Sept. 3, 2005
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Despite a 62-yard fumble return for a touchdown by senior cornerback Dion Byrum (Matthews, N.C.) and a 4-yard scoring run by junior quarterback Austen Everson (Brentwood, Tenn.), the Ohio football team lost its season opener 38-14 at Northwestern on Saturday.
The loss spoiled the debut of Frank Solich as Ohio's head coach but the former two-time Big-12 Coach of the Year still saw positives in the Bobcats' play.
"I like the fact that our players continued to battle in the second half and did not quit," said Solich. "There are certainly a lot of things to build on."
After spotting Northwestern a 22-yard field goal in the first quarter and a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, Ohio got on the board with 5:36 to go in the half when Byrum grabbed a pitch-out from Wildcat quarterback Brett Basanez and ran 62 yards untouched to the end zone. After sophomore Brooks Rossman (Seal Beach, Calif.) converted the extra point, the Bobcats trailed 17-7.
On the ensuing drive, Northwestern capped a nine-play, 74-yard drive with an 18-yard scoring toss from Basanez to Shaun Herbert with 1:24 to go. After the Bobcats fumbled the kickoff return a few seconds later, the Wildcats went 26 yards in three plays to set up a three-yard scoring run by Basanez with 13 seconds on the clock.
On the final play of the first half, Everson completed a 58-yard pass to Scott Mayle but the junior receiver from Philippi, W.Va., was tackled at the two-yard line as time expired and Northwestern led 31-7 at intermission.
The Wildcats (1-0) extended their advantage to 38-7 with a 20-yard run by Tyrell Sutton in the third quarter. Sutton finished the game with 104 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns.
With 10:54 remaining in the fourth quarter, Everson capped an eight-play, 68-yard drive with a four-yard scoring run for the Bobcats. He finished his fourth career start with 157 yards on 10-of-26 passing and one interception, in addition to 11 yards on 10 carries.
"It's obvious that we need to get consistent in everything that we're doing." said Solich. "We showed flashes of getting things done on the offensive end and the quarterback is the key to what gets done.
"A lot of pressure was put on Austen to make it work and he tried to get us down the field and he tried to keep drives alive. We'll build off what happened today and we'll try to get better and become a better football team week by week."
Sophomore tailback Kalvin McRae (Decatur, Ga.) led Ohio on the ground with 34 yards on 10 carries. Mayle led all receivers with four receptions for 100 yards and also rushed for 13 yards on two carries.
Basanez completed 27 of 37 passes for 353 yards and two scores for Northwestern. The senior signal-caller also gained 13 yards on eight carries and a touchdown.
In addition to being Solich's first game at Ohio, Saturday's contest also marked the 1,000th game in Bobcat football history. Since the program's first season in 1894, the Bobcats hold a 466-486-48 all-time record.
Next up for Ohio (0-1) is a Friday night game against Pittsburgh at Peden Stadium. The 8 p.m. home opener will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
Season and single-game tickets for Bobcat football are available through the Ohio Athletics Tickets Office, which has locations at Peden Stadium and in the Convocation Center. Orders can be placed over the phone at 1-800-575-CATS or online by CLICKING HERE.
