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Ohio, making its fourth bowl appearance, came to Detroit bidding for its first bowl win. The Bobcats, however, struggled on both sides of the ball through the first two quarters and trailed 21-0 with 7:21 remaining until halftime.

It appeared as though the game might turn into a route when Michael Janac forced a fumble with a sack of Ohio quarterback Theo Scott in the second stanza. Albert McClellan recovered, giving Marshall possession at the Bobcats’ 22-yard line.

Marshall’s good fortune, however, lasted just one play as Ohio’s Shannon Ballard picked up Darius Marshall’s fumble and raced 75 yards for a score.

The Thundering Herd offense seemed unfazed by the turn of events as it mounted another drive on its next possession. Marshall moved 67 yards in eight plays. But the Ohio defense forced a fourth down situation at the four-yard line, and interim head coach Rick Minter eschewed a possible field goal for a chance at a first down or touchdown. The gamble failed as Darius Marshall was stopped for no gain by Noah Keller with 52 seconds left in the half.

Keller, a junior who finished second in MAC standings with a 10.6 tackles per game average, was once again stellar in a post-season appearance. He had 17 tackles (seven unassisted) to lead both squads on the day.

Theo Scott - file photo             

Having thwarted the Herd, Ohio regrouped during halftime and, to a certain extent, reversed rolls with Marshall. Both the Ohio defense and offense came out much more aggressively in the second half.

Marshall came up with a fourth down stop of its own to halt Ohio’s first drive of the third quarter. But after Marshall quarterback Brian Anderson was sacked twice in three plays, the Herd was forced to punt.

Kase Whitehead’s punt went 15 yards, giving Ohio good field position at the Marshall 37. A personal foul penalty on the first play moved the ball down to the 22-yard line.

Garrett’s 15-yard burst up the middle took the Bobcats to the seven, and Scott hit Terrence McCrae with an eight-yard scoring pass at 7:11. Matt Weller’s PAT kick moved his team within seven at 21-14.

Ohio, which gave up a 58-yard punt return for a score in the first half, got a big special teams play of its own when Chad Clemens blocked Kate Whitehead’s punt on Marshall’s next possession.

The Bobcats took over 35 yards from a chance to tie the game. They managed just six yards in three plays, however, and settled for a 46-yard Weller field goal to make it 21-17 with 4:38 remaining in the third quarter.

Having stopped the Marshall offense and scored 10 unanswered points in the quarter, it seemed as though there was plenty of time left to catch the Herd. Ohio, though, failed to capitalize on three possessions in the final quarter.

Aided by a pair of Marshall penalties, Ohio was moving the ball early in the final stanza. The Bobcats had made it to the Herd 36-yard line when receiver LaVon Brazil tried to hit Taylor Price with a pass. The toss was too long, however, and the 12-play, 61 yard drive ended with a 29-yard missed field goal attempt by Matt Weller.

It didn’t go any better the next time Ohio got the ball as the Bobcats went three-and-out. Scott fumbled the second down snap, and he was sacked by Mario Harvey on the next play. Harvey had two quarterback sacks (for minus-22 yards) and two quarterback hurries to go along with 12 tackles in leading the Thundering Herd defense.

After an Ohio punt, Marshall drove 35 yards before taking a shot at restoring its seven-point advantage with 57 seconds left. Craig Ratanamorn missed a 29-yard field goal attempt and Ohio began a final drive at its own 23-yard line. It didn’t last long. After an incompletion and four-yard pass play to LaVon Brazil, Scott was intercepted by DeQuan Bembry.

Ohio converted 3 of 14 third downs on the afternoon. Marshall was good on 8 of 16.

The Thundering Herd had a total of 275 offensive yards, while Ohio managed just 124, with 111 coming through the air as Scott completed 14 of 27 with one TD and one interception.

Price was the leading receiver for both teams. He had four catches for 49 yards. Steven Goulet added 33 yards on a pair of receptions. LaVon Brazill was held to three catches for 13 yards and gained four yards on three punt returns. McCrae pulled in two receptions for a total of 11 yards and one TD.

Marshall’s Anderson completed 12 of 17 for 85 total yards. Marshall (77 yards) and Ward (72 yards) led the 190-yard ground attack.

Ward accounted for two of the game’s first three touchdowns as he scored his first TD on a 12-yard run up the middle and added a two-yard touchdown with 7:21 left in the second quarter.