ATHENS, Ohio – Rich Rodriguez was right: Ohio wasn’t a trap game for West Virginia’s football team.
The Bobcats, on this day, were just better.
Ohio limited the Mountaineers to three points on their final 11 possessions of a 17-10 Bobcats victory on Saturday at Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium.
Ohio (1-1) outgained West Virginia 429 yards to 250, picked up 23 first downs to the Mountaineers’ 13, won the time of possession statistic by a margin of 40:15 to 19:45 and ran 79 offensive plays to WVU’s 56.
“Just very disappointed,†Rodriguez, the Mountaineers’ coach, said. “Starts with me. Told the guys I failed them this week. I thought we had a good week of practice, thought we were ready to play, and we weren’t. We didn’t execute. Lot of things to work on.â€
Before a Peden record crowd of 26,740, the Bobcats consistently forced WVU into predictable pass down-and-distance situations.
The Mountaineers, who started Nicco Marchiol at quarterback for the second straight game, briefly relieved him with Jaylen Henderson and then returned to Marchiol down the stretch, had little luck playing from behind the sticks.
“One of the keys to stopping a team like [WVU’s tempo-based running attack] is being able to stop the run on early downs,†Ohio coach Brian Smith said, “and the job our defense did, the plan they had to knock out the run, was awesome. And I think what helped them too was then being able to apply pressure when they did have to throw. So the game really ended up flipping from what [WVU] wanted.â€
Even so, the Mountaineers still had their chances late. WVU intercepted Ohio’s Parker Navarro on the Bobcats’ first three possessions of the second half, with Darrian Lewis, Ben Cutter and Chase Wilson each pilfering a pass.
All three set the Mountaineers up with short fields, too – at the Ohio 49-yard line, the WVU 41 and the Bobcats 49, respectively. But that trio of drives netted a loss of 7 yards.
It didn’t help West Virginia that by game’s end it was without dynamic back Jahiem White and wideout Jaden Bray due to injury.
White ran for the Mountaineers’ lone touchdown, a 32-yarder at the 3:22 mark of the first quarter, but was on the business end of both a horse collar and a face mask on the same play in the second quarter and was carted off the field.
“Obviously, he is a great player, and so you lose some of his explosiveness, but we weren’t executing even before then,†Rodriguez said. “Again, that’s my job. I take responsibility for a lack of execution.â€
West Virginia had the ball last after forcing a Bobcats turnover on downs at the Mountaineers 27 with 17 seconds to go.
But WVU (1-1) had no timeouts, and Ohio’s Anas Luqman’s sack of Marchiol ran out the clock.
That was the Bobcats’ fourth sack of the game.
“A lot of it is how hard our guys play, the effort that they have,†Smith said of Ohio’s defensive line’s strong showing. “I think a lot of the movement that we do up front creates some challenges for people, but that’s what we really lean on, is our toughness and how hard we play as a team.â€
It was enough to make Ohio’s 17 points – all scored in the first half – stand up. Brack Peacock’s 37-yard field goal with 1:07 to go in the first quarter got the Bobcats on the board after White had opened the scoring.
Sieh Bangura barged across the goal line from a yard out with 2:36 to go in the second quarter to put Ohio ahead to stay.
WVU went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, and the Bobcats, who had been content to run the play clock way down to that point, began moving faster.
Smith said Ohio took note that WVU defensive coordinator Zac Alley makes play calls based on opponents’ formation, and the Bobcats sought to give him less time to do that.
"If you’re gonna check at the line of scrimmage, [Alley] is gonna kinda wait and hold and check with you and try to hold their looks,†Smith said. “That creates some challenges for us with what we do offensively, so the way we can adjust for that is changing our tempo, playing faster."
It worked, as Ohio needed just three plays and a WVU pass interference penalty to cover 74 yards to score another touchdown before intermission.
Chase Hendricks got loose behind the Mountaineers secondary, to Alley’s visible frustration, and hauled in Navarro’s toss for a 31-yard TD to put the Bobcats up 10 points going into halftime.
Rodriguez had dismissed talk earlier in the week about Ohio being a “trap game†with Pitt looming next week. By halftime, the Bobcats had shown they were plenty capable of holding their own.
“I think that touchdown that I scored before halftime, you can kinda feel a little drop, a little shrug, like, ‘Ahhh, they’re getting after us a little bit,’†Hendricks said of his perception of the Mountaineers’ response.
Marchiol completed 15 of 26 passes for 178 yards, no touchdowns and one pick. Henderson was 0 for 2 through the air.
White and Bray led WVU in their respective statistical disciplines despite not finishing the game. White ran for 40 yards and a score on six totes to pace the Mountaineers on the ground, and Bray had four receptions for 69 yards.
Navarro hit 22 of 31 throws for 247 yards, with the TD and trio of picks. Hendricks piled up 121 receiving yards. Navarro led Ohio in the run game with 87 yards on 18 totes.
West Virginia was seeking its first 2-0 start since 2018. The Mountaineers, who were playing their first road game against a non-power conference opponent since 2010, fell to Ohio for the first time since 1949. That was also the last time the two teams met in Athens.
The Bobcats are at Ohio State next week, while it’s the Backyard Brawl for the Mountaineers in Morgantown.
“I want it to hurt, and it’s gonna hurt all of us,†Rodriguez said of Saturday’s loss, “for the next 20 hours or so. We know who’s next, so we’ve gotta get to work.â€
