For the first time this season and the only time in recent memory, Ohio faced off with another team outfitted by Russell Athletic. That’s where the Bobcats’ similarities with Norfolk State ended, though, as Ohio routed the Spartans 44-10 Saturday in front of the sixth-largest crowd in Peden Stadium history without redshirt junior quarterback Tyler Tettleton.
Although No. 4 wasn’t behind center because of injury, redshirt freshman quarterback Derrius Vick did his best impression, putting as many scores on the board in his first collegiate start.
Vick, who learned he would start under center only minutes before kickoff, impressed, completing 14 of his 20 attempts for 199 yards and four touchdowns. And even though the Bobcats had 21 fewer yards than their previously lowest offensive output of 399 total yards against Marshall, they put on perhaps their most explosive and efficient showing of the season, cashing in on passes of 33 and 46 yards and averaging 5.6 yards per play.
The most impressive plays of the game were Vick’s connections with redshirt junior wide receiver Donte Foster — one of Tettleton’s favorite targets. The duo connected 10- and 13-yard corner-end zone catches and three other completions for 69 yards on the day.
The transition from Tettleton to Vick wasn’t radical because both quarterbacks take fairly equal repetitions with the first-team offense in practice.
“We run this one play probably ten times a practice and he throws it a great amount of times,” Foster said. “Today, it felt like it was right there on the money.”
As much as Ohio’s offense was the obvious Saturday storyline, the Bobcats’ play on the other side of the ball was the best it has been all season — given that Norfolk State entered the game without a skill player other than redshirt junior quarterback Nico Flores averaging more than 90 yards gained per game.
The Spartans stumbled to a mere 3.1 yards per carry, and none of their four active running backs earned more than 40 yards. Norfolk State’s wideout crew did not fare much better, as none broke the 50-yard barrier on the day.
Going into the game, the general consensus was that Norfolk State would have had to bank on big plays to have a shot at keeping the game close. When the Spartans took a chance downfield, though, it came back to shoot them in the foot.
Norfolk State’s longest completion was good for 18 yards, and Ohio’s Devin Bass, a redshirt freshman cornerback, and redshirt sophomore safety Thad Ingol each had interceptions stemming from Spartan long-balls. Ohio also recovered three fumbles.
Ohio’s running game, which is led by redshirt junior Beau Blankenship, was consistent as ever Saturday.
But as Blankenship completed his fourth-straight game with 100-plus yards rushing, it was questioned whether the Bobcats’ backfield consistency should have been pushed aside to give other backs an opportunity and Blankenship a rest.
Blankenship said he wasn’t surprised with his fairly routine workload despite the lopsided score, saying he’ll do “whatever they ask of me.” Solich agreed, admitting he kept Blankenship in the game long enough to let him break the 100-yard rushing plateau.
“Backs like him, they can average 25 carries a game for a season,” Solich said. “That’s how they’re built.”
One facet of Ohio’s game that has developed into an area of concern is the special teams, more specifically redshirt senior kicker Matt Weller’s ability to regularly split the uprights. Winds were measured at as much as 20 mph during Saturday’s game, but Weller missed half of his six attempts — all from 30 yards or longer.
Solich couldn’t pinpoint the problem following the game, but said the wind wasn’t the only factor that contributed to Weller’s substandard performance.
“He’s gone a little bit more in spurts this year than what he has in previous years, so I know he’s troubled by that and bothered by that,” Solich said.
When it was all said and done, the Bobcats didn’t have much to be bothered about Saturday, walking away with a relatively routine victory and their first 4-0 start since 1976.
Solich was not content with the Bobcats’ second half play, being that they used substitute players, some of whom ran Norfolk State’s schemes throughout the week in practice, following the halftime break.
But even though Solich’s expectations for his substitutes might have been unrealistic, as he admitted, the extra experience will likely pay off as the Bobcats’ Mid-American Conference play begins Saturday on the road against Massachusetts.
jr992810@ohiou.edu
