Ohio (5-5, 3-3 MAC) got back to .500 with a well-rounded victory against Buffalo Wednesday
From the time the ball was kicked off Wednesday, the Bobcats knew they had to win to keep any hope alive for postseason play.
Ohio (5-5, 3-3 Mid-American Conference) needed a win to avoid being eliminated from bowl eligibility, and a loss would have made it very tough to make it back to a bowl for the sixth-straight season.
The Bobcats had lost 42-21 to Western Michigan in their previous game, but they came into the mid-week matchup with Buffalo (3-6, 1-4 MAC) confident after more than a week of rest.
They began the game gunning for the win against a banged up Bulls team, now under the direction of an interim coach after the firing of Jeff Quinn on Oct. 13., coming off three consecutive losses.
On the fourth play of the game, Derrius Vick aired the ball deep and hit Chase Cochran on the sideline for a 47-yard pass, which set up a field goal for Ohio.
After that drive, the Bobcats didn’t look back — it seemed like a different team on the field from start to finish, something that probably had to do with the rest that allowed some players to come back from injuries.
After the opening field goal, they scored three touchdowns and another field goal to go up 27-0 in the third quarter.
“Any time you can put points on the board on the first possession, I think that sparked our team a little bit and gave us confidence for the rest of the game,” said Vick, a redshirt junior quarterback.
The offense was obviously tremendous for Ohio, as they put up the most points they have all season; however, the defense was able to spark the offense with four turnovers in the game, along with zero points allowed during the first 26 minutes of play.
The unit was led by redshirt junior cornerback Ian Wells, who Ohio coach Frank Solich said wasn’t just good, but had a special game.
Wells had been banged up for the past few weeks — but only missed one game due to injury. On Wednesday he tallied four tackles, two pass breakups, a sack and a fumble recovery.
Wells hasn’t been able to show his true capabilities because he hasn’t been able to consistently practice the past few weeks, but Solich said — while knocking on wood — that he is now getting healthier and is able to show his true potential.
“He’s showed this year how capable he is of being a really good corner and football player for us,” Solich said. “I think he’s just getting better all the time, he’s just a really good corner.”
Wells and the defense held Buffalo to just 28 rushing yards on 25 attempts, and kept Buffalo running back Anthone Taylor, who has rushed for over 1000 yards this season, to just 37 yards and no scores.
At quarterback, Buffalo starter Joe Licata was pulled in the third quarter after throwing for just 74 yards and an interception in 11 drives.
“We knew they had some good players on offense and a good run game,” Wells said. “We felt like we had a better defense and a better line, so we just went out and played.”
@Alex_Busch91
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