Ohio's defense picks off Miami freshman quarterback Billy Bahl four times to beat the RedHawks on homecoming.
Ohio's defense picked on Miami quarterback, Billy Bahl, throughout Saturday.
No, the Bobcats' defense didn't just pick on him. It hassled the freshman quarterback, stole his lunch money and stuffed him into a locker.
With four interceptions, Bahl's first career trip to Peden Stadium was a 34-3 whooping in which Ohio (5-1, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) took advantage of the Woodstock-native's inexperience.
"They have played three quarterbacks throughout for the year and they all have a little bit of a specialty about them," Ohio coach Frank Solich said. "We figured we would see at least two and that’s what we saw. #14 runs the football a lot and he’s a capable thrower. (Bahl) is a big athlete who struggled a little bit with his percentage. We knew that they could interchange quarterbacks very easily and would do so."
After injuries hindered Ohio's defense in previous weeks, Bahl was the perfect suspect for an interception-beating on Saturday's homecoming.
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First it was Ian Wells intercepting Bahl.
Then it was Quentin Poling — who returned his interception for a touchdown to start the third quarter.
Then Jovon Johnson, who played for the first time since Ohio's season opener against Idaho, joined in on the picking later in the third quarter.
Finally, Langston Provitt delivered the final pick, off Bahl in the fourth.
The Bobcats held Bahl to just 150 passing yards and eight competitions on the day. The three points allowed was the lowest total Ohio has held an opponent since a 43-3 win against Akron in October of 2013.
"Obviously a mixed bag and more bad than good but OU is a very experienced team," Miami coach Chuck Martin said of his quarterback's play. "I’d have to really look at the interceptions, I know the last one was thrown inside and was just a bad throw. Again, not great when you play a freshman quarterback. I’m not going to throw him under the bus, but on the other hand, we can’t win a game with if he's going to throw four picks."
The Bobcats' near domination of Bahl comes at a pivotal juncture in their schedule.
Ohio plays Western Michigan, Buffalo and Bowling Green in the next three weeks; two of those (Western Michigan, Bowling Green) are in the top four offenses statistically in the MAC.
Yet, the Bobcats' veteran-filled defense will walk away from Saturday's pick party with confidence in their ability to stop any offense.
"I just give credit to the coaches with their game plan," Johnson said. "They put us in good situations with their play calls and it gives us an opportunity to read and react and make plays. I think that’s why we’ve been having good success with the turnovers this season."
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