Defense wins championships, and last year for Ohio, defense was the leading force in the first Mid-American Conference title run in nearly 60 years for the program. The 2025 Ohio defense once again stood tall on Saturday evening against a formidable foe in West Virginia. West Virginia was limited to only minimal points in the gritty victory for Ohio, 17-10.
Defensive systems find success when all 11 players on the field do their job. This starts up front with the defensive line, who were hounding all over the Mountaineers quarterback Nicco Marchiol. This unit had 2.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, and held the Mountaineer rushing attack to under three yards per carry in the game.
The group was led by junior defensive tackle Nehemiah Dukes, who had 6 tackles, including both a sack and a tackle for loss. It felt like Dukes was always around the backfield, slowing down the run game or condensing the pocket for Marchiol.
“We noticed that the quarterback was a little antsy in the pocket, and that's because of the pressure, and we just continued to get after him, “ said Dukes.
West Virginia and head coach Rich Rodriguez are built on running the football, so for Ohio to shut down that aspect of the game completely changed the dynamic and allowed for momentum to flip toward Ohio as the game progressed.
“That was a huge part of the game plan, when you're playing a tempo team, and Rich (Rodriguez) has built his career off being able to run the ball and then playing with a lot of tempo on offense, “ head coach Brian Smith said. One key to stopping a team like that is being able to stop the run on early downs. The job our defense did, and the plan that they had to knock out the run was awesome.”
The Bobcats found success in the second level as well, with redshirt juniors Jack Fries and Michael Molnar flying around the field. They had 14 combined tackles, plus Molnar had 1.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. The biggest play at linebacker came from backup graduate student Cameron Hollobaugh, who intercepted a Marchiol pass late in the fourth quarter.
“I've been so happy with their progress as players," Smith said. “Both (Fries and Molnar) were walk-ons within the program … Both of them earned scholarships in the spring, and just so proud of how they’ve taken on those roles ... and obviously (Cameron) had a chance to play more of a role in this game, had an opportunity to get an interception in the fourth quarter. It was awesome.”
Ohio was incredibly efficient on the back end as well. They disrupted the running game so much that West Virginia had to throw more than they probably would have hoped, but they were kept in check by the defensive backs, as Ohio would only allow two passes of over 20 yards throughout the entire game.
The defensive backs were solid all night, but the standout man had to be Adonis Williams, who came up with a couple of huge open-field tackles to prevent first downs while the Mountaineers were threatening in the first half. The defense all over the field picked up the scraps of a tough third quarter by the offense and helped them rebound to put away the game.
“I'm proud of the defense,” junior wide receiver Chase Hendricks said. “Big testament goes to the defense, because we stalled a lot, a lot of interceptions, a lot of penalties, shooting ourselves in the foot. So, I'm proud of the defense. They got a lot of stops, and we should have converted more. But we’re a team, so when they helped us out, we helped them out.”
The final aspect that built on the defense and kept the stadium lively to make some pivotal stops was the record-breaking crowd in Peden Stadium. The place was electric hours before kickoff and roared with cheer as redshirt junior defensive lineman Anas Luqman secured the game-winning sack.
“It was awesome,” Smith said. “The thing that we talked about was a sold-out crowd, the largest capacity in the history of the stadium. How is that going to affect the team? We talked about how it was going to be our energy, our enthusiasm, our effort, how hard we play, that was going to affect the crowd. And that was what was going to drive the crowd that was there. It wasn't gonna be the other way around.”
The entire team brought this crowd to their feet all night with highlights by the offense to start, but it was the defense that brought this one home in the second half and sent the record-breaking crowd home with a win.
