The Marching 110 and Alumni Band flooded the field for a handful of trips through their favorite songs following Saturday’s Homecoming win against Akron.
Saturday’s win was as classic as the bands’ song selection, as Ohio braved a strong Akron push than began midway through the game to hang on for a 34-28 victory.
Ohio (7-0, 3-0 Mid-American Conference) began the game with a pair of early touchdowns and lead 20-7 heading into halftime. However, the Zips (1-6, 0-3 MAC) refused to relent, pulling together 21 points in the second half.
The Bobcats made the first marks on the game’s scoring slate only three minutes into the game. Redshirt junior quarterback Tyler Tettleton made good of a reverse pitch from sophomore wide receiver Landon Smith by hauling in a 39-yard touchdown catch down the far sideline — the first of his career — to open the game’s scoring.
After forcing the Zips to punt the ball away on their first drive from scrimmage, it took Ohio only four plays to cash in once again. Tettleton became the Bobcats’ all-time leader in touchdown tosses with a 13-yard corner-end zone fade to redshirt junior wide receiver Donte Foster, who returned to action after sitting out last week against Buffalo.
The Bobcats stalled on their third drive, as Tettleton’s fourth down pass fell incomplete, but he showed a revitalized ability to move out of the pocket, rushing for a pair of first downs. He would end the day with 65 yards rushing — his highest total this season.
Tettleton totaled negative yards on the ground in his last two games, down from his previous season average of 33 yards per game, remedying what Ohio coach Frank Solich said was a bit of a one-dimensional running attack in weeks prior.
“I'll pull it down whenever I need to in the passing game, but these guys are rushing the ball so well in previous weeks we really haven't had to run the ball, quarterback-wise," Tettleton said.
Akron threatened on its first drive of the second quarter, moving deep into the Bobcats’ territory. But when senior quarterback Dalton Williams tried to fire a pass past through the Ohio secondary on a third-and-11 situation, Ohio redshirt junior linebacker Keith Moore cut the route for his first career interception.
Ohio widened the scoring gap to 17 points with three minutes remaining in the first half, gaining a second wind after converting its second fourth down opportunity at midfield with four minutes remaining before the break. Redshirt senior kicker Matt Weller split the uprights from 44 yards on his first opportunity of the game, finishing off an 11-play drive.
The Bobcats struck again on their next possession, capitalizing on a 31-yard punt return from redshirt senior wide receiver Ryan Clark that put them on the Zips’ 46-yard line.
On their first play from scrimmage, Tettleton connected with redshirt senior wide receiver Bakari Bussey for a 34-yard completion, giving Ohio a new set of downs on the Akron 12-yard line.
From there, though, the Bobcats could not muster much of an attack, as three straight passes fell incomplete before Weller tacked on a 29-yard field goal to bring the Bobcats’ lead to 20.
The Zips fired back on their ensuing drive, marching 75 yards in 28 seconds to tally their first touchdown of the game — a 19-yard pass to wide-open sophomore wide receiver L.T. Smith on the front edge of the end zone.
Akron thundered out of the break with a drive reminiscent of its last, driving 75 yards once again to put seven more points on the board. Williams completed six of his seven passes on the drive, connecting with junior wide receiver Dee Frieson for 27 yards and sophomore running back Tyler Williams for a 10-yard score.
“We were in position, I think, to really take charge of the football game, but we let that slip away from us,” Solich said.
After having a relatively quiet first half, Blankenship exploded for 78 yards on the Bobcats’ 96-yard scoring drive late in the third quarter. Blankenship’s eight rushes set up a two-yard jump ball touchdown by redshirt junior tight end Troy Hill in the far corner of the end zone.
Blankenship handed the reins off to backfield mate and redshirt junior Ryan Boykin on the Bobcats’ following drive, where he accounted for 48 of Ohio’s 56 yards en route to a five-yard touchdown plunge to cap the Bobcats’ final drive of the third quarter.
“Our pass game was struggling a little bit, but coach was calling the run plays and they were opening up,” Boykin said. “He told me we were going to go fast and we did that.”
The march was kick started by an interception from redshirt senior cornerback Octavius Leftwich, who picked off a pass intended for Smith.
With 8:48 remaining in the game, Williams completed a six-yard pass to junior wide receiver Jerrod Dillard in the back of the end zone to make good of an 11-play, 70-yard drive. The drive was largely fueled by sophomore running back Jawon Chisholm, who proved the Zips’ pass-heavy offense was far from one-dimensional Saturday.
Chisholm accounted for 43 all-purpose yards on the scoring drive and 232 on the day, 177 of which were on the ground.
“I was concerned about the running game because their back has been averaging (more than six) yards per carry,” Solich said. “In this game he averaged over six yards per carry, so that tells you something. We had to really worry about both dimensions today.”
Ohio’s collective effort trumped Chisholm’s, though. The Bobcats’ trio of Blankenship, Boykin and Tettleton combined for 269 yards on the ground.
Dillard scored once again on a five-yard catch with two minutes remaining, but it was not enough to give the Zips their fist win against a Football Bowl Subdivision team since Nov. 2010.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Derrius Vick relieved Tettleton with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Bobcats’ offensive attack tapered off late in the game, ended the contest having not scored in the fourth quarter for the second time this season.
Ohio also converted only three of its 14 third down opportunities, though it was successful on half of its four fourth down chances.
Tettleton finished the game with a season-low 150 yards on 13-for-27 passing and two touchdowns. It was Tettleton’s second-straight week to record less than 200 yards passing.
Williams lived up to his prolific bearing, completing 32 of 53 passes for 298 yards and four touchdowns. He did force throws into sound coverage at times, resulting in a pair of interceptions.
The Bobcats will now advance to their bye week, where they will not practice until Thursday. Solich said it will be best to keep players away from the gridiron until then, as he said he will not urge players to do anything football related except treat injuries until then.
“They deserve a rest,” he said.
jr992810@ohiou.edu
