed their lead to 30-7 with a four-yard scoring run by Smith.
On the Bobcats' first possession of the fourth quarter, Jones drove the offense 33 yards on nine plays down to the CMU 9-yard line. The drive stalled after an apparent touchdown catch by Dion Byrum (Matthews, N.C.) was ruled incomplete, though, and Miller made his first career field goal from 26 yards out to make it 30-10 with 10:42 remaining.
For the game, Jones completed three of 16 passing attempts for 23 yards and was sacked once. He became the 10th true freshman to see action for Ohio this season.
"It was not easy on him but some of that came down to protection and route running," Solich said about Jones' debut. "We're a beat-up football team right now on the offensive line and at the receiver spot so that makes it tough for a quarterback when you're coming in the way he came in and everybody knows that you're going to throw the ball.
"We put him in a tough situation and I think he responded in some ways well. He's very much a competitor and he'll just continue to get better."
With 7:30 left in the fourth quarter, a fumble by Mayle resulted in a 32-yard touchdown toss from Smith to Sneed for the game's final points.
McRae ended up leading the Bobcat offense with 117 yards on 29 carries for his third career 100-yard day. Everson finished with nine completions in 20 attempts for 78 yards and a score. The junior signal-caller also threw an interception and was sacked twice while sharing time with Jones.
For the Chippewas, Smith was 15-of-24 for 228 yards and a pair of scores while Sneed had 17 carries for 74 yards and a touchdown on the ground along with a scoring reception.
Sophomore safety Todd Koenig (Nanty-Glo, Pa.) led the Ohio defense with nine tackles and junior linebackers Matt Muncy (Miamisburg, Ohio) and Tyler Russ (Stetsonville, Wis.) finished with eight and seven, respectively.
Next Saturday, the Bobcats return home to Peden Stadium where they are 2-0 under Solich. Ohio will play Ball State at 2 p.m. to highlight Homecoming Weekend in Athens.
For ticket information, please contact the Ohio Athletics Ticket Office at 740-593-1300, toll-free at 1-800-575-CATS (2287) or online by CLICKING HERE.
"We hope we can get a few of our offensive linemen and receivers back and start to heal up a little bit," said Solich. "We need to try to gather some momentum in the season and hopefully being back home with our student body will be a key to getting this thing turned around so we can start moving in the right direction."
