The 2013 regular season was a roller coaster ride for Ohio, its ups not quite matching its downs. The preseason Mid-American Conference East favorites fell short of their primary goal, winning a conference championship. Before the Bobcats’ postseason fate is decided on Sunday, here’s a look back at notable moments from the season that was.
Sept. 1: No. 9 Louisville (1-0) 49, Ohio (0-1) 7
Ohio couldn’t even get its bearings against Louisville, a top-10 team, before the Cardinals racked up a pair of first quarter touchdowns. Louisville junior quarterback Teddy Bridgewater operated like a surgeon on Ohio’s defense, throwing for 355 yards and five touchdowns.
“You have to give credit to them,” Ohio redshirt senior quarterback Tyler Tettleton said. “They have a great defense. We just weren’t clicking today. We knew that they had a great offense and we felt like to keep up with them, we’d probably have to score every possession.”
Sept. 7: Ohio (1-1) 27, North Texas (1-1) 21
Ohio redshirt junior wide receiver Chase Cochran’s 75 yard touchdown reception from Tettleton set the tone early on in the game, and the Ohio offense racked up 442 yards of offense en route to its first victory of the season.
“The coaches have been hard on me working on my short game and not being a one-dimensional guy,” Cochran said. “It’s pretty apparent if you are one dimensional, you just run deep and it’s pretty easy to guard.”
Sept. 14: Ohio (2-1) 34, Marshall (2-1) 31
With injuries catapulting him into a starting role, Ohio redshirt sophomore cornerback Devin Bass stepped up and provided a performance that would earn him MAC East defensive player of the week honors, recording 11 tackles, four pass breakups and a fourth quarter interception that sealed the game for the Bobcats.
“I’m one of the newer corners out there, so a corner must be tried,” Bass said. “Tonight, I felt like I was just able to do my part and play to the best of my abilities.”
Sept. 21: Ohio (3-1) 38, Austin Peay (0-4) 0
The game never was competitive, being that Ohio jumped on its Football Championship Subdivision foe early and often, with Tettleton throwing for •three first half touchdowns in the Bobcats’ first shutout victory since 2004.
“It’s great to do that, to be able to get the younger guys playing time,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “You don’t get in a lot of lopsided games to where you can just be able to substitute freely.”
Oct. 5: Ohio (4-1) 43, Akron (1-5) 3
Ohio redshirt junior safety Thad Ingol, a Barberton native, played his best game of the season in front of a hometown crowd, recording an interception and returning a fumble for a touchdown in Ohio’s dominant win over a sloppy Zips squad.
“First I was cheering because I thought it was a sack,” Ingol said. “But then I saw the ball squirt out and I was like, ‘Hey, here we go.’ … I guess it just kind of happened.”
Oct. 12: Central Michigan (3-4) 26, Ohio (4-2) 23
A muffed punt by Ohio redshirt senior cornerback Travis Carrie late in the game ultimately led to Central Michigan’s game-winning touchdown. A stagnant first-half offense, paired with a defense that allowed 208 yards on the ground put Ohio in a position to lose, however.
“First off, it’s not his fault whatsoever,” Tettleton said. “You shouldn’t even mention anything about Travis and the turnovers or anything. It’s a whole collection of the whole team. I had two turnovers. … It’s not just one player. We’re not going to put it on anybody.”
Oct. 19: Ohio (5-2) 56, Eastern Michigan (1-6) 28
Ohio’s offense had a field day through the air against the Eagles. Tettleton threw for 375 yards and four touchdowns and redshirt wide receiver Donte Foster caught 11 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown. A poor rushing defense continued to plague the Bobcats, however, as they allowed 315 yards on the ground.
“A lot of teams, they want to fill up the box,” Foster said. “They want to stop Beau (Blankenship) and (Ryan) Boykin. It’s the receiver’s job to open that up and take what the defense gives them.”
Oct. 26: Ohio (6-2) 41, Miami (0-8) 16
The Battle of the Bricks was never really a battle to begin with, as the Bobcats outmatched the winless RedHawks on each side of the ball, holding a 535-to-240 edge in total yards.
“We won a football game that was an excellent four quarters of football,” Solich said. “But then we’ve kind of broken it down a little bit from there. We’ve started to get to where we’re playing one play at a time and do the best we can on that particular play.”
Nov. 5: Buffalo (7-2) 30, Ohio (6-3) 3
A botched intentional grounding call on Tettleton in the third quarter resulted in a safety and started an avalanche of sloppy play for the Bobcats. Ohio’s rushing defense put together another poor performance, letting Bulls senior running back Branden Oliver rush for 249 yards and two touchdowns.
“(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.”
Nov. 12: Bowling Green (7-3) 49, Ohio (6-4) 0
The game was over early for Ohio. The Bobcats came out flat, and the Falcons mounted a 35-0 lead at halftime. Ohio could only muster 172 yards of offense, and its defense permitted 207 rushing yards.
“I think the effort is there,” Ohio redshirt sophomore linebacker Ben Russell said. “When one thing happens, it’s a domino effect. We all fall. We just need to keep it going. I mean, it’s unacceptable for one big play to happen and for us to put our heads down.”
Nov. 19: Kent State (4-8) 44, Ohio (6-5) 13
A fake punt resulting in a 61-yard touchdown jaunt by Kent State sophomore defensive lineman Nate Terhune was Ohio’s lowlight in a game in which the Flashes rushed for 312 yards. Ohio’s offense struggled again, recording only 204 yards of total offense.
“We’re a football team that’s spiraling down and struggling to bring ourselves out of it,” Solich said.
Nov. 29: Ohio (7-5) 51, UMass (1-11) 23
Carrie returned two interceptions for touchdowns, Tettleton threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns and redshirt senior running back Beau Blankenship rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown. The winningest class in Ohio history left Peden on a positive note.
“You see what’s going on around here,” Tettleton said. “We’ve kind of built that and started a foundation for (younger players). It sucks that we couldn’t get the MAC title, but hopefully we started something and allowed them to have something going into the next couple years, to have a chance to win.”
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