Ohio head coach Brian Smith just had one sentence to open up his press conference after his team took down West Virginia.
“How about those Bobbies?” Smith said.
It was an appropriate question for the Ohio head coach to ask after pulling off an electric 17-10 upset over a Big 12 opponent at home on Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium. The crowd inside the stadium was record-setting, as 26,740 fans filled the seats to break the all-time attendance record for the program.
“We take a lot of pride in defending Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium, and have had a lot of success doing it,” Smith said. "It's nice to get that out of the way and get that first win, but I think it's a great reflection of how much our players have bought into defending the Frank and how hard they're going to play on this field.”
The crowd had a good mix of home fans with the traveling Mountaineer fans, who made the 150-mile trip to witness what was the biggest home win in the history of Ohio football.
There were many factors that went into that huge win, but the defense has to be the biggest, bouncing back in a big way after allowing 34 points on the road against Rutgers last week.
The unit held West Virginia to just 10 points on the day -- 7 in the first half and 3 in the second. The defensive line always looked in control and on point, stopping the run and getting home on both of West Virginia’s quarterbacks, Nicco Marchiol and Jaylen Henderson.
“The job our defense did, the plan that they had to knock out the run was awesome,” Smith said. “I think what helped them too, was then being able to apply pressure when they did have to throw.”
Ohio tallied four sacks against the West Virginia quarterbacks and held the team to just 72 rushing yards in the game.
Youngstown State transfer Nehemiah Dukes had a whale of a day in his first game as a Bobcat, going for six tackles with a sack and a tackle for loss as well. He was the engine of a very disruptive Ohio defense.
“I just wanted to play fast and play physical,” Dukes said. “(Coaches were) telling us all week, there’s going to be tempo, and we just gotta out-tempo them and just execute the game plan and trust in our coaches and trust in our players, and everything will work out.”
While the Ohio defense was shutting down the Mountaineers, quarterback Parker Navarro and the offense had an up-and-down day, lighting it up in the first half before getting shutout in the second.
Ohio started the game on offense with a field goal, answering West Virginia’s first and only touchdown of the game before marching down the field on a 12-play drive that ended with Sieh Bangura’s first touchdown of the season.
On a two-minute drill before the half, Navarro and the passing offense did the work this time, driving down the field and ending the drive in style with a wide-open 31-yard Chase Hendricks touchdown catch.
The junior wide receiver Hendricks had 121 yards on eight catches and a touchdown, a career day that he says comes from the preparation.
“Everything we did on the game field today, we did it in practice,” Hendricks said. “So a lot of those plays, a lot of those looks, I did it before."
The connections between Hendricks and Navarro is clearly growing at a fast rate, as Hendricks has been the go-to guy for Navarro this season, as Hendricks has put up 236 yards through the first two games of the season.
“I think our relationship outside of football helps the connection on the field,” Hendricks said. “He kind of knows where I'm gonna be on certain routes, how I like the tempo, and (how I) do certain stuff on the field.”
The second half was a much tougher time for the offense, as Navarro threw three straight picks on the first three drives of the half, and the offense wasn’t able to score a point.
Despite the turnovers, the defense held strong, as linebacker Cam Hollobaugh came up with a crucial interception to give the offense the ball back with under four minutes remaining.
From there, Navarro led the offense just enough to close out the win, coming up with a huge 10-yard scramble on a 3rd and 9 with under three minutes to play to secure a crucial first down. Ohio was able to run the clock down to just 17 seconds remaining for the West Virginia offense.
Arkansas Pine-Bluff transfer defensive end Anas Luqman got the sack on Marchiol to end the game and to secure the massive upset in front of a record crowd at Peden Stadium.
“It's a great reflection of the coaching staff that we have, (and) the job that they do mentoring and developing our players,” Smith said. “And then the respect everyone has for the culture here that's been built for a long time. So extremely proud of the group and the staff.”
