Ohio opened its season on Saturday against a tough Syracuse team in a deafening road atmosphere. After a hard-fought battle, Ohio fell in its opening game by a final score of 38-22.*
“We were prepared; we had a lot of new guys coming in,” kicker Gianni Spetic said. “... Syracuse is a tough opponent for week one, and I thought we fought, we kept it close for a lot of the first half. I was proud of the guys.”
After the Orange won the toss and elected to defer, the Bobcats started with the ball on offense. To start the game, Ohio faced one of the loudest environments that it will all season. The JMA Dome was rocking as newly appointed starting quarterback Parker Navarro took the field with the Ohio offense.
“We were excited, we fed off that energy,” running back Anthony Tyus III said. “It’s college football, everyone loves college football. Week one, I don’t think it really affected our guys.”*
A drive, heavily reliant on the run game, was capped off with a 43-yard field goal from Gianni Spetic. The sophomore kicker, was a bright spot in the loss for Ohio, going 3-3 on field goals with a long of 43 and 2-2 on extra points.
“Coming off last year, my freshman year, I didn’t have a good year,” Spetic said. “I can definitely say that changed during fall camp.”
Ohio was off to a swift 6-0 lead despite the raucous crowd; however, the team’s inability to execute in the red zone left a lane for Syracuse to jump right back into the game.
On its third drive of the game and after a lackluster offensive start, the Orange, led by former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord, marched down the field and scored a touchdown to take a 1-point lead. This lead was never taken back, despite Ohio’s ability to keep the game close.
“We returned a lot of veterans (in the secondary), we were in some tight coverages and their guys made some tough catches,” Ohio coach Tim Albin said.
McCord, a senior, ended the game with an impressive 354 passing yards and four touchdowns.
Injuries to Ohio’s secondary didn’t help aid the defense in stopping McCord. Senior leader and captain Jeremiah Wood went down on a play late in the second quarter and was unable to walk off the field under his own power.
It was announced after the game that Wood is likely to miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.
Albin was admittedly shaken up about losing one of his leaders, which threw a wrench into the game plan against McCord.
“We were scrambling in the headphones about what we were going to do and I got a little discouraged,” Albin said. “(The team’s play) inspired me … they never quit … I think we’re going to be OK.”
Ohio was able to keep pace with the high-powered Syracuse offense through the entirety of the first half and well into the third quarter. An undeniable turning point in the game came at the end of the first half.
With 2:02 to play in the first half, Ohio retained the ball, facing a 4-point deficit. On the first play from scrimmage, Tyus III took the ball right up the middle for a 44-yard gain that set Ohio up in enemy territory, threatening a score to give it a lead.
Another run by Tyus III, netting six yards, put Ohio in first-and-goal territory, but Ohio could not put the ball in the end zone after three designed passing attempts. After the game, Albin stated Tyus had made it clear he wanted the ball in that situation, but it just wasn’t how the game played out.
The drive ended in Spetic’s third and final field goal of the game, bringing Ohio within one at 10-9. What ensued after the field goal was the best and most impactful Syracuse drive of the game.
Retaining possession with under a minute to play, McCord led the offense down the field for a quick passing touchdown to take an 8-point lead into the half.
Coming out of the locker room, the Ohio defense was staunch, forcing a quick three-and-out, giving its offense a chance to cut into the deficit. The Bobcats moved the ball with ease to start the second half and quickly scored its first touchdown, a stretch run to Tyus III.
Tyus ended the game with 203 total rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Without its starting safety and with the Syracuse offense adjusting to its new quarterback, the game got away from Ohio fast in the second half. The Orange attacked Ohio’s secondary and made big play after big play.
Ohio faced a deficit of as much as 22 in the second half.
After Tyus’s second rushing touchdown, Ohio was on its way to a comeback. This comeback effort was quickly snuffed out by the Syracuse defense when one of Navarro’s passes was batted at the defensive line and fell right into the hands of Syracuse’s James Heard, Jr.
Ohio was able to get its offense going in the air late in the second half, mainly in the form of transfer Coleman Owen, who ended the game with 10 catches for 137 yards.
Ohio lost the game by 16 points, but Albin trusts his group of guys in the Ohio locker room and believes the team is poised for success.
