Eleven plays before Tyler Tettleton gave Ohio its first lead of the game with less than a minute left in the second quarter, he lined up under center with a Marshall blitz breathing down his neck in a third-and-six situation. He dropped back and rocketed a spiral to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Chase Cochran. It fell incomplete, but as the ball dropped to the turf, so did a flag signaling defensive pass interference and a new set of downs.
Less than three minutes later, redshirt senior wide receiver Tyler Futrell hauled in a four-yard touchdown pass to give the Bobcats the lead and a swing of momentum heading into halftime.
Thirty minutes of gameplay later, the crowd began to file out of Marshall’s Joan C. Edwards Stadium and the lights faded to black; as did the scoreboards, which earlier read 27-24 in favor of Ohio. The win, with which the Bobcats retained the coveted Battle for the Bell trophy, marked the first time since the 1980 season in which the Bobcats won two straight games against the Thundering Herd. Going into the game, the Bobcats had not beaten Marshall in its home stadium since 1988.
From the moment Marshall took its first snap of the evening, it was apparent that Thundering Herd quarterback Rakeem Cato was not an inexperienced freshman anymore, as he was in last season’s 44-7 romp at Peden Stadium.
Seven completions and 75 yards later, Cato marched the Thundering Herd down the field for their first score of the game — a three-yard pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jazz King.
Marshall senior wide receiver Aaron Dobson made good of the Thundering Herd’s second drive as well, taking a five-yard pass to the house to put the Bobcats behind by 14 less than 10 minutes into the contest.
At the end of the first quarter, the Bobcats had gained less than a third of only Cato’s 161-yard production. He ended the game with a career-high 432 yards through the air on 44 of 65 attempts.
“He does a good job of finding the open guy, so it was tough on us in the secondary,” said Ohio coach Frank Solich. “And if you don’t get a heavy rush on them, he’s a very accurate thrower, and you’re going to have some problems. You’re going to give up some yards, there’s no doubt about that.”
The second quarter ushered in an improved look for the Bobcats offense.
Ohio began their first touchdown drive by chipping away at the Thundering Herd defenders for a string of three passes, none of which was good for more than seven yards. The 16-play, 68-yard drive was capped when redshirt junior tight end Troy Hill caught his first career touchdown reception — a five-yarder — with 11:24 remaining in the quarter.
Ohio’s offense settled further into a groove during its next drive. Redshirt junior Beau Blankenship made his first impression of the game by breaking through the Thundering Herd’s defensive line for helmet-busting runs of 21 and 10 yards, and sophomore wide receiver Matt Waters snagged a 22-yard third down reception that set the Bobcats up with a 22-yard field goal, redshirt senior kicker Matt Weller’s first of the night.
Then, to end Ohio’s final first half series, Tettleton completed his pass to Futrell to give the Bobcats the lead.
As was the case with each of Ohio’s first two wins, the Bobcats sputtered to a slow start before picking up their offensive pace later in the game. The Bobcats had only 51 yards of total offense in the first quarter before coming together for 204 and two touchdowns in the second.
“We can’t do that, we have to come out and do what we’ve been doing in the second half of these past few ball games,” Tettleton said. “If we figure that out, we are going to be really hard to stop.”
The first big play of the second half happened on the defensive side of the ball when Ohio redshirt freshman cornerback Ian Wells laid a shoulder into Cato, popping the ball loose for redshirt senior defensive lineman Tremayne Scott to recover on Marshall’s 43-yard line.
The recovery was for naught, though, as a helmet dislodged the ball from Blankenship’s grasp and into the hands of junior defensive lineman Jeremiah Taylor on the Bobcats’ second ensuing play from scrimmage.
Marshall failed to make good on the miscue, though, and was forced to punt.
The Bobcats were able to put together only four yards before returning the favor to the Thundering Herd, which almost spotted them the equivalent of a 31-yard gain.
Ohio redshirt freshman Grant Venham’s punt dropped in around midfield, where senior return man Andre Snipes-Booker fielded it, advanced six yards and was brought down by Ohio redshirt senior linebacker Alphonso Lewis. The initial ruling on the field said the ball was pried loose and recovered by redshirt senior cornerback Octavius Leftwich.
The call was overturned, however, and it didn’t take long for the Thundering Herd to capitalize on their almost-lost opportunity.
Eight plays and 43 yards later, Marshall junior tight end Gator Hoskins corralled Cato’s pass, which was launched into double coverage along the near sideline, for a highlight-reel touchdown.
The Thundering Herd extended their lead to 24-17 less than a minute into the fourth quarter on a 37-yard field goal from redshirt sophomore kicker Justin Haig.
After lying dormant for the majority of the second half, Tyler Tettleton led the Bobcats on an 80-yard drive prolonged by third down conversions on each of their first two sets of downs.
The most crucial conversion, though, came on a fourth-and-five from the Thundering Herd’s 27-yard line, where Tettleton connected with redshirt senior wide receiver Ryan Clark for a gutsy corner of the endzone completion.
“We really had a different play called — one to pick up the first down yardage,” Solich said. “(Tettleton) tagged the wideout to go deep. That’s how much confidence he has in himself and his throwing ability and how much confidence he has in his teammates.”
With less than five minutes remaining in the game, Ohio sophomore cornerback Larenzo Fisher forced a fumble on a nine-yard pass to Marshall redshirt senior wide receiver Antavious Wilson, and redshirt sophomore safety Nathan Carpenter returned the loose ball 48 yards to the Thundering Herd’s 31-yard line.
“I actually was in the wrong spot but I ended up there at the right time,” Carpenter said. “I saw the ball and I went up there and grabbed it and tried to run as far as I could.”
Three minutes later, Weller made good on Carpenter’s return, knocking home a 38-yard field goal to give Ohio the lead.
Once the scoreboard flipped from counting down minutes to ticking off seconds, the Thundering Herd mounted their most prolific drive of the game, advancing 48 yards in less than a minute and a half. But their efforts were stopped dead when senior linebacker Jelani Woseley cut off a low Cato pass and slinked down to the turf, effectively sealing the Bobcats’ three-point win.
“It feels good,” Weller said. “It’s pretty crazy to come in here and get it over Marshall.”
Marshall coach Doc Holliday, who has been on the losing end of the equation in both of his games against Ohio, credited the Bobcats with a strong performance, saying they adjusted well at halftime and made crucial plays late in the game.
"That team won 10 games a year ago and I have a feeling that when you look up again they will have won 10 or 11 again," he said.
jr992810@ohiou.edu
