Ohio (4-2, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) walked into a place it has historically struggled in and walked out with a statement conference win over Central Michigan (3-3, 1-1 MAC) by a score of 27-25 despite the Chippewas’ near comeback.
Central Michigan has historically gotten the best of Ohio, notably in the 2006 and 2009 MAC title games, defeating the Bobcats in both contests. Mount Pleasant has not been so pleasant to Ohio, as the Bobcats have only had two wins at Central Michigan before Saturday’s win.
The takeover of Kelly/Shorts Stadium started right from the jump, with quarterback Parker Navarro bursting through the middle of the field for a 53-yard run on the first play from scrimmage.
That huge run ultimately helped Ohio get into the red zone, but it wasn’t able to capitalize for a touchdown. Ohio’s first drive ended with a 35-yard Gianni Spetic field goal, a solid start for an offense that has gotten off to slow starts this season.
“Hitting the first 35-yarder boosted (our confidence),” Spetic said.
The defense for Ohio followed suit, starting fast by getting off the field in three plays. Big plays from Shay Taylor and Bralen Henderson were key in forcing the three-and-out on Ohio’s first defensive possession.
“We were just just doing our job,” linebacker Blake Leake said. “Coaches were calling the right plays, the looks were there, and we were just executing at a high level.”
The defense kept executing at a high level throughout the rest of the first half, holding Central Michigan scoreless while the Ohio offense continued to rack up points.
It was quarterback Parker Navarro, who was the standout player for the Bobcats, using his legs instead of his arms that secured the team’s lead. He ran for 137 yards in the first half alone and got into the endzone for Ohio’s second score of the day on an eight-yard touchdown to make it 10-0 Ohio in the second quarter.
Ohio’s next touchdown involved Navarro as well, this time with the graduate quarterback finding his favorite target, Coleman Owen, in the endzone to make it 17-0 Ohio.
The Bobcats’ last touchdown of the half was scored by Duncan Brune, a freshman running back hailing from Cologne, Germany. Brune received the most carries so far in his young career against Central Michigan, something the German didn’t expect.
“It was a little surprising for me,” Brune said. “I played in the Kentucky game, but after that, I didn't have the most playing time, so I was really excited to step on the field. It was a great experience.”
Brune’s touchdown would be the last bright spot for Ohio for a long time, as coming out of the half a quarterback change from Joe Labas to Tyler Jefferson caused Ohio major problems, and a comeback ensued.
It wasn’t until the second drive for Central Michigan that the running game got going as the Chippewas rushed for 47 total yards and ended the drive with a Marion Lukes touchdown and two point conversion.
“They had some really good scheme things with quarterback run game,” Ohio coach Tim Albin said. “The quarterback was hurting us on some things in the short yardage, and they mixed it up and executed.”
Central Michigan’s offense would continue to execute, with running back Marion Lukes in particular starring in the second half, scoring all three Chippewas touchdowns.
After his second touchdown to bring Central Michigan within one score of Ohio’s lead, the Bobcat offense came alive for the first time in the second half, marching down the field to set up Spetic with a 45-yard field goal try to put Ohio ahead by two scores with less than two minutes to go.
Spetic lined up his kick and drilled it, knocking through one of the biggest kicks of his Ohio career.
“It was kind of my first time ever having a big kick with that,” Spetic said. “It was pretty sweet."
That kick was enough to cushion Ohio’s lead for the remained of the game, even with Marion Lukes’ third touchdown and the ensuing onside kick recovered by Ohio.
After the onside kick went out of bounds, just a few first downs were needed to seal the game, and the Ohio rushing attack answered the call.
Anthony Tyus and Parker Navarro used their legs to secure the win, with Tyus rushing for the two key first downs to ice the game.
A few Parker Navarro kneel-downs put the final nail in Central Michigan’s comeback attempt, and Ohio walked away with a close, but gritty win.
“We came out and threw a few punches and this team never gonna back down,” Leake said. “It’s next man up. We're banged up everywhere, but you know, we got guys stepping up and making plays.”
