Ohio routs Buffalo on a special day in Athens.
On a sun-splashed afternoon in Athens, Ohio, the Ohio Bobcats (5-3. 3-1 MAC) treated the fans to a big 47-16 win over the Buffalo Bulls (4-4, 2-2 MAC) on Halloween Weekend. It was a result befitting the celebratory environment, as Ohio sent off their seniors and honored newly-minted College Football Hall of Famer Frank Solich on this sunny Saturday.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair for the first 20 minutes, until Ohio gained a clear advantage, rolling to a 24-10 lead by scoring on four straight drives. A major difference, especially in the first half, was Ohio’s explosive plays on offense and stingy defense in and around the redzone that held the Bulls to three field goal attempts on four trips.
Buffalo got the first big play of the game as Parker Navarro threw the ball through contact and cornerback Marquis Cooper fell under the ball to squelch a promising drive. No damage on the scoreboard though, as the Bulls would miss a 44-yard attempt on the ensuing drive.
Ohio took over and got on the scoreboard first with an 11-play, 65-yard drive. The Bobcats spread the ball around and mixed in some tempo to set up kicker Gianni Spetic’s 23-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Buffalo quickly erased the deficit on an eight-play, 75-yard drive finished with an exclamation point on an explosive run by Messiah Burch. The Buffalo blockers did a notable job on the drive opening running lanes and Burch looked shot out of a cannon as he burst through the right side and through two defenders around the ten for the 27-yard score and a 7-3 lead.
The back-and-forth continued as Ohio responded to take a 10-7. A slick play on fourth-and-one at their own 42-yard line was key, as running back Rickey Hunt Jr. motioned to a position under center and took the direct snap to get the first by an inch. The gamble paid off, as two plays later, Hunt Jr. gashed the Bulls for a 46-yard rushing touchdown on a power play where left tackle Davion Weatherspoon pulled and sealed off pursuit to help give the ‘Cats a running lane.
The score by Hunt Jr. was the second of four straight Bobcats scoring drives.
After a Buffalo punt, Parker Navarro found wideout Coleman Owen had gotten behind the defense and the Ohio QB laid the ball in perfectly on the rightward rollout for a 65-yard catch and run for score and a 17-7 lead.
Things went from bad to worse for the Bulls when on the next Ohio series, as Navarro found Owen again—this time on the slant— to extend the lead to 24-10, the margin which both teams would carry at the halftime break.
Buffalo came out of the locker room on fire offensively and had a chance to close the deficit to seven points, but the drive ended abruptly at the Ohio 20 on a fumble forced by defensive tackle CJ Doggette and recovered by fellow lineman Bralen Henderson.
Following the turnover, Ohio’s offense picked up where it left off in the first half, extending the score to 31-10 on the next drive keyed by a 52-yard pass from Navarro to Rodney Harris II.
On the ensuing drive, Buffalo’s offense was hot again, cutting the deficit to 31-16 on a 21-yard touchdown throw from quarterback CJ Ogbonna to wideout Victor Snow. However, the two-point conversion attempt failed spectacularly as Ohio’s Kadin Schmitz scored on a 100-yard interception return on an ill-advised throw from a Bulls wideout who had gotten the ball on a pitch.
Notably, Ohio stayed aggressive offensively in the second half and scored an additional 14 points to extend their lead to insurmountable.
With things all but over at 40-16 in the fourth, Ohio linebacker Shay Taylor put the final brushstroke on a Bobcat masterpiece with a 30-yard interception return for touchdown.
NOTES:
OHIO
Rich Barnes-Imagn Images
- We had said Ohio hadn’t peaked yet, but the Bobcats turned in what was obviously their most complete game of the season, putting it together in all three phases to roll the visitors.
- The Bobcats played probably their best half of offense of the season in the first half, cruising to 314 total yards and 24 points. QB Parker Navarro was the catalyst in the opening two quarters, scrambling and running for 56-yards while having possibly the most prolific passing half of his career with 163 yards, two passing scores, and completing 77 percent of his throws.
- The Bobcats finished the day with season highs in total yards with 489 and points with 38 (with nine points defensively).
- Ohio wideout Coleman Owen continues to prove he is one of the MAC’s best offensive players with six catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns and a rushing touchdown on a 22-yard double reverse.
- Defensively, the Bobcats had one of their most explosive games of the season. Coming into the contest with five total takeaways in seven games, the ‘Cats exploded for two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Additionally, Ohio added seven tackles-for-loss, four sacks, and two quarterback hits.
- The defensive line had multiple contributors as described above and Cam Rice, Bradley Weaver, Marcel Burgess-Walker, and Ben McNaboe also shined. Weaver and Burgess-Walker both had sacks while Weaver blew up a jet sweep for a loss.
- Helping Ohio with pressure is the success of players like cornerback Roman Parodie, who has had back-to-back impressive weeks by holding up multiple times in one-on-one coverage to prevent explosive plays.
- MIKE linebacker Shay Taylor was a clear difference maker, leading the ‘Cats with 11 tackles while recording a sack and the pick six in perhaps his best game of the year.
- Taylor’s linebacker mate Kadin Schmitz, who subbed at WILL linebacker for Blake Leake, had an impactful day. It would be hard to overestimate how well Schmitz played in stretches, finishing with eight stops and the pick two, the 100-yard return on the two-point conversion.
- On special teams, it is clear kicker Gianni Spetic has taken his game to the next level on field goal accuracy. Septic finished his true freshman campaign with a lot of attempts, converting 69 percent of them but with his field goal today the Bobcat kicker is converting 89 percent thus far in 2024.
BUFFALO
Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images
- For the Bulls, it was mostly a dark day, but the sunshine poked through the clouds in spots.
- Quarterback CJ Ogbonna’s maturation as a passer was evident in back-to-back weeks, showing at times accuracy and a strong arm in route to 257 yards passing and a score.
- The Bulls also opened up some impressive rushing lanes at times and running back Al-Jay Henderson led the way with 81 yards and 5.8 per tote.
- Wideout Victor Snow continued to lead the Bulls passing game and finished the day with five catches for 75 yards and a score.
- The Bulls have been beat up on the back end of defense this year but need to find a way to slow teams down after surrendering 86 points combined in the past two weeks.
- Linebackers Red Murdock and Shaun Dolac continue to lead the club in tackles, recording a combined 24 today.
The Bulls play their last regular season Saturday game next week, hosting the Akron Zips at noon Eastern time on CBS Sports Network. Ohio gets a break this week as they prepare for the weeknights, traveling to Kent State to take on the Golden Flashes, kicking off MACtion proper at 7:00pm ET on Wednesday, Nov. 6th.