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THE BASICS 
The Score: Ohio 14, Akron 12
Location: Akron, Ohio â€" InfoCision Stadium
Attendance: 17,301 

The Short Story: Ohio (4-1, 1-0 MAC) held the Zips (2-3, 0-1 MAC) out of the endzone for four quarters as the Bobcats opened Mid-American Conference play with a 14-12 victory at InfoCision Stadium in Akron on Saturday (October 3).

 HOW WE GOT HERE:
- The Zips opened up the scoring with a 40-yard field goal by Akron kicker Robert Stein.
- Ohio countered on the following drive, driving 70 yards on eight plays and scoring on a 24-yard touchdown pass from redshirt senior quarterback Derrius Vick to redshirt senior tight end Keith Heitzman.
- After forcing an Akron punt on the next drive, Ohio culminated an 11-play drive on a 4-yard touchdown run by senior running back Daz Patterson to give the Bobcats a 14-3 lead at the 12:41 mark of the second quarter.
- Akron would add a 33-yard field goal by Stein with three seconds remaining in the first half.
- Vick went 12-for-17 with 127 yards and one touchdown in the first half.
- Redshirt sophomore receiver Brendan Cope led the Bobcats with three first-half receptions for 34 yards.
- Sophomore running back AJ Ouellette and redshirt freshman running back Papi White led the Bobcats with 26 yards each on the ground in the first half.
- Ohio outgained Akron 180-146 in the opening half.
- The Zips trimmed Ohio’s lead to 14-9 with a 41-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
- Akron cut Ohio’s advantage to two with a 30-yard field goal by Stein with 3:55 left in the game.
- The Bobcats forced the Zips into a turnover on downs with 1:09 remaining to the contest.

BIG PLAYS:
- Vick completed a pair of 10+ yard passes to White and Cope and then a 14-yard rush by Ouellette set Ohio up at the Akron 24, where Vick rolled out to the left on a play action fake, finding a wide-open Heitzman near the home sideline for the score.
- Aided by a pair of facemask penalties on the Zips, Ohio increased its lead to two scores when Patterson ran through a pair of Akron arm tackles into the endzone for the touchdown. Ohio’s largest play on the drive was a five-yard run by Ouellette.
- Redshirt sophomore Quentin Poling recorded his first interception of the season in the second half, to give Ohio the ball at the Akron 26.
- On Akron’s final drive of the game Poling recorded a sack on second down to force Akron into a third and 17 and then on a fourth and four opportunity for the Zips, redshirt senior cornerback Ian Wells broke up a pass by Akron quarterback Thomas Woodson to give Ohio the ball to kneel out the clock.

SCORING DRIVES

First Quarter:
10:33  AKRON -- Stein, 40-yard field goal, 11-48, 6:06 -- 3-0
4:27 OHIO â€" Heitzman, 24-yard pass from Vick (Yazdani kick), 8-70, 3:22 â€" 7-3

Second Quarter:
12:41 OHIO -- Patterson, 4-yard run (Yazdani kick), 11-57, 5:30 -- 14-3
00:03 AKRON -- Stein, 33-yard field goal, 10-30, 2:10 -- 14-6

Third quarter
00:16 AKRON -- Stein, 41-yard field goal, 13-67, 6:41 -- 14-9 

Fourth Quarter
06:21 AKRON -- Stein, 30-yard field goal, 9-37, 3:16 -- 14-12

FINAL STATS:
Vick: 18-for-26, 179 yards, one touchdown.: Four receptions for 69 yards and one touchdown.
White: 56 yards on four receptions, 29 yards on five carries.
Patterson: One touchdown on nine carries.
Heitzman: 24 yards receiving and one touchdown.
Poling: 11 total tackles, eight solo tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack.

QUOTABLE:
"It was not an easy ballgame. I give (Akron) credit. I think they prepared well for us. Their up-front people on the defensive side of the ball are pretty special in terms of their defensive group there. Offensively, their quarterback threw the ball wellâ€"probably better than he’s thrown it for a while. He put the ball on the money. Sometimes we were able to break it up, sometimes we weren’t. Sometimes they made great catches, sometimes the ball was right there and nobody was contesting them. All in all, we found a way to win a ballgame where I don’t think we played particularly well." -- Head coach Frank Solich

"A lot of teams in the MAC are good. You’ve just got to bring your A-game every game. Even when you don’t play your best, you’ve just got to find ways to win." -- Redshirt senior cornerback Ian Wells

UP NEXT:
The Bobcats head back to Peden Stadium for Homecoming in a “Battle of the Bricks” showdown against rival Miami. Kickoff is set for 2 pm. ET on Saturday (October 10) and can be seen on ESPN3.

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