“OU! Oh Yeah!”
In front of a sold-out crowd cheering loudly, the Ohio Bobcats (1-1) defeated a Big 12 opponent at home for the second time in three seasons, and in the process extended their record to 18-1 all-time on Frank Solich Field.
The spirited contest started with a feeling-out period for the majority of the first quarter.
West Virginia (1-1) got the party started, taking a 7-0 lead late in the first on the strength of three big plays. A third-down conversion scramble by QB Nicco Marchiol, followed
by a 31-yard strike to WR Cam Vaughn, finished on a 32-yard burst through the middle by RB Jahiem White.
Ohio’s next three offensive drives showed a lot of promise, but were ultimately stymied by a combination of timely WVU defense coupled with self-inflicted wounds— including penalties, missed assignments, and a missed field goal. The highlights during this period were a 38-yard strike from QB Parker Navarro to WR Chase Hendricks that led to a 37-yard Brack Peacock field goal.
The 7-3 lead was the high water mark of the first half for the visitors, as Ohio pounded WVU on both sides of the ball the remainder of the first half to take 17-7 lead.
Ohio’s offense continued to fight through early setbacks and was rewarded with its first touchdown of the game and a 10-7 lead on the next drive. Run-heavy to start the game, the Bobcats changed up things by coming out throwing, quickly moving the ball into WVU territory as the second quarter wound down.
Key to the drive was a catch -and-run by WR Max Rodarte, turning an eight-yard pass into a 15-yard gain with a slick spin move.
The home team’s drive appeared to stall inside the WVU redzone but the ‘Cats got new life after a holding penalty by the Mountaineers aided their third down stop. Halfback Sieh Bangura saw the drive through on a three-yard run to take the lead.
After another defensive stop, Ohio got the ball back in the waning few minutes of the half and kept the petal to the metal for what would turn out to be the game-winning drive. A pass interference in single coverage got the ball to near mid-field. One play later, WVU brought the heat, and Bobcat receiver Chase Hendricks got behind the defense for the score on a 31-yard floater from Navarro.
As they did in their 11-win campaign in 2024, Ohio played an impressive brand of complementary football in the first half, earning a time of possession advantage of 22 to 8 minutes.
Outside of the lone WVU touchdown drive, the ‘Cats defense shut down the Mountaineers offense in the first half, allowing only 41 total yards while holding WVU to five punts and 0-of-5 on third downs.
A shocked Mountaineers regrouped at halftime and began to claw their way back in it.
WVU took the second half kick and converted it into three much-needed points to interrupt Ohio’s momentum, a 38-yard FG by Kade Hensley. The kick was set up in part by a 45-yard pass from Marchiol to WR Jaden Bray.
The game turned into a stalemate on the scoreboard after that.
Initially, the Mountaineers appeared to gain momentum as a promising Bobcat drive was snuffed out in the red zone on an interception by safety and former Akron Zip Darrian Lewis. It was the first of three straight interceptions thrown by Ohio, the second thrown on desperation fourth-down conversion attempt and the third was a tip-drill snag by linebacker Chase Wilson.
Thankfully for the home side, a relentless Bobcat defense swarmed, hounded, and stymied the visitors, allowing no points on three turnovers— with all three drives ending in three-and-outs.
Ohio’s offense would then go ahead and chew up the third quarter clock, logging 19 plays for 81 yards and draining almost 10 minutes of game clock. Such effective ball-sitting allowed the home team to head into the fourth quarter with the 17-10 lead.
WVU went to the bullpen late in the third quarter looking for a spark, tossing in former Texas A&M QB Jaylen Henderson for Rocco Marchiol, but after a few ineffective series, Marchiol went back out.
The re-insertion of Marchiol seemed to bring stability back to the WVU offense, as they found themselves driving late in the fourth. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, Ohio defensive end Jay Crable would put the pressure on Marchiol on a third-down rush, forcing the QB into a tough throw ultimately intercepted by linebacker Cameron Hollobaugh.
The Bobcats moved the ball deep into Mountaineers territory before a turnover on downs with 17 seconds to go, but the game was largely decided by that point. A third-down scamper by Navarro to maintain possession at around the two-minute warning was crucial in choking away any chance of a WVU comenack. WVU’s last gasp was snuffed out on a sack by Ohio defensive end Anas Luqman.
NOTES
On the day, Ohio’s defense was nothing short of magnificent. There were some individual standouts but it was great team defense that won the day, taking a big step forward after last week. The Bobcats held the Mountaineers to a paltry 2.6 yards per rush on 28 attempts and forced eight punts. The ‘Cats often dropped seven defenders into coverage, getting pressure with four and decreasing the number of explosive plays compared with last week.
One indication of Ohio’s talent level across the board is how they won despite multiple self-inflicted wounds or bad luck plays including two of the interceptions, a missed field goal, a punt return at the two-yard line resulting in possession at the five, ten penalties for 68 yards, among other things. The thought that the Bobcats can beat a game Big 12 team while having room for improvement is amazing for this team’s potential.
Hats off to both the Bobcats’ offense and the Mountaineers defense, as Ohio dominated time of possession 40 minutes to 20. How WVU persevered defensively for as long as they did as well as they did, shutting the Bobcats offense out in the second half was a remarkable effort. Players like safety Fred Perry (10 tackles, sack, two PBU’s), LB Chase Wilson (7 tackles, 2 sacks, interception, PBU), and safety Darrien Lewis (9 tackles, INT), did all they could to keep the visitors in the game.
The Mountaineers suffered some serious setbacks in this one on the injury front, as starting RB Jahiem White and WR Jaden Bray were both carted off. Both accounted for explosive plays with a 31-yard White run and a 45-yard catch by Bray.
Neither team gets a rest after this tough battle as Ohio heads to Ohio State at 7:30 p.m. Eastern next Saturday, while WVU heads to rival Pitt for the “Backyard Brawl” next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.
