Ohio (4-3, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) entered its game against rival Miami (3-4, 2-1 MAC) hopeful after a strong 2-0 start in the conference. The Bobcats, however, left Oxford discouraged in the face of a 30-20 defeat.
Not much was going Ohio’s way from the start. In the first quarter, Ohio’s offense was outgained 107-23 and did not record a single first down.
The Bobcat defense came out prepared for a Miami offense that has seen plenty of success in the last two seasons. On Miami’s first drive, Ohio’s secondary stepped up, forcing three incompletions on Brett Gabbert, one of the best passers in the MAC.
However, Ohio’s offense could not build on its defense's impressive start. They didn’t tally a first down until well into the second quarter on their fifth drive.
“On defense, we’d have had to play basically flawless,” Ohio coach Tim Albin said. “They deserved to win the football game.”
Ohio began to stumble when Brett Gabbert and the Miami offense started to figure things out in the passing game. A 14-yard completion from Gabbert to receiver Reggie Virgil gave Miami a two-score lead early at 10-0.
Miami’s offense really began to take advantage of Ohio after a Parker Navarro interception late in the half stalled Ohio’s first productive drive downfield. The Redhawks responded with another productive passing drive that set up a touchdown.
Ohio entered halftime in a 16-0 hole without any production from its offense.
“They’ve got a veteran ball club,” Albin said. “We just couldn’t put enough pressure on their defense to keep our defense off the field.”
Things went from bad to worse for Ohio coming out of the half.
Despite the poor outing from the offense, it looked as though Ohio had turned things around at halftime as the offense marched down and scored a touchdown on its first drive of the second half.
Albin went back to what had worked earlier in the season: designing QB runs for Navarro. The Bobcats advanced down the field in 15 plays that culminated in a one-yard Anthony Tyus touchdown run.
A missed 2-point conversion made the score 16-6, making a comeback a reasonable possibility for Ohio. However, what followed the touchdown for Ohio was simply being outplayed by Miami.
“We just didn’t come out and execute the way we should have today,” Ohio linebacker Blake Leake said. “(We need to) get back to practice and just focus on the basics (and) focus on the little things.”
A quick and unsuccessful drive by Ohio’s offense on its second drive led to good field positioning for Miami. The Redhawks took full advantage, going for a 58-yard touchdown run on the first play by running back Keon Mozee.
Ohio responded with an even worse drive as Navarro threw his second interception of the game. Miami took advantage with another one-play touchdown.
In less than two minutes, Miami inflated its lead to 30-6, a difference that made it a near-impossible uphill battle for Ohio to overcome in the fourth quarter.
Navarro would not come out for the fourth quarter and backup quarter back Nick Poulos was called on to finish out the game for the Bobcats.
This isn’t the first time this season Navarro has been benched midgame. In a three-turnover performance against Morgan State, Navarro was pulled at halftime. Despite another benching, Albin still believes in the quarterback.
“There’s nothing with (a lack of) confidence,” Albin said. “We just needed a spark. That’s how we saw it. (Navarro) is totally fine. We just felt like we needed a spark.”
Poulos finished the game, leading Ohio to two touchdowns that were essentially meaningless in the grand scheme. One touchdown came from junior running back Nolan McCormick, his first touchdown of the season.
Ohio finished strong given the circumstances, outscoring Miami 14-0 in the fourth quarter. Poulos finished the game with 93 passing yards, more than Navarro could tally in the first three quarters of play.
“I’m proud of the way the guys finished the game,” Albin said. “They fought for four quarters.”
With the loss, Ohio now sets up a massive game against Buffalo next weekend in Athens. The Bobcats will look to put this loss behind them and keep pushing in the MAC.
“It’s one (game) at a time,” Albin said. “We’ve got to correct some things, try to move some pieces around…I think (the MAC race) is going to come down to the last week.”
