Ohio lost its third consecutive game against a Mid-American Conference opponent when it fell 34-27 to Kent State on Saturday.
A quarterback switch that led to Kurtis Rourke reaching a career-high 308 passing yards only did so much to boost the Bobcats offense after a slow start. Ohio faced almost the opposite problem from the previous loss against Buffalo. Rather than running up the score early and then falling flat later, Ohio instead took too long to put points on the board and fell far behind Kent State.
Here are The Post’s fast reactions to to Ohio’s 34-27 loss to Kent State:
Stagnant start on offense
Going against Kent State’s bottom-ranked total defense in the MAC, Ohio had an opportunity to put plenty of points on the board early Saturday. Instead, it doomed itself with three first-half turnovers with only one touchdown to match. On their other drives in the first two quarters, the Bobcats either turned the ball over on downs or went three-and-out.
A switch at quarterback from Armani Rogers to Kurtis Rourke at the end of the first quarter also took too long to get going. Rourke’s first two drives ended with a fumble and an interception in Kent State territory, and Ohio didn’t score its first points until its second to last drive of the first half. Even when the Bobcats scored on all of their drives after halftime, their past still came back to haunt them.
Crum’s dual-threat ability shows up
Kent State quarterback Dustin Crum came in as the core of his team’s MAC-leading total offense, and keeping him down was critical for Ohio on Saturday. While he didn’t have a career game, Crum still showed off why he was feared as a dual-threat quarterback heading into the game. He threw for 257 yards and a touchdown on 31 attempts and also rushed for 93 yards and an end zone trip.
Allowing 34 points to one of the MAC’s most dangerous offenses isn’t completely unacceptable, but allowing Crum to find open looks hurt the Bobcats in the long run.
Triple-threat rushing from Kent State
Crum wasn’t the only dangerous runner on the Golden Flashes on Saturday. Running backs Xavier Williams and Marquez Cooper also gave the Bobcats trouble on the ground. Their numbers combined with Crum’s resulted in 200 rushing yards going against Ohio alongside three touchdowns, with one coming from each of the three.
Cooper had one of the most impressive touchdowns of the game when he broke a tackle in the third quarter and proceeded to hurdle over a Bobcat to break free for a 15-yard touchdown run. He and the rest of the Golden Flashes offense were at full speed for most of the second half and ran up the score when they already had a lead.
