Andrew Gribble | Staff Writerag358604@ohiou.edu
Saturday's home-opening victory against Tennessee-Martin may have lacked the hype and excitement that came after last season's dramatic upset over Pittsburgh in the team's first home game. No one from ESPN was in sight, overtime wasn't necessary and fans did not feel the need to storm the field when the final whistle blew.
But for coach Frank Solich and the Ohio football team, the similar result was all that mattered.
I don't think you ever want to be too down about a win because wins don't come easy
Solich said after the Bobcats' 29-3 victory over the Division I-AA Skyhawks.
The best thing that came out of this is that our record is 1-0 quarterback Austen Everson said. Sometimes you take for granted how hard it is to get a win in big-time college football.
However, the victory did not come as easily as the Bobcats may have liked. The offense struggled throughout the entire contest, mustering only 144 total yards.
First-team All-Mid-American Conference running back Kalvin McRae, who averaged nearly 105 rushing yards a game last season, ran for only 28 yards on 10 carries. McRae picked up most of those yards in the first quarter when he scored the game's first touchdown, giving the Bobcats a 7-0 lead going into the second quarter.
Quarterbacks Everson and Brad Bower struggled as well, combining for 82 passing yards and an interception. Everson did pick up a rushing touchdown late in the third quarter, which gave the Bobcats a 26-3 lead.
While Solich acknowledged his team's struggles on offense, he gave credit to the upset-minded Skyhawks for disrupting the Bobcats scoring attack.
When you face a team that is physical in that area (offensive and defensive lines) you're just not going to run up and down the field on them
Solich said. I felt that as the game went on we got better
but there certainly is a lot of work to get done.
For how much Ohio's offense struggled, its defense and special teams thrived. The Bobcats held Tennessee-Martin to 123 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers, both of which led to immediate points.
I think we won the special teams part of the game
and I think we won the defensive part of the game
Solich said. When you win two of the three you're going to have a great shot at winning.
With the Skyhawks pinned to their own 10-yard line, defensive linemen Shane Yates and Ernie Hodge combined on a sack that forced a fumble, which Tennessee-Martin recovered in its own end zone for a safety, giving the Bobcats a 9-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Yates credited the line's strong push up front as the major source of disruption to the Skyhawks' offense.
I was really impressed and really proud with the way our guys played up front
Yates said. We didn't really have to blitz that much
and we were able to drop back into coverage and play our D.
Ohio's biggest play on defense came in the second half when cornerback T.J. Wright ran back a fumble, forced by linebacker Michael Graham 35 yards for a touchdown, giving the Bobcats a 19-0 lead.
The defense also helped the offense by giving it a much shorter field with which to work throughout the entire contest. Ohio's average starting position for offensive drives was at the 50-yard line while Tennessee-Martin's was at its own 19-yard line.
It's awesome to go on the field and have 50 yards to go at the most
Everson said.
