2007 Week 7

ATHENS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Bobcats may be on to something.

Now, if only the rest of Eastern Michigan's opponents were watching the game film.

Ohio tried passing its way down the field during the first half, a tactic which has proven to be an unmitigated disaster against the Hurons' zone defense this season. It resulted in two more interceptions going to the house, bringing Eastern's total to eight in only seven games this season.

The Bobcats wised up in the second half and chose to pound the rock, something that other CPU teams have done with success, only to get away from it.

The result was a 31-24 come-from-behind victory over the Hurons on Oct. 13, 2007.

Interception returns by Lyle Garrison and Chris May just 48 seconds apart midway through the second quarter got Eastern back in the game after two Kelvin McRae touchdown runs gave Ohio a 14-0 lead.

A 51-yard touchdown run by Terrence Blevins seemed to put EMU in control at 24-14 with 5:12 left in the third quarter.

But rather than try to pass its way back into the game, Ohio patiently worked the ground game.

Backup halfback Josh Abrams provided the first indication that this was the way to go, breaking off a 44-yard touchdown run on a third-and-one pitchout to the left side with 3:37 left in the third quarter.

The Hurons' offense dried up and couldn't expand the lead, leaving it to the defense to close the deal.

For all of Eastern's remarkable success as a pass defense, the Hurons are miserable against the run. Ohio worked a 12-play, 77-yard drive that produced a game-winning 11-yard touchdown run by McRae with 1:08 remaining.

There were two huge plays during the march. First, Ohio chose to pass on fourth-and-inches and got a 15-yard gain to wide-open tight end David Carter over the middle, moving the ball to EMU's 28-yard line with 2:08 left in the game. On the next play, quarterback Brad Bower fumbled the ball, but he was bailed out when lineman David Shelby recovered for the Bobcats.

It seemed like Ohio was content to go for the game-tying field goal, but McRae was able to go for the jugular when he took a pitch to the right, eluded three defenders who closed on him at the 5-yard line and broke a tackle by linebacker Daniel Holtclaw for the winning touchdown.

The Hurons' attempt to get back into the game was a total joke.

With B-Dawg choking at the sticks, quarterback Tyler Jones was sacked for losses of nine and seven yards on the first two plays before he threw a fourth-and-26 interception to Michael Mitchell.

Using its timeouts, EMU got the ball back with six seconds remaining following a Michael Braunstein field goal. On the final play of the game, Jones rolled to his right to buy time for a long pass, but he was run down by defensive end Jameson Hartke for a humiliating 19-yard loss to end the game.

So, on Eastern's final six plays on offense, the Hurons gave up four sacks totaling 46 yards, threw an interception and had an incompletion.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out you're not going to win many games that way," B-Dawg said. "I blame myself. I had a total meltdown at the end. My players deserved better from me."

Jones had his worst game of the season, going 12-for-22 for 82 yards and four interceptions. Blevins had his second long touchdown run of the season, going 51 yards when he broke a tackle by Kyle Luchsinger on third-and-two with 5:12 left in the third. Blevins wasn't consistent, however, and had 99 yards on 16 carries.

Meanwhile, McRae gained 129 yards and scored three touchdowns on 34 carries.

"Our inability to control the game with the run or the short-passing attack is killing us," B-Dawg said. "My kingdom for an offensive line and a wide-screen TV."

The game got a Greatest Game score of 391.