A trio of newer Bobcats led Ohio to victory in its home opener against Idaho.
A.J. Oullette said he couldn’t find words to describe Saturday’s home opener.
Oullette, a freshman running back, entered fall camp as a walk-on before eventually being awarded a scholarship. He didn’t receive any Division I scholarship offers before coming to Ohio, but has played a role in each of its wins.
Daz Patterson, a junior, was benched after the Bobcats’ second play from scrimmage when he was stripped of the ball and fumbled. Typically the Ohio coaches bench a player after a fumble in favor of playing the “next man up,” which happened to be Oullette in Saturday’s 36-24 victory against Idaho.
“(Patterson) hasn’t shown — leading up to this season — a history of (fumbles), so I think he’ll work his way out of it, but we have a lot of really good backs,” coach Frank Solich said. “If someone’s really playing well, then he’ll get a lot of reps.”
Oullette fit Solich’s definition of playing well, as he ran for 132 yards on 27 attempts, including a pair of touchdowns during his first game at Peden Stadium. He also caught a pair of passes for 39 yards.
“If you make a mistake, coach doesn’t have any leeway, just next back in,” Oullette said. “The first carry, (ball security is) always on your mind and after that, it’s just a rhythm. You have to just flow with it.”
Oullette wasn’t alone in his role of filling in for a teammate, as JD Sprague relieved Derrius Vick at quarterback for the third straight week. Vick left early in the second quarter with a knee injury after getting hit bad enough that the referees called a penalty for roughing the passer.
Solich said it’s yet to be determined how long Vick, a redshirt junior, will be out, but it could be “a few weeks or more.”
Although Vick’s injury could have killed the momentum Ohio had from jumping to a 17-0 lead with him under center, Sprague continued to move the Bobcats down the field. The redshirt sophomore finished with 165 yards passing on just eight completions.
“It just sucks to see a teammate go down,” Sprague said. “He’s a friend of mine, but at the same time, when I see him go down, I have to be mentally ready to go in and do my job.”
Sprague and Vick, who each struggled to put the offense in scoring position the past two weeks, established a connection with the Bobcats’ receivers. They combined to complete eight passes of 15 yards or longer, many of the which were thrown by Sprague, who connected with redshirt senior Chase Cochran for 38 and 41 yards in the second half.
“I think the snaps that he had in previous games helped him settle into this game. I thought he played better, and better, and better,” Solich said.
Despite the offense’s progress, the Bobcats were unable to put away the Vandals, who trailed by just three at the start of the fourth quarter. Luckily for Ohio, redshirt freshman linebacker
Quentin Poling recorded two of his three interceptions during the fourth quarter. He also finished with a game-high 14 tackles, also in his first game at Peden Stadium.
“We really needed to bounce back after last week against Marshall,” Poling said. “That was sort of embarrassing for us, and we didn’t feel that was our identity, so we had something to prove.”
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