DL Knock had watched Ohio struggle through the first half Saturday.
After starting quarterback Nathan Rourke was benched just three series in and Ohio had a halftime deficit, the Bobcats needed a spark.
So Knock took matters into his own hands, returning the opening kickoff of the second half 99 yards for a touchdown to give the Bobcats a lead — their first of the game. On the first play of the following Howard possession, linebacker Evan Croutch picked off a Caylin Newton pass, and four plays later, the Bobcats had a two-score lead of their own. That sequence, which lasted less than two minutes, helped cover up obvious flaws in Ohio’s 38-32 win over Howard at Peden Stadium.
“That’s what our job is as returners, as receivers, just to bring a little burst to the team,” Knock said.
Ohio (1-0) trailed the entire first half, and it gave up 645 on the game. But plays such as Knock’s and Croutch’s helped shield those mistakes behind a win.
Without star safety Javon Hagan, who was out with an injury, and cornerback Jamal Hudson, the secondary seemed to be filled with open field, and Howard (0-1) had no problem finding it. Safety Jarren Hampton, who started in Hagan’s place, was picked on early by Newton, who found streaking receivers throughout first half.
Newton finished the game 26 of 52 for 439 yards through the air, and Bison wide receiver Jequez Ezzard had 223 receiving yards and a touchdown on eight catches. Yards came easy for the Bison; the Bobcats had few answers.
“I thought their quarterback did a great job,” coach Frank Solich said of Newton. “He did not have a great year throwing the ball last year, but he’s gotten off to a great start against us. And they’ve got receivers.”
But as the defense continued to give up yards, the offense was stagnant, especially under Rourke. In his three series, the Bobcats gained just four first downs and scored three points. He didn’t play again.
And as Howard scampered out to a double-digit lead behind Newton, Ohio’s offense was slow to respond before Maxwell found Papi White, who had a career high 154 receiving yards, for a touchdown. Maxwell then hooked up with Cam Odom for a score before the end of the half to cut the Howard lead to five.
“We practice with Q, we practice with Nate, so there really wasn’t a different out there,” White said. “Q came in, stepped up to the plate.”
Maxwell was 9 of 14 for 121 yards at halftime, and was able to settle in early and make plays. Screen passes and short completions helped as the coaching staff built up Maxwell’s workload. Of course, throwing to White made Maxwell’s job easy. White seemed to always be open.
“Everybody made my life pretty easy,” Maxwell said. “All I had to come in and do is execute, manage the offense and distribute the ball.”
With a hint of momentum, Knock provided the go-ahead score with the kick return. The bench was just coming down from that euphoria, Croutch’s interception along the home sideline sent the Bobcats back into a frenzy. Momentum changed hands for good after Maxwell bulldozed into the end zone four plays later, giving Ohio a nine-point edge.
It’s not that the sequence to begin the second half officially won the game for Ohio. No, Howard stuck around, as the Bison scored later in the third quarter to cut the lead to two. But as the game progressed, Maxwell grew more comfortable in the offense, and the Bobcats were able to hang on.
But if you ask Maxwell, that sequence changed the game and masked the heavily flawed victory, for sure.
“That was a huge momentum shift,” Maxwell said. “That was the spark that we needed. DL did a great job. The whole kickoff return unit did a great job. And that kind of gave us the momentum. But we had to keep capitalizing on that momentum.”
