It was a rainy day, but Phil Bates shined Saturday.
The junior quarterback led the first team offense in Ohio's Spring Game, where the first team, Ohio, beat the second team, Bobcats, 13-3.
Bates threw for 115 yards on 9-of-17 passing and rushed for 65 yards on seven carries.
I thought he had a pretty good day today in terms of throwing the ball
coach Frank Solich said. We need to get him where he's a 65-plus percent thrower. If that happens he can be special.
He has a great attitude and a great work ethic. I think he's had a good spring.
Bates and the offense came right out and took it to the defense which dominated them in the previous scrimmage.
The offense went on a nine-play
72-yard drive that led to 25-yard field goal attempts by kickers Danny Miller
Chris Kamerer and Kyle Majerick. Redshirt sophomore kicker Matt Weller didn't participate because of a pulled groin injury suffered earlier in the spring.
Ohio moved down the field mostly because of the legs and arm of its quarterback. Bates had two runs of more than 15 yards and completed a pass to Terrence McCrae for 23 yards during the drive.
Two drives later
Bates led the offense down the field
this time for the only touchdown of the game. Bates completed three passes of more than 15 yards - to McCrae (16)
Riley Dunlop on a fake option pass (24) and tight end Jordan Thompson down the middle of the field (26) before Vince Davidson scampered 12 yards into the end zone untouched.
Today, we just kind of put it together, Bates said. Today was alright. We could have done a lot better, but overall, as an offense, we've made strides.
We had to cut out some drives because of the clock
so we would have put a lot more points on there.
Bates also faced little pressure from the defense, thanks in part to the offensive line.
The defense recorded three sacks, one on Bates, after getting to him and sophomore quarterback Tyler Tettleton five times in the last scrimmage.
Defensive end Melvin Payne said part of the reason for the few sacks was the lack of blitzing by the defense.
We were just trying to run the basic plays and just trying to fit everybody up
get everyone rotations
Payne said.
The offensive line showed its prowess in the rushing attack.
Runners gashed the defense for 184 total yards on the ground. Bates led the ground game, and running back Ryan Boykin complemented him with 36 yards on four carries, 31 yards on a run off the right tackle that led to the last points of the game.
Vince Davidson added 21 yards on six carries with a 12-yard touchdown, and Donte Harden went four carries for 14 yards.
(The offensive line) was great
