Ohio Football Defeats Central Michigan For First Time Since 2011 - Ohio University (2024)

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ATHENS, Ohio —

"I've only beat them one time. Coach (Frank) Solich and myself talked about it on the phone. I didn't mention it to anybody in this in this building, it's not about Tim, it's not about Dwayne, but it's certainly in the back of my mind," head coach Tim Albin said. "Central beat us twice in the championship game in Detroit. We've had some unbelievable games down to the wire. You just wouldn't believe and I'm just really ecstatic for them with the win. But tonight was about those seniors and their legacy and we're at eight wins now and, and moving forward, we've got an unbelievable opportunity to get to nine.

The Bobcats broke through the Chippewas offense early. Graduate student corner back Justin Birchette (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) broke up a pass intended for Jesse Prewitt III to force a punt. From there, the Bobcats scored in their opening drive on a 39-yard field goal by freshman kicker Gianni Spetic (Chardon, Ohio). Spetic went 2-for-3 in field goal attempts and 4-for-4 in PATs.

Ohio continued the trend on Central Michigan's next drive. Graduate student defensive end Shane Bonner (New Concord, Ohio) picked off a pass intended for junior wide receiver Jalen McGaughy to snag a pick six. It was his first career interception and touchdown.

"We've been talking about scoring on defense for a couple of weeks, so I just took the ball and ran with it," Bonner said.

The defense held Central Michigan scoreless through the majority of the first half. Central Michigan broke the shutout in with just over four minutes to go on a 50-yard touchdown by redshirt sophom*ore wide receiver Tyson Davis (Flint, Mich.). However, Ohio still had a 10-point lead going into the locker rooms.

In six of their eight wins this season, the Bobcats had a lead going into halftime.

"It's certainly nothing that I'm saying a halftime that's changing it. I think it's just the guys executing it," Albin said. "As a staff we're gonna continue to challenge them. It's a four quarter game. If we can put four quarters together.. we should be pretty, pretty darn good."

Wednesday marked the second game in a row that Ohio did not tally a passing touchdown. Instead, Ohio relied on its legs to find the end zone. Redshirt fifth year O'Shaan Allison (Malvern, Pa.) led the way with two rushing touchdowns for 12 yards on nine attempts. Allison had not had a multi-touchdown game since Ohio played Bowling Green in 2019.

Graduate student quarterback Kurtis Rourke (Oakville, Ontario, Canada) contributed a 16-yard rushing touchdown as well for his third of the season. The quarterback also threw for 222 yards on 15 successful attempts out of 23 total. He is now 15 yards away from passing Nathan Rouke in all-time passing yards.

Redshirt sophom*ore Sieh Bangura (Bowie, Md.) added to the legwork with a career-high 126 rushing yards on Wednesday, too.

The defense sealed the game for the Bobcats in the second half. Graduate student defensive end Vonnie Watkins (Lusby, Md.) forced a strip sack and graduate student linebacker Keye Thompson (Barberton, Ohio) recovered it to give the Bobcats the ball before expected. Thompson was electric for the Bobcats all night as he dove over the Chippewas line a few plays prior. He and graduate student linebacker Bryce Houston (Lewis Center, Ohio) led the Bobcats with nine total tackles each.

Ohio solidified its spot as the No. 2 team in the MAC East with the win. However, there is still one more game left in Ohio's conference schedule. Ohio will travel to Akron on Nov. 24 for its final conference game of the season. Kickoff is set for noon.

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