Sports
Ohio Football holds off Central Michigan comeback attempt, grabs first road win
By: Grant Kiefer
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MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (WOUB) — With unexpected results filing in around the Mid-American Conference on Saturday, the Ohio Bobcats’ (4-2, 2-0 MAC) game at Central Michigan (3-3, 1-1 MAC) became all the more important to the team’s road to Detroit for December’s MAC Championship Game. Ohio came into this one with a measly 6-27-2 all-time record against Central Michigan and while it wasn’t easy, the Bobcats achieved that highly-coveted seventh win against the Chippewas, winning 27-25.
Quarterback Parker Navarro set a career-high in rushing yards last time out against Akron, and started the game on a similar note: finding open space off the snap and running. A 53-yard run set Ohio up in the Chippewas’ red zone early on, but kicker Gianni Spetic would be called upon to put the ball through the uprights, putting Ohio up 3-0.
It became apparent early on that Central Michigan was going to struggle keeping track of Navarro when he scrambles. Ohio’s offensive coaching staff noticed this, and used it to the team’s advantage. Through just one quarter of play, Ohio had 150 yards of offense through three drives. If it weren’t for an Anthony Tyus III fumble in the red zone on drive number two, the Bobcats could’ve had far more than three points in the quarter.
The Chippewas weren’t going to keep Ohio off the scoreboard for long. Navarro capped off a touchdown drive that saw him gain 61 of the team’s 75 yards on the ground and get into the end zone as well. With a 10-0 lead, Navarro already had a staggering 114 rushing yards on just six rushing attempts.
Overwhelming would be an understatement for what Ohio’s defense was to Central Michigan’s offense in the first half. Stop after stop, Ohio’s offense continued to have the chance to put points on the board. Navarro and the Bobcats took advantage once more, finding receiver Coleman Owen through the air for 20 yards to set up the Bobcats first and goal. Owen capped the drive off with his third touchdown in his last two games, putting Ohio ahead 17-0.
The Great Eight is what Albin has dubbed eight of Ohio’s early enrollees from the spring 2024 semester. Albin has gone on to say that these eight freshmen aren’t freshmen anymore with how much experience they’ve gained.
Central Michigan finally showed signs of life in the third quarter, as running back Marion Lukes scored the rare ‘octopus’–a touchdown and a two-point conversion for eight total points–to get the Chippewas back to a two-score deficit. To add, the Chippewas’ starting quarterback Joe Labas went down with an injury to his throwing arm right before halftime, so an opportunity arose for third-string quarterback Tyler Jefferson.
A tale of two halves, perhaps? Well, yes. Both of Ohio’s drives in the third quarter resulted in three-and-outs, while CMU’s second drive of the quarter resulted in another red zone trip that was capped off by a field goal, down just 24-11.
To start the fourth quarter, it was yet another three-and-out for the Bobcats. Punting the ball away, Ohio caught a break after Donte Kent’s punt-return touchdown was called back due to a block in the back penalty. Just mere plays later, a potential 48-yard catch from the Chippewas was overturned after review. To say either one of these calls were controversial would be an understatement. Central Michigan finished the game with 15 penalties called for 133 yards.
That luck wouldn’t remain for long, though. Navarro made his first true mistake of the game by fumbling in the pocket, with the Chippewas recovering deep in Ohio territory. Lukes would punch it in just three plays later to put Central Michigan down just one score. In a game it was trailing 24-0 in.
To respond, Ohio went back to what it knows best: running the ball. Navarro and Tyus gained multiple first downs to get down into Septic’s field goal range, and he converted to get Ohio back up two scores, 27-18.
At that rate, it was obvious Central Michigan would respond, and that’s exactly what happened. The Chips drove down the field, but were met with a fourth and one with the game on the line. Back against the wall, Lukes ran it straight up the gut to cut the lead to just two points at 27-25–his third touchdown of the half.
Still in control of the lead and with the clock under two minutes, all Ohio needed was just one first down to seal the deal and they did just that. A Tyus first down run but a bow on one of the most eventful games in recent Ohio history, coming out on top 27-25.
Despite the win, Ohio gave up seven penalties for 59 yards and lost two fumbles. When asked about cleaning up some of the mistakes over the bye, Albin said, “After the Akron game I said look, guys, if we don’t clean up the penalties and clean up the turnovers, Ohio is going to end up beating Ohio.” It was close to Ohio beating Ohio, which the team prides itself on not falling towards, but Ohio will need to play a clean game next time out to avoid another potential disaster.
Now at 2-0 in MAC play, Ohio sits tied atop the conference early on. “It’s tournament play now, every game matters,” linebacker Blake Leake said. “There’s no more east and west (divisions)…we know we have to start picking up wins.”
Ohio is back in action next week on the road against its arch-rival, Miami of Ohio. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. EST on ESPN+.