Momentum can change on a dime during a football game—or, in Ohio’s case, it might only take a nickel.
The Bobcats’ tone shifted significantly during the second half after a questionable intentional grounding call that resulted in a safety on quarterback Tyler Tettleton, ultimately leading to Buffalo coasting to a 30-3 victory Tuesday.
Ohio (6-3, 3-2 Mid-American Conference) failed to find success on offense against Buffalo’s (7-2, 5-0 MAC), which allowed just 233 yards. Tettleton, a redshirt senior, finished 14-for-31 and was held to 126 yards.
The Bobcats’ three points were the program’s fewest since 2008. The game was an uphill battle for Ohio; especially after redshirt senior wide receiver Donte Foster left the game with an injury in the second quarter and did not return.
“We’ll have to wait and see on that,” coach Frank Solich said. “We’ve got a few guys banged up, certainly Donte’s one of them. Were going to have to take a day or two to get healed up and get going again.”
The night was a tale of two halves, with the first acting as a defensive stalemate with the teams combining for 10 punts in the half.
But the defensive battle turned into a rout when Buffalo junior running back Branden Oliver ran wild on the Bobcats next half. He finished with 249 yards and two touchdowns after being held to 79 yards in the first half.
Solich said the combination of not moving the ball and Buffalo’s rushing attack significantly hindered the Bobcats.
“I think we didn’t move the ball enough and come up with big plays to get some points on the board,” Solich said. “That was tough and then they got their running game going and we weren’t able to slow that down.”
Ohio’s only offensive success came after it settled for a 23-yard field goal from redshirt sophomore Josiah Yazdani to cut the Bulls lead to 7-3 entering the half.
Buffalo then took a 9-3 lead after Ohio’s safety during its first possession of the second half.
Solich said with a controversial play, there wasn’t much he could tell his team.
“(The play) was a situation where the official apparently thought he threw it from the end zone,” Solich said. “Which obviously from our point of view was not the case.”
The energy shifted in favor of the Bulls, who proceeded to score on their ensuing drive when Oliver converted his second touchdown with a 13-yard run.
Buffalo then scored again near the end of the third quarter when Licata connected with wide receiver Alex Neutz for a 25-yard touchdown as Buffalo, before the duo connected on a 24-yard touchdown pass to ice the contest the next quarter.
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