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ATHENS, Ohio – On a rainy night in Athens, Ohio, the Ohio football program closed out its season with an undefeated 6-0 record at Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium. The Bobcats took down UMass 42-14.
"To go undefeated at home is awesome, and then doing it two years in a row is really something that I think the program should be commended for," head coach Brian Smith said.
The Ohio offense was led by redshirt senior running back Sieh Bangura (Bowie, Md.), who had a career high of 196 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Bangura's career night included surpassing 1,000 rush yards on the season for the second time in his career, being the fifth Bobcat in program history to reach that mark. The senior running back also passed 3,000 career rushing yards, also becoming the fifth Ohio player to record such a stat.
"I feel really comfortable, I can really put my trust in (my offensive line)," Bangura said. "I can take my time, make my reads with that O-Line. They're always blocking people. So, it just feels good to play with an O-Line like this."
Bangura was part of a rushing attack that accumulated 363 ground yards and six touchdowns with sophomore running back Duncan Brune (Cologne, Germany) rushing for 84 yards and two touchdowns and graduate student quarterback Parker Navarro (Tempe, Ariz.) rushing for 81 and two touchdowns. This is the first time since 2018 that an Ohio team has had three players rush for two or more touchdowns in a game.
On defense, the Bobcats were led by redshirt junior linebacker Jack Fries (Cincinnati, Ohio), who recorded his first career interception while totaling 10 tackles, one for a loss. Graduate student defensive back Tank Pearson (Oxford, Miss.) also recorded an interception in the contest. Other highlights on the defensive end included solo sacks by redshirt junior defensive end Anas Luqman (Cincinnati, Ohio) and junior defensive end Derek Reagans (San Francisco, Calif.). Redshirt junior defensive tackle Pius Odjugo (Wari, Nigeria) also recovered a fumble in the game.
After starting the game down 7-0, Bangura and the offense responded with a touchdown on their first drive of the game. Navarro capped off an 11-play 70-yard drive with a rushing touchdown to bring the game to a 7-7 tie with 6:03 to play in the first quarter.
The defense then made its first big play of the game with Odjugo recovering a UMass fumble to get the offense back on the field. The defense continued to make big plays in the first quarter with back-to-back tackles for a loss from Luqman and Odjugo, forcing a punt on the ensuing UMass drive.
By the end of the game's first quarter, Ohio was tied with UMass 7-7.
The Bobcat offense caught fire in the second quarter, scoring 14 unanswered points. Brune scored the first of two rushing touchdowns in the quarter after he hurdled his way into the end zone for a 13-yard score.
Ohio's final touchdown of the half came by way of Bangura, his first of the day, to make it a 21-7 game going into the half.
UMass started the second half with a touchdown to trim the Ohio lead to just seven at 21-14. However, the offense was able to respond once again, with Bangura leading Ohio down the field for another rushing score.
Going into the fourth quarter, Ohio was leading 28-14.
The Bobcats dominance on the ground continued into the fourth quarter, where the team would notch two more rushing touchdowns to their historic total. First it was Navarro with a four-yard rush to take a 35-14 lead followed by a one-yard score by Brune.
In between touchdowns, Pearson ended any comeback hopes for UMass by recording the defenses second interception of the day. By the game's end, Ohio led UMass 42-14.
The Bobcats will conclude the regular season next week when they go on the road to take on the Buffalo Bulls on Friday, Nov. 28. The game will kick off at 12 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPNU.
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