Kyle Grantham / Staff Photographer / kg116806@ohiou.edu

Ohio tight end Andrew Mooney reaches for the ball in the end zone as Keydet defenders Kyle Nikmard (8) and Bryant Youngblood converge in defense during Ohio’s Homecoming game on Sept. 27.  Ohio lost to Western Michigan Saturday, 41-20.

Tim Hiller erased any chance Ohio had of stealing a road win Saturday with two second-half drives that turned a close game into a Bronco route.

The Western Michigan quarterback, who passed for 347 yards and four touchdowns, led his team to 16 unanswered points, as Western Michigan rolled to a 41-20 victory.

The Broncos outscored Ohio 30-13 in the second half.

“I don’t feel like our team was in the right mindset to play this game today,” quarterback Boo Jackson said. “It’s tough on all of us.”

Jackson was 13-of-22 for 144 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions for an offense that never really got into a rhythm coming off a 51-point performance last weekend.

The Western Michigan defense sacked Jackson five times, including once for an 11-yard safety.

“Their defense played us hard,” Jackson said. “We’re young on the offensive line now with our injuries, and we just need to get their experience up.”

Another glaring statistic was penalties. The Bobcats (1-5, 0-2  Mid-American Conference) had nine for a total of 98 yards.     
“We had a lot of penalties in the first half,” coach Frank Solich said. “That just took the momentum away from us.”

Jackson found tight end Andrew Mooney for a four-yard touchdown pass to give Ohio a 7-5 lead late in the second quarter.

That was short-lived though, as Hiller and Western Michigan responded just before halftime to retake the lead, 11-7.

After a field goal by Western Michigan (5-1, 3-0 MAC) in the third quarter, the game broke open when running back Chris Garrett fumbled on the ensuing kickoff, turning the ball over to the Broncos on the Bobcat 27-yard line. Hiller would capitalize with a touchdown pass off the turnover to increase the lead to 21-7. He added another touchdown pass on the Broncos’ next drive.

“We’re talking about being one touchdown down,” Solich said. “That was huge.”

Ohio would not cut the lead to less than 14 the rest of the game.

“I thought both teams battled hard in the first half,” Solich said. “In the second half, the momentum on two long drives seemed to take the momentum from us and we were not able to battle back and get that back.”

Ohio kicker Barrett Way missed a 43-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter, and had an extra point attempt blocked. Solich said the team needs to re-evaluate their kicking situation.

“There is enough going on there that we really need to assess that and see what makes sense,” he said.

The Bobcats face the reality that at 1-5, chances of climbing back in the MAC race will be difficult.

“It’s a horrible feeling inside,” Jackson said. “Everyone that is watching us knows we can play better than this. To come out here and basically get blown out is a rude awakening for us.”