Nov. 7, 2007
Final Stats | Notes
AKRON, Ohio - The Bobcats' two-game winning streak came to a screeching halt at the Rubber Bowl as Akron defeated Ohio 48-37 on Wednesday night.
Ohio running back Kalvin McRae took off on a 54-yard run for Ohio first touchdown but was controlled by the Zips' defense after racking up 92 yards in the first half. The senior finished with 109 yards and one score on 21 carries. It was McRae's 20th 100-yard rushing game, breaking Steveland Hoofkin's program-best record.
Quarterback Brad Bower (Burr Ridge, Ill.) started the game for the Bobcats and completed 17-of-37 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns but the Ohio defense could not stop the Zips.
Akron racked up 439 yards of total offense and back-up running back Alex Allen punched in three short-yardage touchdowns to lead the Zips rushing game. Wide receiver Jabari Arthur caught eight of quarterback Chris Jacquemain's 15 completions for 129 yards and one touchdown.
The scoring started soon after the opening kickoff when Michael Braunstein (Gilbert, Ariz.) converted on a 34-yard field goal after Akron fumbled the ball on the opening snap and Taj Henley (Richmond, Va.) recovered for the Bobcats.
On the ensuing kickoff, Akron's Bryan Williams, the fourth-best return man in the country in regards to average yards per return, showed just what makes him so good.
Williams took Braunstein's kick back 95 yards for a touchdown and just 16 seconds after Ohio took a 3-0 lead, the Zips were up 7-3.
But the scoring in the early part of the first quarter continued when McRae bolted through the right side of the Akron defense, shook a tackler at the 10-yard line, and crossed the goal line near the pylon for a 54-yard touchdown run and Ohio was back ahead by a score of 10-7 with 11:02 still remaining in the opening quarter.
But less than three minutes later an Igor Iveljic field goal tied the game at 10-10 with 8:30 on the clock.
With the scoring finally done in the first quarter, the Bobcats were the first to crack the scoreboard in the second stanza.
Ohio drove more than 30 yards down the field and Braunstein once again delivered, this time with a 43-yard boot that put his team up 13-10 in the early minutes of the second quarter. The graduate student's second field of the game not only gave the Bobcats the lead, it put Braunstein in the record books set the program record with 18 made fields in a season.
Akron answered Braunstein's record setting field goal with its second touchdown of the game on a one-yard Alex Allen plunge on third and goal. With 7:19 left on the clock before halftime Akron retook the lead 17-13.
Akron built upon its lead with a field goal before the break and the teams entered the locker room with a 20-10 Akron lead posted on the Rubber Bowl scoreboard.
Akron came out firing again with a touchdown five minutes into the third quarter when Alex Allen punched in his second score of the game, this time from two yards out to make the score 27-13.
Joshua Abrams (Dunwoody, Ga.) looked to have given Ohio a quick score when he returned the following Akron kick-off for a touchdown but a holding penalty negated the touchdown.
The offense stalled after the called back touchdown and a punt ensued. But on the following Akron drive, Michael Brown (Cincinnati) picked off Akron quarterback Chris Jacquemain at the 40 yard line and returned the interception to the Zips' 18 yard line.
Braunstein once again turned an Akron turnover into points when he connected on his third field goal of the game, this one from 38 yards out, which cut the Zips' lead to 11 points at 27-16 with 5:11 still on the clock in the third quarter.
Just more than three minutes later, wide receiver Jabari Arthur, the sixth overall pick on the Canadian Football League Draft last year, caught a 32 yard touchdown pass from Jacquemain to increase the Zips' lead to 34-16. The catch was Arthur's 70th of the season and puts him just a handful of receptions short of Akron's all-time lead.
But Bower and the Bobcats had some explosive offense up their sleeves as well when the senior quarterback found Taylor Price (Hilliard) on a 36-yard touchdown pass, Bower's longest completion of the contest at that point. Bower converted the two-point conversion and the Ohio deficit was cut to 10 points, 34-24.
Bower led another fantastic drive in the fourth quarter (eight plays, 73 yards), with a 19 yard run into the Akron red zone setting up an 11 yard touchdown pass to Andrew Mooney (Lubbock, Texas). Bower's second scoring toss of the game cut the Akron lead to just three points with the score sitting at 34-31 with more than seven minutes left to be played.
The Ohio momentum was short lived as Akron tacked on another touchdown after converting on a fourth-and-short situation the play before. Jacquemain hit Kris Kasparek for 22 yards on the score which gave the Zips a 41-31 lead and their highest point total of the season.
The following Ohio drive was stalled and on a fourth-and-11 with the clock ticking away in the fourth quarter, Bower's pass to Price tipped off his hands and Akron scored once again while running out the clock.
Ohio tacked on a meaningless touchdown as time expired in the fourth quarter when Bower hit Mooney again for an 11 yard score. It was Mooney's seventh touchdown catch this season, which ranks him fourth all-time for scores in a single season.
The 48 points allowed is the most Ohio has given up since 49 to No. 23 Miami on Nov. 22, 2003.
