’Cats let another victory slip by
By Caleb Troop
September 15, 2008
A total of just 16 points separates the Ohio Bobcats (0-3) from a perfect record through three weeks of the college football season. But after Ohio’s 31-28 loss to Central Michigan (2-1) Saturday afternoon at Peden Stadium, 16 points seems like a long ways away.
The ’Cats again took a lead into the half-time locker room, but were outplayed in the second half, committing two costly turnovers in the last four minutes of the game to spoil a record-setting day for ’Cats quarterback Boo Jackson.
“The way that we lost these past three games is just crushing,” said Jackson “We’re playing our hearts out every down, but what it comes down to is the fourth quarter, and again we gave up mistakes, we missed assignments, (and) we gave up two fumbles. That’s not acceptable. We can’t do that.”
Ohio jumped on the board early with back-to-back Chris Garrett touchdowns during the first seven minutes of the game. The running back scored from 12 yards out on Ohio’s first series of the game, and on the first play of Ohio’s ensuing possession, he caught Jackson’s pass and scooted 45 yards for a 14-0 lead.
After Garrett’s run, five punts and a missed 46-yard field goal were all Ohio’s offense could muster through the end of the third quarter — accounting for a 43-minute scoring drought.
In the meantime, the Chippewas’ no-huddle, hurry-up offense began to click. CMU quarterback Dan LeFevour and company cut the deficit to 4 before halftime.
Then, for the second straight week, Ohio gave up points in the special-teams department. Last week, Ohio State Buckeyes punt returner Ray Small was the spoiler, returning a boot 69 yards to seal the momentum and the game for OSU. This week, Chips’ returner Antonio Brown did the duties, returning a kick 75 yards for CMU’s first lead of the game at 17-14 in the third quarter.
“Usually when you have that happen, you have guys that aren’t in their lanes,” ’Cats head coach Frank Solich said. “It’s obvious that we missed tackles and we didn’t cover in our lanes well. Those two things are not very good when you are trying to keep big plays against you.”
In the fourth quarter, Ohio cut 10-point deficits twice to stay in the game. Down 24-14, Jackson found tailback Donte Harden for a 43-yard score. Down 31-21, Jackson found Garrett again on a pass in the flats that he took 77 yards to pay dirt.
With less than four minutes left in a three-point game, the Green and White appeared to have taken the lead on a Boo Jackson eight-yard run, but Jackson fumbled the ball away before it crossed the goal line.
With just over 90 seconds left and down by a field goal, Jackson lost the football again, this time a fate-sealing sack by Chips nose guard Casey Droscha.
“I wanted to limit my mistakes, but at the end of the game I gave up two costly fumbles for us,” Jackson said. “It’s a bit of a disappointment on my behalf because I came in here starting and marching our guys down the field. To end up like that… losing a fumble on the goal line for the win, it’s unacceptable.”
Jackson completed 17 of 31 passes for 365 yards. He accounted for a single-game record 413 of the ’Cats 513 yards of total offense. Solich said Jackson’s impressive numbers are irrelevant without a victory.
“We were given chances to win it, and we made enough plays to earn the win, and then to give it away was a little rough,” he said. “As I see it, it’s the third straight game that we’ve lost the turnover ratio. We’ve given up more turnovers than we’ve gotten in all three ballgames. Usually you don’t win ballgames when you’re playing good football teams when that’s the case.”
The Chips, meanwhile, did what they do best. LeFevour threw for 361 yards and had 45 yards rushing with a score on the ground.
Ohio middle-linebacker Michael Brown — back for the first time this season after missing the first two games with a hamstring injury — said the third straight defeat is tough to swallow.
“Obviously we’re not where we expected to be at this point,” said Brown, who tied for a team-high 10 tackles Saturday. “In no way, shape or form do these three games determine our season (though).”
Added Solich: “Right now we are just a bit snake-bitten. We just need to play beyond that.
“I don’t think it can continue to go on like this,” he said. “We are going to get a ball bouncing our way. We are going to have a few breaks as you go down the stretch… We’ve got to find a way to just play a little better in the fourth quarter in terms of critical mistakes.”
Comments
Please log in to post a comment.
