No one knows Ohio’s mental makeup better than coach Frank Solich, who said early in the week that there would be no hangover from the Bobcats’ Saturday loss to Miami.
Ohio (8-1, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) regained its confidence with a 45-14 victory against Eastern Michigan.
The Bobcats’ opening drive started on their own 22-yard line, where redshirt junior quarterback Tyler Tettleton found redshirt sophomore Derek Roback for a 32-yard gain. From there, Ohio’s offense was in business.
Five plays later, redshirt junior running back Beau Blankenship brought the ball into the end zone for a two-yard score that gave Ohio an early 7-0 lead.
At the 9:24 mark in the first quarter, Eastern Michigan (1-8, 0-5 MAC) started its second drive with four straight rushes from sophomore running back Bronson Hill. The drive stalled, however, after sophomore quarterback Tyler Benz was sacked for a three-yard loss by Ohio sophomore defensive lineman Antwan Crutcher.
On the ensuing Ohio drive, Tettleton found redshirt sophomore Chase Cochran wide open near the right sideline, but the pass fell to the turf incomplete. On the next play, Blankenship fumbled and the Eagles recovered the mishap in prime position.
EMU capitalized on the turnover soon thereafter, as sophomore running back Ryan Brumfield found a soft spot in the Ohio defense on a screen pass and lugged it 17 yards to the end zone to tie the score at seven with four minutes remaining in the first frame.
Redshirt senior kicker Matt Weller came on to extend the Bobcats' lead to 10-7 with 11:41 remaining in the second quarter.
After an Eastern Michigan three-and-out, Ohio took over on its 39-yard line. Redshirt junior running back Ryan Boykin highlighted the drive with a 57-yard gain that brought the Bobcats to Eastern Michigan's seven-yard line.
Tettleton found Cochran on a crossing pattern for a seven-yard touchdown reception shortly thereafter to push the lead to 17-7 with 8:08 left on the clock.
After exchanging stalled drives, Eastern Michigan lined up for its next possession near midfield after an unimpressive 27-yard punt from redshirt freshman punter Grant Venham.
After an 18-yard run from Hill and a 17-yard slant pattern to former quarterback Alex Gillett, a senior, brought the Eagles down to the six-yard line, where Brumfield waltzed untouched into the end zone for the touchdown and make the score 17-14 with 2:08 remaining before halftime.
The Eagles failed to capitalize on their good fortune after a tipped interception, returning possession to Ohio with 55 seconds remaining in the half.
Tettleton completed all six of his passes on the Bobcats’ last drive before the halftime, though. On the final pass of the drive, Tettleton found his favorite target, redshirt junior wide receiver Donte Foster, who spun out of a tackle and into the end zone to extend Ohio’s lead to 24-14 heading into the break.
Foster cut through the teams’ third quarter malaise with the Bobcats’ longest play of the season, breaking a tackles and benefitting from big blocks along the way. Foster won the foot race to the end zone and, and 79 yards later, Ohio held a 31-14 lead with 2:13 left in the third quarter.
“(We) finally a game where were able to separate ourselves in the second half as the game went on and have a cushion at the end,” Solich said.
The Eagles drove to the Ohio 22-yard line at the start of the fourth quarter, where Benz fired a pass that was tipped by redshirt sophomore safety Nathan Carpenter and cradled by redshirt junior linebacker Keith Moore for an interception on Ohio’s seven-yard line.
Neither offense generated significant production for the fourth quarter’s majority until Boykin continued his impressive day with a 13-yard touchdown run with 5:40 remaining in the game.
Ohio regained possession after another Eastern Michigan three-and-out and replaced many of its starters to close out the game.
Ohio freshman running back Daz’mond Patterson took a handoff from redshirt freshman quarterback Derrius Vick and scampered 29 yards for a touchdown to cap the game’s scoring at 45-14 with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
“(It was) a good win for us, 8-1, and we need momentum going into the Bowling Green game,” Solich said. “We have nothing but challenges left on our schedule.”
nr225008@ohiou.edu
