West Virginia falls 17-10 to Ohio
West Virginia struggled to take advantage of opportunities falling 17-10 to Ohio Saturday evening inside Penden Stadium.
The offense mustered just 130 yards on 24 plays in the first half while Ohio rolled up 280 yards and 42 plays to take a 17-7 edge entering the halftime break. For the game, the Mountaineers had only 250 yards and 13 first downs but mustered just 10 points despite three forced turnovers by the defense.
Redshirt junior Nicco Marchiol started the game and completed 15-26 passes for 178 yards and an interception. Redshirt senior Jaylen Henderson took over on the final drive of the third and a drive in the fourth but then Marchiol finished the contest.
Junior running back Jahiem White had 6 carries for 40 yards and a touchdown but was forced from the game due to injury.
West Virginia won the coin toss and deferred and the defense responded with a quick three and out including a sack by Chase Wilson to get the football to the offense but after a first down they would punt the football back to the Bobcats but pinned them at their own three.
The Bobcats would move the football close to midfield, but the defense would force a stop and the Mountaineers would take the ball back over at their own 11 after a penalty.
The Mountaineers would quickly move the football using a six-play drive capped off by a 32-yard touchdown run by White. On the drive, Marchiol also connected with Vaughn on a 31-yard pass play as well as a 16-yard jet sweep to Rodney Gallagher to jump start the drive.
The Bobcats offense would put together a scoring drive of their own traveling 60-yards in six plays but settling for a field goal to cut the score to 7-3 with 1:07 left in the first quarter. The biggest play of the drive was a 38-yard completion to Chase Hendricks.
West Virginia would go three and out on the next drive and the Ohio offense would quickly move the ball deep into Mountaineers territory at the eight yard line. But back-to-back losses as well as a holding penalty pushed the football back to the 33-yard line and the Bobcats would have to settle for 39-yard field goal that sailed wide right to keep the score at 7-3.
After another three and out by the offense, the Bobcats again moved the ball deep into West Virginia territory aided by missed tackles. The Mountaineers appeared to get off the field to force a field goal, but a holding penalty extended the drive and Ohio would punch the ball in three plays later to take a 10-7 lead with just 2:36 remaining in the first half.
On the ensuing drive White was injured on a tackle and left the field but the offense again would again sputter to give the football back to the Bobcats. It would take only three plays to go 74-yards and put the Bobcats ahead 17-7 with 1:19 before the half.
West Virginia opened the second half with a field goal on the back of a 45-yard completion to Bray to cut the deficit to 17-10 with 12:31 remaining in the third.
On the ensuing drive, Ohio moved the ball deep into West Virginia territory, but Darrian Lewis was able to record an interception and give the ball back the offense. They would be forced to punt but kept the score at 17-10 in the third quarter. The Mountaineers recorded another turnover on a fourth down attempt with Ben Cutter recording an interception to give the ball back to the offense at their own 41.
The Mountaineers went to Henderson as the quarterback on the next drive but the offense would go three and out once again. But for the third time in the second half the defense would cash in on a turnover with Wilson recording an interception to set the offense up at midfield.
The offense would again fail to capitalize though and give the football back to the Bobcats after another three and out. But then recorded a stop of their own to give the offense the ball at their own 30 with 10:08 remaining in the game. This time the offense would move the ball but couldn’t convert on fourth down at the Ohio 33 giving the ball back to the Bobcats.
After another successful stop by the defense, West Virginia took over with 5:24 on the clock and moved the ball into Ohio territory but Marchiol threw an interception after being hit giving the ball back to the Bobcats. From there, the Bobcats would run out most of the clock before the Mountaineers were stopped on their final desperation drive.
The Mountaineers will host Pittsburgh next weekend at 3:30 p.m. in the latest edition of the Backyard Brawl.
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