During the third quarter, six-foot-four, 265 pound defensive tackle Nate Turhune ran 61 yards for a Kent State touchdown, breaking tackles and hurdling Bobcat defenders.
It was a play that summed up the past three weeks of a lost season, as a Peden Stadium crowd dressed in black witnessed the funeral of Ohio’s once promising year on Tuesday.
Ohio (6-5, 3-4 Mid-American Conference) came out flat for a third consecutive week in its 44-13 loss to Kent State, which was a continuation of the second consecutive late-season collapse, despite claims of excitement and redemption from the Bobcats after being thrashed the past two weeks.
The much-maligned offense, which has been outscored 123-16 the past three games, struggled to rebound in front of a sparse crowd that nearly emptied the stadium after halftime.
“We’re a football team that’s spiraling down and struggling to bring ourselves out of it,” coach Frank Solich said.
Redshirt senior quarterback Tyler Tettleton failed to find a rhythm once again, passing for less than 200 yards for the third consecutive week, completing 11 of his 24 passes for 132 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Ohio managed to score its first touchdown in the month of November on a one-yard reception by redshirt senior Mario Dovell to give the Bobcats a 13-10 lead with 10:04 remaining in the second quarter.
But Kent State, which was finishing off what was a disappointing season after reaching the MAC Championship last year, ran wild on the Ohio defense totaling 537 yards in its highest-scoring performance of the season.
The Golden Flashes (4-8, 3-5 MAC) blew the game open early in the third quarter, scoring two touchdowns in the first seven minutes on a five-yard rush from senior running back Dri Archer and Terhune’s aforementioned touchdown run, which Ohio players identified as the ultimate straw that broke the camel’s back.
Archer, who has fought to stay on the field this season because of injuries, ran wild on the Bobcat defense, rushing for 138 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns.
“Obviously there’s something wrong here that we need to fix as players and as a program,” redshirt junior Nate Carpenter said. “Our players need to get together and start from scratch and we need to finish off the season strong.”
Archer added insult to injury late in the fourth quarter when he rushed for a 29-yard touchdown with 1:46 remaining and then ran up the hill in the corner of the north endzone, while getting mobbed by teammates directly in front of the ROTC and their cannon.
“We want to finish this thing off right,” Tettleton said. “I know I do. I’m not quitting and taking it in. It’s not in my DNA. If it was, I’d be at Miami. But I’m trying to win this last game and I know the seniors are and we want to finish this thing off right.”
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This article appeared in print under the headline "’Cats ‘spiraling’ with 3rd straight loss."
