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The air was crisp Saturday. Two small white clouds dotted an otherwise pristine robin's-egg blue sky. The crowd of more than 23,000 at Peden Stadium for Saturday's Homecoming game watched the game on a perfect fall afternoon.
The weather mimicked the start to the Ohio Bobcats season. Perhaps a few clouds dotted an otherwise spotless resume during Ohio's red-hot start to the season.
But in a town like Athens, it seems inevitable that the rain will fall again.
The loss to Rutgers was the first rain-drop. Last week against Buffalo, it started to drizzle. Saturday's 23-20 loss to Ball State brought the storm. The weather crisis is all the worse when one considers that neither Buffalo (2-5, 1-2 in the MAC) nor Ball State (4-3, 2-1 in the Mac; tied for second with three other MAC West schools) are considered serious conference contenders. Buffalo, which OU barely beat, 38-37, got torched Saturday by Temple, 34-0.
"Heartbreaking," said a despondent running-back Donte Harden, whose fumble with less than five minutes remaining at the Ball State 35-yard-line squandered a crucial drive. It was one of three turnovers by Ohio, the other two being Tyler Tettleton interceptions.
Despite the three turnovers, Ohio (4-3, 1-2) was in place to send the game into overtime with under a minute left in regulation.
After being pinned inside the five-yard-line for the third straight possession, Tettleton marched the Bobcats inside Ball State (4-3, 2-1) territory through a mix of quarterback draws and quick passes, including a 13-yard strike to LaVon Brazill that made the wide receiver Ohio's career leader in receptions. Brazill finished with 157 yards receiving, a career best, and two touchdowns.
Tettleton and Brazill put the Bobcats in position for a game-tying, 41-yard field goal. Matt Weller, Ohio's career leader in field goals made and three-time MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week this season, stepped confidently to the ball. Weller struck the football then almost immediately snapped his chinstrap in frustration. He knew before it landed that the ball was going to hook wide left.
Linebacker Noah Keller, Harden and Brazill spoke to the sports media after the game, and all three seemed shell-shocked. "All three of the games that we lost are games we think we should have won," said Keller.
Turnovers played a big part in the game, but head coach Frank Solich had trouble pointing to any specific thing.
Yes, Tettleton was forced to scramble and tossed two poorly thrown balls. One happened on a slant to Phil Bates that was too far in front of Bates and deflected off the defender's helmet before being intercepted and returned to the Ohio eight-yard-line with less than 30 seconds to go in the first half. The other happened on an under-thrown deep ball to Donte Foster, who had beaten two defenders by a step.
Sure, the injury-depleted defense, which was missing four starters, struggled some in tackling. The young secondary in particular missed some key tackles.
But explanations and excuses after a crushing loss like this one seem irrelevant.
The most important takeaway is that Ohio now has no room for error. If the Bobcats win out, they can still take the MAC East, but the road to Detroit has just been laced with potholes. Every practice, every snap will carry the weight of the season from now on. The care-free, confident team that showed up early in the season may soon be transformed into a desperate shadow of its former self.
It's a position that no one saw coming.
