An era ended 953 miles from where it began in southeast Ohio.
The winningest senior class in Ohio history played their final act at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. on Monday, hanging with East Carolina for three quarters, but eventually falling to the Pirates 37-20 in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl.
The game began like others that Ohio (7-6) had played against strong competition with the Bobcats producing little traction on offense and not much resistance on defense, as the Pirates scoring the first 14 points.
East Carolina (10-3) opened the scoring with a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Shane Carden to wide receiver Cam Worthy, before following with a two-yard rushing score by running back Breon Allen.
But unlike the three-game losing streak in November when Ohio lost by a combined margin of 123-16, the Bobcats picked themselves up off the mat and showed resistance to a strong start by the Pirates.
“This is my last game,” senior linebacker Keith Moore said. “I think we all were playing like it was our last game, and defensively, I loved our energy. That’s why I’m upset, but I know we played as hard as we could.”
Ohio opened the playbook on its first drive of the second quarter with a double reverse flea flicker back to quarterback Tyler Tettleton, who hit Florida-native Daz Patterson for a 26-yard gain. One play later, the redshirt senior threw Patterson’s way again, resulting in a 17-yard touchdown reception.
Patterson, who grew up in nearby Plant City, took an expanded role in the offense from the outset, adding a speedy dynamic that was often missing for the Bobcats.
“I was happy to be home, happy to be with my family and friends,” Patterson said. “I just wish we could’ve got that win.”
The sophomore running back finished with 10 rushes for 37 yards on the ground, in addition to his six catches, 77 receiving yards and a touchdown reception.
After holding the Pirates to a punt on their following drive, Derrius Vick entered the game at quarterback and quickly made his presence felt.
The heir-apparent to the next year’s quarterback throne faked an option run and hit a wide open Donte Foster on a post route for an 80-yard score to knot the score at 14 points apiece.
“Derrius is a great runner, but he also has an arm of his own,” Foster said. “I think a lot of defenses think he’s a run quarterback only, but I just got behind the defense and he put it in the air and gave me a chance.”
Foster, a redshirt senior wide receiver, was named Ohio’s recipient of the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl MVP and finished his Bobcat career with six catches for 160 yards and one touchdown to beat the bowl’s single-game record.
“A win would have made this a whole lot better,” Foster said of his performance.
The third quarter saw Ohio put on perhaps its strongest 15 minutes of defense, holding the Pirates to no points on three possessions and keeping the score tied at 17 entering the fourth.
With 13:34 remaining in the game, Ohio drove inside East Carolina’s redzone and took the lead on a 28-yard field goal by redshirt sophomore kicker Josiah Yazdani.
On the following kickoff, the Bobcats caught the Pirates by surprise with a perfectly executed onside kick by Yazdani which was recovered by Devin Bass.
“We had to come up with ways we felt we could continue to make plays and then hopefully have our share of big plays,” coach Frank Solich said. “We did have some things in special for the game that were on the trickery side.”
But the ensuing drive would come up empty, as Yazdani pushed a 46-yard field goal attempt wide left for his first miss in 15 attempts this season.
East Carolina grabbed control on the next drive, aided by a questionable late-hit call on Ben Russell and Travis Carrie’s second pass interference penalty of the game, with running back Vontavious Cooper dodging multiple defenders on a 31-yard touchdown run.
“That was a huge drive,” Solich said. “It did hurt. It was tough in terms of, we’ve got them in third and long, and then that first penalty ensued and then the pass interference call. It was one after another on that drive. We didn’t have anything that went well.”
Cooper couldn’t be stopped by Ohio’s rushing defense, accruing 198 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns.
This was the sixth game this season Ohio allowed an opposing running back to rush for more than 135 yards and the 568 yards the Bobcats allowed was the second highest mark they’ve allowed this season.
The Pirates ended up scoring the final 20 points of the game, which Moore blamed on the 58 plays East Carolina ran in the first half, which is number that Moore said was “unheard of.”
Ohio failed to respond on the next drive and East Carolina put the nail in the coffin with 7:29 remaining when Worthy connected with Carden on a wide receiver reverse pass, with the quarterback leaping over two Ohio defenders for the score.
Tettleton finished the game with 21 completions on 40 attempts for 228 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.
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