Football Suffers Loss to Ohio as Close Game Turns in Second Half

Saturday, October 21

Athens, OH

2:00 p.m.

Kent State University

2-6 , 1-3

Ohio University

6-2 , 3-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Kent State

Ohio

Football Suffers Loss to Ohio as Close Game Turns in Second Half

10/21/2017 4:57:00 PM | Football

Box Score

ATHENS, Ohio – A close game at the halftime flipped in the third quarter as Ohio took advantage of a string of Kent State mistakes on its way to handing the Golden Flashes a 48-3 loss on Saturday at Peden Stadium.

While miscues on offense and special teams put pressure on the Golden Flashes' defense throughout the afternoon, a penalty for roughing the punter early in the third quarter proved to be the turning point. A stingy defense in the first 30 minutes had allowed Kent State to keep the game close, trailing 13-3 at halftime. And after forcing the Bobcats to punt on the first series of the third quarter, the Flashes had hopes for another big second half like the one that sparked a homecoming win over Miami last week.

That opportunity never arrived. Two plays after a roughing the punter penalty, Ohio pushed its lead to 20-3 on a 39-yard Dorian Brown touchdown run.

"The (roughing the punter) was just a young freshman trying to make a play," said Kent State head coach Paul Haynes. "This was a tough loss by a good football team. They were very, very good, and there were a lot of things we didn't do well."

A similar error in the second quarter allowed Ohio to take its first lead of the game. Six plays after Kent State fumbled in its own end, Ohio took a 10-3 advantage on a 6-yard keeper by quarterback Nathan Rourke with 8:15 to go before halftime. KSU's 10-point halftime deficit swelled to 41-3 by the time the third quarter came to a close as Ohio scored touchdowns on four consecutive third-quarter possessions.

The first quarter, however, was all Kent State as the Flashes' defense held Ohio to just 41 yards of offense. A forced fumble by Jon Cunningham set the stage for KSU's only scoring drive – a five-play, 44-yard march that ended with Shane Hynes booting a 33-yard field goal.

Ohio tied the game at 3-3 on a 34-yard Louie Zervos field goal with 10:47 to play in the second quarter – a score that offered a brief moral victory as two red zone sacks by Kent State forced Ohio coach Frank Solich to settle for three points.

The Bobcats out-gained Kent State 474-166, racking up 23 first downs to Kent State's seven. Led by Brown's 108 yards on 13 carries and A.J. Ouellette's 91 yards on 11 carries, Ohio dominated the ground game to the tune of 336-102.

"They kept pounding it," said Haynes. "The longer the game went...the stronger and stronger they got, and they started moving the pile on us."

Kent State (2-6, 1-3) returns to action on Tuesday, Oct. 31 when it welcomes Bowling Green to Dix Stadium for an 8 p.m. kickoff.

Postgame Notes
Senior defensive tackle Jon Cunningham made 3.0 tackles for loss along with a forced fumble. Kent State totaled 9.0 tackles for loss.
Junior Shane Hynes made the 29^th field goal of his career and is alone in fifth place among program leaders.
Redshirt freshman Zach Corrigall made his collegiate debut as long snapper on the Shane Hynes field goal.
Sophomore Derek Adams had his third game of the year with a punt of 60 yards or more.
Junior George Bollas completed 6-of-8 passes in the first half.
Kent State's defense did not allow a pass completion in the first quarter.
The Flashes' defense has made 3.0 or more sacks in each of their last three games.