Akron might have Firestone tires, but Ohio did all the rolling Saturday.
Ohio (5-3, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) used its up-tempo offense to run 80 plays and keep the Zips (1-6, 0-3 MAC ) on their toes as Ohio defeated Akron 37-20.
“That’s a pretty good pace,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “When we’re operating at a high pace, that’s when we’re playing our best football.”
The Bobcats’ offense capitalized on a weary Akron defense through both the air and the ground.
Ohio quarterback Tyler Tettleton threw for more than 300 yards for the second time this season by connecting on 21 of 29 passing attempts for two touchdowns and one unlucky interception.
With the score tied at three midway through the first quarter, Tettleton completed his longest pass of the day, a 78-yard hitch-and-go to LaVon Brazill. It marked Ohio’s longest scoring play of the season.
“We saw that they were jumping the hitches the first couple drives,” Tettleton said. “I gave them a good pump fake, and LaVon ran a good route.”
After being pulled from the game following a first-half fumble, Ohio running back Donte Harden said he ran with motivation in the second half and finished the day with a season-high 123 rushing yards.
Harden averaged 5.6 yards per carry, a stat he attributed to the work of the players in front of him.
“The offensive line did a great job creating holes I could run through,” he said. “I congratulated them throughout the game.”
Ohio broke the game open with a one-play, 36-yard drive in which Tettleton hit Riley Dunlop in the end zone to put the Ohio ahead on its first drive of the second half.
As the Bobcats kept the Zips’ defense off-balance with their offensive swiftness, Ohio’s defense also played at a faster pace.
“Before the game in the locker room today, coach Solich was all about speed, speed, speed,” safety Nathan Carpenter said. “Know what you’re doing and execute it fast.
“Plays happen when you’re going full-speed.“
After a two-week turnover hiatus, Ohio’s defense returned to the stat sheet when Carpenter recovered a fumble at midfield during the first quarter.
“The last two weeks, we haven’t gotten a turnover, and we emphasize it every day,” Carpenter said. “If the defense can create turnovers, that helps the field position with our offense and gets us more points. It was a big turnover. It spurred our offense.”
The recovery was Carpenter’s third of the year.
Three Matt Weller field goals and three total touchdowns from Tettleton had the game out of reach when backup Ohio quarterback Kyle Snyder entered the game midway through the fourth quarter.
Snyder led Ohio’s final scoring drive of the day, capped by a six-yard touchdown run by Beau Blankenship.
Akron added a late touchdown against Ohio’s largely second-team defense to bring the final score to 37-20.
“Clearly Ohio University dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage today,” Akron coach Rob Ianello said. “They were the most physical team on the field. They were a lot better team than us today.”
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