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 Having not defeated the rival Marshall since 2000, Ohio Saturday was looking to erase the memories of bitter losses from the past six meetings. Fueled by a raucous crowd of 24,244, new uniforms and six Marshall turnovers, OU avenged a decade of futility and reclaimed the Bell trophy when it dismantled the Thundering Herd 44-7 at Peden Stadium Saturday night.
“We certainly didn’t expect that type of a game,” said head coach Frank Solich. “We just got rolling early, forced some turnovers, and it just snowballed from there.”
As expected with a rivalry game, the two teams played a furious pace from the opening kickoff.
On the opening drive of the game, the Bobcat secondary began their game-long dominance over freshman Thundering Herd quarterback Rakeem Cato when Omar Leftwich picked off Cato at the Thundering Herd 39. Shortly after, Tyler Tettleton found LaVon Brazill, who made an impressive one-handed catch for the score.
Marshall was quick to answer when the freshman Cato threw a perfect pass to Aaron Dobson for a 45-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive, tying the score at seven.
Ohio answered with a 20-yard Matt Weller field goal that was set up by a 74-yard kickoff return by Donte Harden.
Like the previous week, the Bobcats exploded in the second quarter, outscoring the Herd 24-0 and forcing three turnovers.
Cato’s second interception of the game gave the Bobcats a very short field. The 33-yard scoring drive was capped with a seven-yard draw by Tyler Tettleton.
Tettleton did it all for the Bobcats, completing 20-of-29 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns while not throwing an interception.
“He just keeps getting better,” Solich said. “He’s a very calm and composed man. He doesn’t let anything get himself down.”
A fumble forced by Xavier Hughes and recovered by Nate Carpenter put the Bobcats in business yet again, and they added another field goal.
A key stop from the defense set up Phil Bates’ first touchdown of the season as he took a screen pass from Tettleton 50 yards to the end zone.
Another fumble forced by Nate Carpenter had Ohio moving again. LaVon Brazill scored his second touchdown of the game on the same play call that led to Bates’ touchdown on the previous drive.
“We ran that play 10 to 15 times tonight,” said Tettleton. “They kept showing the same defense so it was an easy read for me.”
“The receivers did a great job blocking and doing their jobs, so those plays could happen again and again,” Brazill said.
With a 34-7 lead going into the locker room, Ohio coasted in the second half, led by Ryan Boykin, who gained 140 yards rushing and added the final touchdown.
The win was a particularly gratifying one for the veterans of the team, who saw the Bell slip from their grasps in 2009 and 2010.
“They’ve gotten the best of us the last two times, so it feels nice to get that bell home where it belongs,” said senior linebacker Noah Keller.
“It was so exciting getting to ring the Bell since it hadn’t been here in so long, I just had to be the first one to get to it,” Brazill said.
The Bobcats are off to their best start since the 1976 team that started 4-0. They put the undefeated mark on the line again as they travel to Rutgers Saturday. |
