Ohio 24, Utah State 23
When: 5:30 PM ET, Saturday, December 17, 2011
Where: Bronco Stadium, Boise, Idaho
Temperature:
41°
Head Official:
Penn Wagers
Attendance:
28076
By SportsDirect Inc.
Tyler Tettleton threw two touchdowns and scored on a 1-yard scramble in the final seconds to help Ohio come back in dramatic fashion and beat Utah State 24-23 Saturday in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
The Bobcats (10-4, 6-2 Mid-American Conference), trailed for the entire game but scored on a nine-play, 61-yard touchdown drive with 13 seconds remaining to tie the game and set up the decisive extra point.
On fourth-and-6 from the Utah State 14-yard line, Tettleton lobbed a pass over the middle to LaVon Brazill, who caught it and stretched toward the end zone. Brazill fumbled the ball and recovered it for a touchdown, but the referees had trouble deciding on the correct call. After multiple video reviews, the officials determined that Brazill’s knee was down outside of the end zone, nullifying the fumble and giving the Bobcats the ball inside the 1-yard line.
Two plays later, Tettleton scampered around the right end for the game-winning score.
Michael Smith and Robert Turbin each topped 100 yards rushing for Utah State (7-6, 5-2 Western Athletic Conference), which led 9-7 at halftime and took a 23-10 lead midway through the third quarter.
Smith ran for 117 yards on his first four touches after the break, scoring on runs of 63 and 11 yards.
Ohio, which blew a 20-point lead to lose the MAC Championship Game against Northern Illinois, won a bowl game for the first time in program history.
Utah State moved to 1-7 all-time in bowl games and hasn’t won since the 1993 Las Vegas Bowl.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| |
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
| Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
| Utah State
|
441 |
345 |
96 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2.0 |
0 |
| Ohio
|
345 |
125 |
220 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1.0 |
0 |