Ohio Football Heads West to Take on Sacramento State

FOLLOW OHIO FOOTBALL: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio football team (4-2, 2-0 MAC) heads out west to take on Sacramento State (1-5, 0-3 MAC) on Saturday, Oct. 17. Kickoff is set for 10:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN+ with Chris Sylvester and Doc Holiday on the call.

The Bobcats' matchup can also be heard on The Varsity Sports Network. Veteran Ohio radio personality Marty Bannister is reprising his role as Ohio's play-by-play broadcaster. Bannister will be joined by color analyst Rob Cornelius, who has been part of the broadcasts for more than two decades.

SERIES HISTORY
This matchup marks the first time the two teams have matched up, with Sacramento State being the Mid-American Conference's newest member, playing their inaugural season at the FBS level.

SCOUTING SACRAMENTO STATE
Sacramento State has yet to record its first MAC win after falling to Bowling Green, 38-10. Quarterback Jackson Sharman completed 13 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown. The running back duo of Isaiah Ene and Daniel Swinney combined for 91 yards on the ground, and wide receiver Matthew Coleman led the team with 85 receiving yards and one touchdown on six catches.

Safety Boogsie Silvera led the Hornets defensively with nine tackles and hauled in his first interception of the season. Cornerback Caleb Reese recorded seven tackles, and four players tallied five tackles each.

THE LAST TIME OUT
The Ohio football team (4-2 overall, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) returned home to play its homecoming game against Central Michigan (3-3 overall, 1-1 MAC) in a game that saw the Bobcats dominate in the first half before closing out a 31-14 victory.

Individually, graduate student quarterback Nick Poulos (Granite Bay, Calif.) threw for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Junior running back Duncan Brune (Cologne, Germany) ran for 91 yards and a touchdown, while graduate student running back Victor Rosa (Bristol, Conn.) ran for 70 yards. Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Riley Neer (Bellefontaine, Ohio) had 59 yards and a score, while redshirt freshman wide receiver Preston Bowman (Pickerington, Ohio) had 14 yards and a touchdown. Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Dom Dorwart (Leonardtown, Md.) had 42 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, redshirt freshman linebacker Jermaine Minnis (Hyattsville, Md.) had 12 tackles while redshirt junior cornerback Kendall Bannister (Woodbridge, Va.) had six tackles. Redshirt senior linebacker Michael Molnar (Mason, Ohio) had five tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble. Redshirt junior safety DJ Walker (Aliquippa, Pa.) had four tackles, while redshirt freshman Ike Ackerman (Omaha, Neb.) had one sack.

Ohio started the game with a touchdown drive, as Brune took the handoff 23 yards to the house to give the Bobcats an early 7-0 lead. Brune has excelled on homecoming before, rushing for a career-high 126 yards on homecoming against Northern Illinois last season.

Central Michigan got into Ohio territory on its first drive, but the Bobcat defense forced a stop on a fourth-and-one run to get the ball back.

The Bobcats went on another eight-play scoring drive, with Poulos finding a wide-open Neer in the end zone for a three-yard touchdown. The score gave Ohio a 14-0 lead just before the first quarter ended. That was Neer's fifth touchdown of the season.

After forcing a quick three-and-out, Ohio strung together a drive to set up graduate student kicker Will Hryszko (Strongsville, Ohio) for a 24-yard field goal to take a 17-0 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the second quarter.

Ohio's defense kept making plays, with Molnar flying into the backfield for a strip sack on the next Chippewa drive, giving the ball right back to the Bobcat offense.

With the short field position, the Bobcats made quick work of getting back into the end zone, as Poulos found Bowman for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 24-0.

The offense got the ball back with less than a minute to go in the second quarter, but Poulos kept firing, launching a 44-yard bomb to Dorwart for a touchdown to close out the first half.

Central Michigan made it across midfield on its second drive of the third quarter and went for it on a fourth-and-five, only for Molnar to make another huge play, getting his second sack of the game and getting the defense off the field.

The Chippewas got on the board with a rushing touchdown with less than 30 seconds left in the third quarter, making the score 31-7 going into the fourth quarter.

Both teams were trading possessions in the fourth quarter until Central Michigan was able to tack on another touchdown before the end of the game, cutting the score to 31-14.

Ohio finished the game with the ball, running out the clock to finish off a 31-14 victory on homecoming. The win marked the 16th straight win at home for Ohio and the fifth straight win on homecoming.

#OUohyeah

Ohio Football Heads West to Take on Sacramento State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ike Ackerman

Kendall Bannister

Preston Bowman

Duncan Brune

Dom Dorwart

Will Hryszko

Jermaine Minnis

Michael Molnar

Riley Neer

Nick Poulos

Victor Rosa

DJ Walker

Footer