It may have taken an army of Spartans to slow Ohio’s offense down Saturday, but the efforts of Norfolk State’s defenders didn’t do enough to keep the Bobcats at bay en route to their 44-10 rout.
Ohio (4-0) scored on its first possession and never looked back Saturday, securing its first 4-0 start since 1976. It was the first time this season that Bobcats said their defense was running full-tilt for the majority of the game.
“(A 1-0 record) each week is our motto,” said redshirt junior linebacker Keith Moore. “Our defense has been shaky early. I think this is the first game that we were clicking on all cylinders early.”
On Norfolk State’s first play from scrimmage, redshirt junior quarterback Nico Flores took the snap and handed off to redshirt freshman running back Brendon Riddick, who was met by the clutches of Ohio’s defense. Ohio redshirt junior safety Xavier Hughes stripped the ball, fellow redshirt senior Gerald Moore recovered it and Ohio was in business.
Five plays and 22 yards later, redshirt freshman quarterback Derrius Vick, who started in place of Tyler Tettleton, who was listed as doubtful in this game, found redshirt junior receiver Donte Foster in the far corner of the endzone for his first career touchdown pass.
Tettleton did not practice all week because of injuries to his side sustained against Marshall last week, and Vick was uncertain whether he was going to start under center until right before kickoff.
“They were seeing if Tyler was alright today and he was still a little banged up,” Vick said. “I was a little nervous but after the first play, I felt fine, knowing that I had a veteran offense group with these guys, they put it all on their shoulders.”
After Norfolk State (2-2) stalled deep in its own territory on its first complete set of downs, Ohio redshirt senior wide receiver Ryan Clark busted out a 30-yard punt return that put the Bobcats on the Spartans’ 30-yard line to begin their second drive of the game.
Less than two minutes later, Vick connected on his second touchdown of the day — a 24-yard swing pass to redshirt junior running back Beau Blankenship.
The Spartans’ next drive was an exercise in futility. Three plays, eight seconds of gameplay and no yards gained and the ball was back in the Bobcats’ hands.
Ohio then gained for 10 yards on six plays to set up redshirt senior kicker Matt Weller’s first field goal of the day, a season-long 49-yarder, to move the score to 17-0 at the 6:29 mark in the first quarter.
Flores appeared to settle in on his fourth possession, taking the Spartans 40 yards on nine plays into Bobcat territory before eventually stalling and being forced to punt — an eight-yard flub out of bounds.
After driving 71 yards in only 1:22 of gameplay, Blankenship found a hole to the endzone for his second touchdown of the afternoon to make the score 24-0 in favor of Ohio with 15 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Norfolk State coach Pete Adrian switched signal callers to try and reverse his team’s fortunes early in the second quarter, replacing Flores with sophomore Jake Basmagian for the time being.
His second quarter audition lasted two drives, which yielded limited results and no points.
Ohio started its second drive of the second quarter at the 10-minute mark, where Vick marched the offense down the field and connected with redshirt senior tight end Jordan Thompson for a 15-yard touchdown to put the Bobcats ahead 31-0.
Flores reentered the game with less than eight minutes remaining in the opening half, only to have his woes continue. Ohio redshirt freshman cornerback Devin Bass intercepted the first pass of his returning series.
Ohio took over with 7:13 remaining in the second quarter, but couldn’t capitalize on its opportunity and was forced to punt.
Norfolk State’s struggles continued, for the remainder of the quarter as it couldn’t maintain a prolonged drive.
Weller closed the Bobcats’ first half scoring with two seconds remaining on the clock to split the uprights for the 34-0 lead before the mid-game hiatus.
With 6:50 remaining in the third quarter, Foster and Vick connected once more on a fade to the far corner of the endzone, for his fourth touchdown toss of the day.
“I think he came in there with a lot of confidence and he stepped up to the plate, and he delivered,” Foster said, of Vick’s performance. “That’s always good know you have a (backup) quarterback that can come in and keep the offense at regular pace.”
On the Spartans’ ensuing drive, Flores completed a third down pass to Derrick Demps, but Ohio redshirt senior cornerback Alphonso Lewis knocked the ball loose, where redshirt senior cornerback Octavius Leftwich recovered it.
Weller made his third field goal in four tries on Ohio’s next possession to bump the score to 44-0 with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Spartans were able to mount a first down on their next possession, but Ohio redshirt sophomore safety Thad Ingol tiptoed the near sideline to intercept Flores for the fifth turnover of the game on Norfolk State’s fourth play from scrimmage.
On Ohio’s ensuing drive, Weller had his second miss of the game to turn the ball over on downs with time waning in the third quarter.
Adrian tried to jumpstart his team at the beginning of the fourth quarter by calling a fake punt passing play deep in the Spartans’ territory, which fell to the turf and only added to Norfolk State’s woes.
Weller missed his third field goal on a windy afternoon on Ohio’s next possession. Each of his attempts were from 30 yards or farther, and he finished the game three-for-six.
“I talked to him as he came off the field and he just wasn’t able to pinpoint (the problem) right then,” said Ohio coach Frank Solich. “We’ll have to look at it and see. He’s gone a little bit more in spurts this year than what he has in previous years, so I know he’s troubled by that and bothered by that. He kicks them so strong and so straight at times, and then all of a sudden he gets to where one or two get shanked a little bit. And what’s truly causing that we need to dig into.”
Norfolk State took over with 10:39 left in the fourth quarter and had its most successful drive of the game, a 13-play, 80-yard trek that ended with a seven-yard touchdown run by senior running back Randy Maynes.
The Spartans scored once more with 33 seconds remaining, a 42-yard field goal from senior kicker Everett Goldberg.
“It’s great being 4-0, having that start, we just want to keep it going,” Blankenship said. “We just have the mentality that every game we play, want to win and we feel like we going to win.”
nr225008@ohiou.edu
