Ohio Football Falls To Syracuse In Season Opener

Saturday, September 4

Athens, Ohio

7 pm

0-1 , 0-0

Syracuse

1-0 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Syracuse	9	3	10	7	29
Ohio	0	6	0	3	9

Ohio Football Falls To Syracuse In Season Opener

9/4/2021 10:54:00 PM | Football

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ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio football team (0-1, 0-0 MAC) kicked off their 2021 season on Saturday night (Sept. 4) in front of a near-capacity crowd, welcoming Syracuse (1-0, 0-0) into Peden Stadium. The Bobcats lost to the Orange, 29-9. Jerome Buckner led the offensive effort for the Bobcats en route to setting a career high in both receptions (7) and receiving yards (102) while on the defensive side of the ball, Ohio was led by safeties Alvin Floyd and Jarren Hampton who each recorded 10 total and four solo tackles.

"Awesome crowd. Wow," head coach Tim Albin said. "It was great to see the hill packed and the student section was awesome. I wish we got them the victory, but that was pretty cool. For the game, hats off to Dino (Babers) and Syracuse; they did a great job."

"It was fun, very electric," added Hampton. "Shout out to the fans that came and supported us, through it all, stayed all the way to the end. It was a great feeling. Something that we haven't had since 2019. So, you know, just being able to throw your hands up and get the crowd going is great."

The Bobcats started the game with the ball, and moved their way down the field by depending on Tuggle's running ability. Tuggle carried the ball six straight times to start the game, gaining 23 quick yards. The drive eventually ended in a missed field goal from 50 yards away.

Syracuse's offense made an immediate impact, as the second play from scrimmage for the Orange was a 47 yard rush by running back Sean Tucker put Syracuse inside the red zone. The drive ended in a touchdown for the Orange three plays later with quarterback Tommy DeVito running it in from six yards out. Syracuse added more points to their total at the start of the next drive for Ohio, as Tuggle was tackled in the end zone of the first play from scrimmage for a safety to push the Syracuse lead to 9-0.

Ohio's defense settled in during the subsequent drive, as Syracuse only mustered 13 yards of offense before being forced to punt the ball away and back to the Bobcats.

"I thought Ron and the guys on defense, did a nice job mixing up coverages," said Albin. "I mean, I went down there to slap them a couple times because I was so impressed man. They just looked at the sideline, you know, and they let it rip and our guys held up."

The Bobcats then drove down to the Syracuse 12 yard line, with the highlight of the march being a trick play, as Odom threw to quarterback Kurtis Rourke off a reverse for a gain of 38 yards. The first points of the Bobcats' season were tallied by kicker Stephen Johnson as he kicked the ball through the uprights from 22 yards out. Johnson made three of his four field goal attempts, making from 22, 25 and 30, and missing from 50 yards out.

Syracuse then went on a 16 play, 61 yard drive that chewed up 6:42 of game clock. At the end of the drive, Syracuse kicked a 29 yard field goal to increase their lead to 12-3. The Bobcats then proceeded to go on a clock-consuming drive of their own to essentially close out the first half. The 14 play, 56 yard drive ended with a 30 yard field goal by Johnson with just 19 seconds on the game clock, and sent the teams into the intermission with the score of 12-6.

The two teams exchanged punts to start the second frame, before Syracuse then added on another field goal to push their lead to 15-6. The field goal came at the end of a nine play, 24 yard drive that was cut short by a Bobcat defensive stand within their own five yard line.

The next drive saw Ohio make progress down the field, spearheaded by a 32-yard throw by Armani Rogers that was caught by Buckner. The Bobcats were unable to add any points to the scoreboard however, as the Orange broke up a pass on 4th and 3 conversion attempt to turn the Bobcats over on downs.

"I thought we moved the ball pretty well throughout the whole game no matter the situation," noted Rourke. "And that's just a sense of what our team is like. We don't give up and I think that we just didn't finish, but we tried."

Syracuse turned that momentum into points quickly, getting down the field for a touchdown to push their lead to 22-6 in just four plays in just 1:41 of game time. The Bobcats' next drive went into the start of the 4th quarter, with Ohio eventually kicking their third field goal of the contest with 11:21 remaining to cut the lead to 22-9.

The Orange responded with a 65-yard drive capped off by an 11 yard touchdown run from Cooper Lutz to extend their lead to 29-9 with 5:15 left in the fourth quarter. The Bobcats weren't able to find the end zone in response as Rourke threw his first interception of the season on the next drive. Rourke finished with 21-for-25 passing with 142 yards and one interception.

Next Up:

The Bobcats will stay in Athens for the game next week. The Bobcats will welcome Duquesne into Peden Stadium on Sept. 11. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.

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