 LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- It was a night of firsts for the Ohio Bobcats Saturday night.A new no-huddle offense, a completely new defensive line and a new starting quarterback were among the things Bobcat fans got a look at for the first time. Ohio was able to beat the New Mexico State Aggies 44-24 in Aggie Memorial Stadium on a hot Saturday night in which many new starters stepped into their roles.
“I thought we responded well. We thought we had them in good shape. We knew it'd be hot,” Solich said. “We were just able to get up on them fairly early on in the game and increase that lead, and that put the game under wraps.”
The new look defensive line could not have had a better debut. They held the Aggies ground game to just six yards rushing, and redshirt sophomore Nic Barber had two sacks.
Another key piece to Ohio’s puzzle, redshirt sophomore Tyler Tettleton, had a good debut at quarterback, completing 16-of-28 passes for two touchdowns. He also added two touchdowns on the ground.
He's working his way through things the way we hoped he would,” Solich said. I thought overall he managed the game really well.”
It was the first game for the Bobcats new no-huddle offense. The Bobcats were able to run 77 plays on offense, much more than their average of 59 in 2010. Tettleton, along with backup Phil Bates, were also able to spread the ball around to numerous receivers. Eleven different Bobcats had receptions.
The veteran offensive line was able to create holes all night as expected. Ohio amassed 241 rushing yards as Donte Harden led the way with 81 yards.
Ohio opened the scoring with 5:17 remaining in the first quarter when Iowa State transfer Beau Blankenship scored a one-yard touchdown capping an eight play, 69 yard drive.
New Mexico State scored the equalizer on the ensuing drive with two big plays, the first being a 32-yard run by Kenny Turner, leading to a 42-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Manley to Taveon Rodgers.
After an Ohio punt pinned the Aggies inside the 15, an errant snap on the first play flew over the head of Manley and out of the end zone for a safety.
From there, Ohio controlled the game.
By winning the field position battle, Ohio was able to piece together scoring drives with relative ease. By the middle of the third quarter, the Bobcats had a 37-10 lead.
The highly-touted special teams unit joined in on the offensive success later in the game as Travis Carrie returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown. That put the Bobcats up 44-10. Punter Paul Hershey boomed an 80 yard punt in the fourth quarter which eclipsed his career high of 72 yards.
Although it was a milestone win for Solich, he still had some concerns - primarily from a defensive side that allowed some big plays and the final two touchdowns of the game.
“We played well defensively through most of the first half. The second half we tailed off a little bit there; we weren't getting to the quarterback,” Solich said. “We gave them too many big plays in the throwing game.”
The Bobcats will have their home opener next Saturday against Gardner-Webb in another game that will ease them in to the meat of their schedule.
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