The ESPN2 commentators called it the greatest game in the history of Ohio's football program.
The atmosphere in Athens made it difficult to disagree.
The Bobcats took advantage of their first time in the national spotlight in more than 35 years and pulled off a 16-10 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers in front of 24,545 jubilant fans Friday night at Peden Stadium.
Cornerback Dion Byrum, who in two games has scored more points than the Bobcats' offense, returned two interceptions for touchdowns, including an 85-yard pick of Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko's pass in overtime to clinch the victory for Ohio.
We were blitzing
Byrum said of the second interception. Two-step drop and I jumped it. It didn't take much. I read the quarterback I made the play
and it made the game.
I was glad (Palko) was throwing it
Ohio coach Frank Solich said. Dion's just got great instincts. Especially in that kind of situation when they're going to run deep on you. He did a great job of playing the ball. Nothing wrong with the call; it's just a matter of Dion being Dion and being in the right spot now three times for us.
In a game that featured a combined 476 yards of offense, Ohio relied on the big play of its defense to blunt the Pitt attack. True freshman defensive lineman Jameson Hartke sacked Palko twice, including once in the third quarter for a loss of 16 yards, and safety Todd Koenig recorded his first career interception at the beginning of the second quarter.
We knew by the end of the first quarter that defense was going to have to win this game and put points up on the board
and we did
Hartke said. We stepped it up and played as hard as we could
and luckily
we held them to three points.
Even though Ohio continued to struggle on offense, Solich had a few things to be happy about. Quarterback Austen Everson improved after last week's game, making fewer mistakes and guiding the offense into a better rhythm.
I thought he played well as the game went on
Solich said. I don't think he got off to a great start. I thought he missed some throws early in the game that generally he can make
but he's a great competitor; he kept battling back
