Sept. 17, 2005
Final Stats
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Three turnovers that resulted in touchdowns were too much for the Ohio football team to overcome as the Bobcats lost 45-0 to No. 4 Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium on Saturday.
After holding the Hokies (3-0) to just three points in the first quarter, Ohio saw junior quarterback Austen Everson (Brentwood, Tenn.) lose a fumble and throw an interception in the second quarter, both times resulting in Virginia Tech touchdowns.
The first turnover at the Bobcat 8-yard line allowed the Hokies to score on a Cedric Humes one-yard run. The second saw Virginia Tech cap a three-play, 32-yard drive with a 28-yard touchdown throw from Marcus Vick to Jeff King for a 17-0 halftime lead.
"We've got to learn to be a smarter football team and just play smarter," said Ohio head coach Frank Solich. "We made a lot of mistakes in the first half that should have had us very much in that ballgame by halftime. It could have been anybody's game going in at halftime but mental mistakes really hurt us."
In between the second quarter touchdowns, Ohio had its best scoring opportunity when the Bobcats drove 61 yards in 10 plays down to the Virginia Tech 19-yard line. On fourth-and-eight from the right hash mark, sophomore Brooks Rossman (Seal Beach, Calif.) missed a 36-yard field goal attempt, his second miss in three tries this season.
"Brooks has missed one (field goal) in each of the last two games and he's just not been that consistent in practice," Solich said. "Right now, we don't have anyone showing any consistency behind him in practice so we'll need to take a good, hard look at that. We need to start being a football team that relies on field goals to win. When you're in field goal position, you need to put points on the board somehow."
In the opening half alone, Bobcat outside linebacker Michael Graham set career-highs with nine tackles and two tackles for loss, including his first career sack. The junior from Cincinnati failed to improve his numbers in the second half, though, as the Hokies began to pull away.
"We knew going in that we were going to have to play good football as far as taking care of the ball and creating some turnovers and that didn't happen," said Solich. "We didn't take great care of the ball and we didn't create the turnovers that we needed to create to make it work. We were a good football team and an attacking football team for two quarters but in the second half we kind of sat back and no one was stepping up and making plays."
After both teams went three-and-out to open to second half, Virginia Tech capped an eight-play, 66-yard drive with a three-yard scoring toss from Vick to Jesse Allen for a 24-0 advantage. Then, following another interception thrown by Everson late in the third quarter, Vick scored from four yards out to make it 31-0.
In the fourth quarter, Humes broke free for a 33-yard score, his second touchdown run of the game. With 5:32 left to play, the Hokies finished the scoring with a 38-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Cory Holt to John Kinzer, capping an eight-play, 96-yard drive.
"Virginia Tech is ranked No. 4 in the country for a good reason," Solich said. "They're an excellent football team and at times, we played well against them. We're still a football team that's learning how to play well for four quarters and not beat ourselves."
For the game, Virginia Tech held a 24-10 advantage in first downs as the Hokies gained 475 total yards compared to 189 for the Bobcats. Junior tailback Voncarie Owens (Taylorsville, Miss.) led Ohio on the ground with 34 yards on seven carries while junior wideout Scott Mayle (Philippi, W.Va.) led Bobcat receivers with three grabs for 62 yards.
Everson completed nine passes in 18 attempts for 96 yards and two interceptions. Redshirt freshman Mark Petruziello (Mentor, Ohio) replaced Everson late in the third quarter and connected on one pass in five tries for six yards.
"We just couldn't sustain drives," Solich said. "We did put together a couple of drives but nothing that was able to go the distance. That was certainly disheartening.
"We're trying to do an awful lot and sometimes when you try to do an awful lot, you suffer with execution. It's coming but we're still not where we need to be as far as running an offense and executing an offense to be able to finish off drives and put points on the board. Our defense played well for a share of the game but we needed to get in the game offensively by getting some points on the board."
For the Hokies, Vick finished 11-for-15 for 183 yards and was sacked three times. Humes led the Virginia Tech ground attack with 76 yards on 15 carries and a pair of touchdowns.
Sophomore safety Todd Koenig (Nanty-Glo, Pa.) and junior outside linebacker Tyler Russ (Stetsonville, Wis.) led the Bobcats with 10 tackles apiece. Freshman cornerback Mark Parson (Richmond, Va.) and senior outside linebacker Phillip Fountain (Kennesaw, Ga.) joined Graham in registering their first career sacks for Ohio.
Another bright spot for the Bobcats was senior Matt Miller (Westerville, Ohio), who punted seven times for a 42.6 average. The Ray Guy Award candidate boomed punts of 52 and 55 yards in the first quarter.
"He did a good job and that was critical," said Solich about his punter. "If we would have lost a large share of field position in special teams play, it would have been much, much more difficult for us. I thought Matt did a great job. He not only kicked them deep - a couple very, very deep - but he also was able to get great hang-time which allowed us to get some coverage."
Ohio opens its Mid-American Conference season next Saturday at home against Kent State (1-2, 0-1 MAC), which lost 27-10 in its homecoming game to MAC East rival Miami on Saturday.
"We're a little beat up right now," Solich said about his squad. "A number of guys are banged up but I know they'll come back and practice hard. We'll get ready for Kent State and hopefully get off to a good start in the conference."
Saturday's kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Peden Stadium and will mark "Take a Kid to the Game Day," sponsored by American Electric Power. Children under the age of 13 will be admitted for free with any adult paid admission.
For ticket information, please contact the Ohio Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-575-CATS (2287) or 740-593-1300. You can also order your tickets online and print them right at home by CLICKING HERE.
