It started as one of those dreary games that’s been so common for the Bobcats this season. Nothing seems to be going right, parents in town for the weekend seem squirmish and Ohio down 14-0 early.
It turned into a thrilling shootout, where just about anything could happen. Quarterback Nathan Rourke settled down, and the Ohio offense set the program record for total yards in a game.
When the defense was called upon to come up with stops to overcome the early deficit, it delivered, a trait that has been hard to come by for the Bobcats recently.
Saturday was the largest deficit they’ve actually overcome this season.
“It was a bit of a surprise that we got down 14-0 as quick as we did,” coach Frank Solich said. “The fact that we were able to move the ball as well, and at times better, gave us some encouragement.”
About that start…
A win to end nonconference play is nice. Winning in a shootout type of game is even better. But that doesn’t quite erase the concerns that come with another sluggish start.
The game seemed like a game Ohio could take control from the start and never let go. Instead, Minutemen quarterback Andrew Ford took control of the UMass offense with ease, marching it down the field and resulting in a 39-yard touchdown pass to Andy Isabella.
On the first pass attempt from scrimmage for Rourke, the junior quarterback threw a pick-six, which was returned 55-yards by Isaiah Rodgers for a touchdown. Rourke completely missed an open Cam Odom on the play.
A quick 14-0 lead sprouted not even five minutes in.
A subtle groan seemed to be unleashed throughout Peden. Rourke’s last two pass attempts at that point had resulted in interceptions and the secondary seemed to be the No. 1 touchdown suspect again.
"It was definitely not the way we wanted to start the game, but it wasn't like a total lack of execution on myself or Cam's part. We just had a miscommunication,” Rourke said. “There’s an argument to be made for what he saw. There's an argument to be made for what I saw, and we just realized, ‘hey that happens’ and all we can do is move on. We were very successful at moving the ball up until that point, and we're a resilient bunch, so I had confidence that we could get it going after that."
Ohio responded with a touchdown on the following drive, a 19-yard pass from Rourke to Papi White. UMass responded with another touchdown catch from Isabella, stretching the lead to 21-7.
The Bobcats were back in a 14 point hole, and they couldn’t play catch up for the whole game.
The anatomy of a comeback
- The Bobcats forced two punts, an interception and three turnover on downs after that 6:17 point in the first quarter. They also sacked UMass three times from that point. While the secondary has struggled, so has the pass rush. With a bigger presence Saturday, it seemed to affect the Minutemen’s passing attack as the game went on.
- “We need to get pressure on the quarterback, and we need to get some sacks. We need to not just be in our four-man-front defense and be a base defensive football team,” Solich said. “I don't know that just being like that fits us. We've got good team speed; I think that by moving people, slanting people and blitzing people it gives you your best chance to utilize your talent sometimes. You can't just do it all the time because obviously they'll just start throwing bombs on you and releasing it, but I think we have to have a really good mixture of that in our defensive teams.”
- Rourke and the Bobcats offense responded well, too, with six straight scores after the initial 14-0 deficit. Rourke was brilliant after the interception, finishing 23 of 32 for three touchdowns. He connected with White six times for 84 yards and two touchdowns. A crazy stat that was lost in the mix: Every one of White’s receptions went for either a first down or a touchdown.
- The quarterback continues to be a dual-threat extraordinaire. He finished the game with 16 carries for 189 yards.
- While Rourke had the best game of his career at Ohio, the running game finally took full force. Between Rourke, Maleek Irons and A.J. Ouellette, the trio rushed for 394 yards and four touchdowns. Solich gave a lot of credit to the offensive line, which seems to have finally adjusted to offensive line coach Bart Miller’s new system.
- "To start the game off they were giving us some funny looks, but we have an experienced group up front, and they came to the sideline, gave the coaches information,” Ouellette said. “They got it fixed, and after that it was just a wall of people with a huge gap. The gap could be anywhere— mainly it was backside. I learned that watching Maleek his first couple series in there, I mean, he's hit huge holes backside.”
- Unsung player of the game: Andrew Meyer. The redshirt senior had his best game of the season with six receptions for 60 yards. His longest of the day came on a 23-yard completion.
Solich quote to think about
A reporter from out of town was in the press conference after the game and asked a question out of the blue. He asked Solich why he was still going at it 50 years later when he could be drinking mojitos.
For those who know him well, it’s pretty obvious. But for some who don’t, this answer will fill in the blanks.
"Well, a couple things I guess. I love the game, always have. Once I got into coaching, I always loved coaching. I don't know that I can do anything else, so that kind of keeps me going in the coaching ranks,” he said. “Being around these guys kind of keeps you young a bit — they won't let you grow old peacefully. They will not let it happen. So that's good for me. I enjoy being around them. They're all kind of challenges, though, and sometimes you kind of shake your head and wonder, 'what in the world are you doing?'
But it's been great; I've been around great kids, and I've been around great coaches. When you can tie in being around some great administrative people, then you give yourself a chance to stay in the profession and enjoy it the way I do. You don't want too many games like this or last week's game — don't want any more like that. Those are really tough on you. It was tough to let go of that one last week. There are just two games that I have had memories about on the last drive in my career, and that was one of them last week. I'm moving on. I'm not talking about that anymore. I'm done.”
