Ohio football comes home Tuesday night with first place in the Mid-American Conference still in hand — and a bad fourth quarter to answer for. The Bobcats (7-3, 5-1 MAC) host Ball State on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium in Athens, with kickoff at 7 p.m. on CBSSN, Ohio University’s athletics department announced.
It is Ohio’s final Tuesday night game of the season, and the Bobcats look to get back in the win column after dropping their last game on the road, the university said. John Sadak and Taylor McHargue will call the game on CBSSN, and it can also be heard on The Varsity Sports Network, with veteran Ohio broadcaster Marty Bannister reprising his play-by-play role alongside Rob Cornelius, according to the university.
Tuesday’s game is the 30th meeting between the schools, with Ball State leading the series 16-13, the university said. Ohio dropped last year’s meeting 20-14 in Muncie, but before that the Bobcats had won five of the last six and seven of the last ten, and they have won the past three meetings in Athens — the Cardinals’ last win at Peden Stadium came in 2011, according to Ohio’s athletics department.
Ball State arrives off a 28-7 home loss to Buffalo in which the Cardinals took an early lead and then allowed 28 straight points, Ohio’s athletics department reported in its scouting report. Quarterback Keldric Luster completed 20 passes for 136 yards and added 34 rushing yards, wide receiver Donovan Hamilton recorded his first 100-yard receiving game with 104 yards on 11 catches, and running back TJ Horton rushed for 92 yards on 11 carries, according to the report. Defensively, Sterling Smith’s 10 tackles lead the Cardinals with 56 on the season, and defensive back Kamron Chamble leads Ball State with two interceptions, the university said.
Ohio’s last time out was the Battle of the Bricks at Miami, a 34-17 loss in Oxford. Quarterback Nick Poulos threw for 193 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 63 more, running back Duncan Brune ran for 47 yards and a touchdown, and wide receiver Riley Neer caught 74 yards and a touchdown, Ohio’s athletics department reported. Linebacker Michael Molnar had eight tackles and an interception, safety Darren James-Hamilton had eight tackles and a tackle for loss, and linebacker Jack Fries added seven tackles, according to the university.
The shape of that loss is what Tuesday must fix. Ohio led 17-0 in the second quarter and 17-14 after three, then gave up the tying field goal, the go-ahead field goal, a touchdown and a pick-six in the fourth quarter, Ohio’s athletics department reported. A win over Ball State keeps the Bobcats alone at the top of the MAC race with one regular-season game left; a loss drops them into the pack with no margin left.
What happens next after Tuesday is the regular-season finale, also at Peden Stadium: Toledo visits Athens on Friday, Nov. 27. First, though, the Bobcats get a home Tuesday night, a home crowd and a Ball State team they have not lost to in Athens in 15 years.
Photo: APocketJoker, CC BY-SA