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ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio football program kicked off its annual Homecoming football game Saturday against the Northern Illinois Huskies. In front of an impressive home crowd, the Bobcats tallied a 48-21 win, marking their eleventh straight at Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium.
"I thought our guys played with great energy," head coach Brian Smith said. "I think they really enjoy playing together, and you can see that on the field with how they played."
It was another record-breaking day for the Bobcats on offense, especially in the running game. As a team, Ohio rushed for six touchdowns for the second time this season, as well as accumulating 333 total yards on the ground. For the first time this season, two Ohio rushers had 100-plus yards with redshirt senior running back Sieh Bangura (Bowie, Md.) going for 147 yards and sophomore running back Duncan Brune (Cologne, Germany) rushing for 126. The rest of the team's rushing yards were filled in by graduate student quarterback Parker Navarro (Tempe Ariz.), rushing for 43 yards.
Bangura was the game's leader in rushing touchdowns with three. After today's game, Bangura finishes his Ohio Homecoming career with 10 total touchdowns in Homecoming games. The Bobcats' other three touchdowns were also scored on the ground, two by Brune and one by Navarro.
In the passing game, Navarro tallied 205 yards to become the program's seventh-ever player to record 4,000-plus career passing yards. Navarro's primary target was junior wide receiver Chase Hendricks (St. Louis, Mo.), who tallied ten catches for 108 yards.
On defense, Ohio was led by senior safety Adonis Williams Jr. (Cleveland Heights, Ohio), who tallied six total tackles, including five solo stops. Redshirt sophomore defensive ends Jay Crable (Massillon, Ohio) and Joseph Marsh (Simi Valley, Calif.) each tallied a sack against Northern Illinois. For Marsh, it was his first career sack as a Bobcat. Junior safety Jalen Thomeson (Greenwood, Ind.) had one of the game's most explosive plays when he returned a fumble 91 yards for a touchdown.
The Bobcats got off to a hot start against the Huskies with a three-and-out on the defense's first drive, followed by a first-drive touchdown by the offense. After a 53-yard punt return by Hendricks, Bangura tallied his first touchdown of the day shortly after, a 2-yard score.
Ohio's hot start didn't stop there, as they quickly got the ball back and scored again with another rushing touchdown, this time by Navarro. By the end of the game's first quarter, Ohio held a firm 14-0 lead.
To start the second quarter, the Bobcats continued their dominance on the ground with their third rushing touchdown, another by Bangura. With 12:13 to play in the first half, Ohio was up 21-0.
The Bobcats couldn't add to their lead before the half but still held a 21-8 lead going into the break.
Starting with the ball in the third quarter, Ohio put up another quick score after Brune rushed 66 yards up the middle into the end zone.
Now with a 27-8 lead, Brune wasn't done scoring as he closed out an Ohio scoring drive with a four-yard rushing score that gave the Bobcats a 34-8 lead.
Down by three scores, the Huskies didn't go away easily, scoring a touchdown to make it 34-14. However, the Bobcats just couldn't stop scoring. Bangura rushed in for the team's sixth rushing touchdown, his third, to make it a 41-14 lead with 14:55 to play.
Northern Illinois went on to score again later in the quarter, but Ohio responded on the defensive end with a Thomeson fumble recovery touchdown to officially secure the victory at 48-21.
Ohio will be back on the road for its next matchup when it takes on the Eastern Michigan Eagles on Saturday, Oct. 25. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. ET and can be seen on CBS Sports Network.
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