Ohio defeated Marshall on Saturday night behind the Bobcats' 229 rushing yards.
Ohio started its 2015 home opener with some trickery.
After an 11-yard reversal by Papi White on the first play from scrimmage, both quarterbacks, Derrius Vick and J.D. Sprague, saw action on Ohio’s first drive against Marshall.
The outcome: a 33-yard touchdown run by Daz Patterson.
Regardless who was under center, Ohio (2-0) defeated Marshall 21-10 Saturday night to return “The Bell” to Athens.
“I thought it was a very physical football game from both sides," coach Frank Solich said. "I think it's certainly an emotional contest any time the two teams get together."
Solich switched up personnel throughout the “The Battle for the Bell” with Patterson, Vick, Sprague and sophomore running back A.J. Ouellette splitting carries out of the backfield. The Bobcats finished with 229 rushing yards on the night.
Despite some flashy play making from White and Patterson, the two quarterbacks struggled passing the ball. Vick was replaced by Sprague after an overthrown pass intended for his receiver was intercepted by the Herd. Per Solich, Vick suffered a swollen bump on his elbow, which affected his mechanics.
Sprague missed on some targets and, even on completions to Ohio’s wideouts, threw off target.
By halftime, Ohio only had 114 yards from the air — 35 coming from a Sebastian Smith touchdown catch late in the second half. By the end of the night, Sprague threw for 127 yards and one touchdown.
“We had to stay composed. Stuff happens, adversity happens and we preach that all the time,” Smith said of the quarterback situation. "Vick went down and J.D. later on, and we got to get those guys healthy."
If anything is evident from Saturday’s win, it’s that the quarterback carousel that riddled the Bobcats’ 2014 season has boiled over into their 2015 campaign.
In its season opener against Idaho, Ohio utilized both quarterbacks with Vick playing the first quarter and almost the entirety of the second half. Sprague played in just the second quarter.
Vick was named the starter by Solich prior to the season opener, yet the redshirt senior has only thrown 23 passes in two games.
“We have to be scoring more points, that's what college football is — high scoring games,” Ouellette said. "And (the defense) is keeping us in every game."
As the trickery faded and Sprague settled in, the 59th bout for “The Bell” was riddled by penalties and sluggish offensive production.
The third quarter only saw a field goal in favor of the Herd and two fumbles from Marshall’s Michael Birdsong and Devon Johnson. In total, the Herd committed 16 penalties for 198 yards in comparison to the Bobcats’ 11 for 121.
After blowing out the Vandals for 45 points, the Bobcats’ looked similarly to what was projected early in the offseason: a team leaning on its defense.
Defensive players such as Quentin Poling, Nathan Carpenter and Ian Wells were relied on heavily during Ohio’s win, yet the night ended similarly to how it began. Quarterback Greg Windham motioned out of the backfield with Ouellette taking the direct snap and crossing the goal line late in the fourth to give the Bobcats a few more years to ring “The Bell."
“Ever since last year, this has always been marked on our calendar for our team. They embarrassed us pretty bad at their home field last year, especially from a defensive perspective” Carpenter said. "This year, we had them here at our house, we wanted our defense to step up, hold their offense to (some) points, wanted our offense to score more points, and we did that."
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