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 On an opening night at Peden Stadium when the Ohio Bobcats were looking to show off their new offense in front of a festive crowd, the defense joined in the spotlight. Playmaking on both sides of the ball propelled the Bobcats to a 30-3 victory over Gardner-Webb Saturday night.
“The win was good to get but we need to get more polished,” head coach Frank Solich said afterward.
The Bobcats struggled to find their stride early against an energized Runnin’ Bulldog team. Penalties, dropped passes and turnovers dashed any attempts for the Bobcats to put points on the board through the first stanza.
Early in the second period, Ohio’s defense lit the spark with interceptions that paved the way for scores.
Nate Carpenter picked off his first career pass and returned it to the Gardner-Webb 27-yard line. From there, Tyler Tettleton was able to find LaVon Brazill for a 15 yard touchdown that broke the scoring ice.
After Matt Weller tacked on a field goal, Ohio broke the game open when Jelani Wosley intercepted Chandler Browning and took it 26 yards to the house to put the Bobcats up 17-0.
“We emphasize on the execution,” said Wosley on his first career touchdown. “I got an opportunity, and I knew I had to take advantage of it.”
With less than two minutes remaining in the half, the defense came with yet another interception. This time Gerald Moore picked off Browning and returned it thirty yards to the G-W 40 yard line.
From there, Tettleton led a scoring drive that was capped off by a nice throw and catch from Tettleton to Riley Dunlop for 14 yards. That made it 24-0 as the teams headed into the locker room.
The defense slammed the door on the Runnin’ Bulldogs in the second half, holding them to just 30 total yards.
“We played solid and made a good effort all night,” said nose tackle Neal Hyunh, who led the defense with nine total tackles.
The ability of the young linebacking corps to play well in the absence of senior Noah Keller, who sat out with a hamstring injury, impressed Solich.
“They are catching on to our schemes very well and they are making plays,” Solich said. “I think they are playing extremely well given their experience.”
Tyler Tettleton’s first home game as starting quarterback, meanwhile, went well as he was able to complete 14-of-24 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns, despite plenty of pressure from the G-W defense.
“I felt like I was calmer after having one game under my belt,” Tettleton said. “We knew they would be blitzing a lot, so we just wanted to go off of what they were giving us.”
After a pair of relatively comfortable victories (20 and 27-point advantages), the Bobcats face a stern test when the Marshall Thundering Herd come to Athens next Saturday for a rivalry game. Marshall bounced back from a 34-13 loss at West Virginia in Week 1 with a 26-20 home win over Southern Miss Saturday.
“Marshall both throws and runs the ball well,” Solich said. “It will be a huge test for us defensively and will answer questions for us.”
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