Ohio (1-1) hosted its season opener Saturday night against non-conference foe South Alabama (0-2). The Bobcats would go on to win by a score of 27-20. With the win, Ohio evened its record after its season-opening loss at Syracuse.
The Bobcats’ defense delivered big plays all throughout the night, and it was particularly stout in the first quarter, holding South Alabama scoreless through the first 15 minutes. Even with a load of injuries, many players stepped up and delivered.
“It really is next man up mentality, and me and Mike Molnar (were the) starting linebackers tonight, and unfortunately, Mike went down early,” Ohio linebacker Blake Leake said. “Kaden Schmitz stepped up, played a heck of a game for the Bobcats, made some huge plays on that last drive … Stellan Bowman, young guy ... stepped up and played his role.”
The first big play of the game on offense came in the first quarter with Ohio in its own territory. Quarterback Parker Navarro handed it off to sophomore running back Rickey Hunt, who burst through an opening in the middle and took it 59 yards into the heart of South Alabama’s defense.
That huge run helped kicker Gianni Spetic knock through a field goal and get Ohio on the board first, making his first of two field goals on the night, which kept him perfect on his kicks this season. Spetic has been a key cog of what has been an impressive special teams unit this season for Ohio.
“This unit is amazing. I mean, this is the most competitive unit I've been a part of,” long snapper Colby Garfield said. “Even our depth is really good… that just pushes all of us to be even better every day.”
It wouldn’t be long until special teams play would affect the game; one drive later, South Alabama would muff an Ohio punt and Garfield would pounce on it, giving Ohio possession on the brink of the red zone.
The Bobcats would capitalize on that opportunity with Anthony Tyus III breaking tackles on his way to the end zone for his third touchdown of the season, giving Ohio a 10-0 lead.
After the big touchdown, Ohio’s offense would stall. South Alabama got it rolling on offense, taking advantage of a penalty wiping an Ohio interception off the board that later lead to a Fluff Bothwell scoring a rushing touchdown to make it a one-score game.
Parker Navarro and the Ohio offense would respond quickly with the best drive of the night, a quick and surgical seven-play 75-yard drive that lasted only 49 seconds. Navarro looked dialed in while marching down the field and capped off the drive with a 33-yard touchdown throw to Chase Hendricks to give Ohio a 17-10 lead going into the half.
“The touchdown throw was a great call, well executed,” said Albin. “He threw a dime to Chase in the corner over there, into a pretty good wind.”
The offense would keep the momentum going, coming out of the half with another touchdown drive that ended with Navarro doing it himself and walking into the end zone on a QB draw.
“It felt awesome,” said Navarro. “I walked in there untouched. So that's always nice. But, you know I love running in the end zone as well as passing (in the) end zone. It's great.”
Following the touchdown, the defense would allow a Jamaal Pritchett touchdown on a drive that saw South Alabama face a 3rd and 21. That score brought the game back within a score and on the ensuing Ohio drive Navarro fumbled, setting up South Alabama for a field goal that made the score 24-20.
The Ohio offense would get back on track later in the quarter, converting a 4th and 1 with a big Mason Williams catch and run that would put Ohio in field goal range, allowing Spetic to stretch the lead back to 7 points.
South Alabama would go on to punt on their next drive and the Jaguars offense would not see the field again, with Ohio running out the clock and taking a knee to secure a big victory at Frank Solich Field.
The home crowd played a big part in the game, forcing a false start penalty on South Alabama and giving the Ohio players plenty of energy to feed off.
“(We) couldn't have done it without (the crowd),” Albin said. “It got loud in there tonight, and it was a fun time.”
The crowd will have to play a big part again next week as Ohio moves on and gets ready to play FCS opponent Morgan State at home.
