Ohio football defeats Miami in MAC Championship for 1st title since 1968
For the first time since 1968, the Ohio football team won the Mid-American Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 7). Ohio defeated Miami 38-3, marking the largest margin of victory in a MAC Championship. It was also the first time a team had ever been held to no touchdowns in a Championship game.
"It was my 36th year of coaching, 20 years here, and that was the best four quarters of football I've ever seen. It was from start to finish. Wow," head coach Tim Albin said. "I want to congratulate Chuck Martin and his staff on their season. He got my vote for Coach of the Year. I picked him to win the whole thing in the preseason. He does it the right way, both teams tremendous sportsmanship, and that's important. I applaud our commissioner in the letter that he had sent last week, and you've got a big rival game, two great fan bases college football, two best defenses, the two best quarterbacks, two best offensive line, and we did it the right way today."
Miami's longest drive of the first half came right after kickoff, but after that lone field goal, Ohio was off to the races. Ohio possessed the ball for just over 13 minutes of the first half, with all three drives resulting in touchdowns.
The Bobcats' first touchdown was a 4-yard keeper by graduate student quarterback Parker Navarro (Tempe, Ariz.). The second, also by Navarro, came on a 1-yard rush. The second touchdown was also the result of Ohio's longest drive of the season – 18 plays for 82 yards over 10 minutes and 14 seconds.
Navarro ended the afternoon 20-for-27 in the air for 235 yards and two touchdowns. He also collected 73 yards and the two touchdowns on the ground. Navarro was the Offensive Player of the Game.
"I thought the offense came out sharp. The defense was getting stops, and if you have that combination, I think we do what we did today, which is score a lot of points and allow very little," Navarro said.
That drive was made possible with the leg work of graduate student running back Anthony Tyus III (Portage, Mich.), who charged through the RedHawks' defense for 34 yards on eight carries. Tyus ended the afternoon with 151 total rushing yards on 27 attempts.
Miami's most substantial drive of the second quarter ended in one set of downs.
Ohio came out of the locker room with the same fire in the second half. For the fourth-straight drive, Ohio found the endzone on a 25-yard reception by graduate student Coleman Owen (Gilbert, Ariz.)
The Bobcats scored on the next drive, too. However this time it was a career-long field goal for sophomore kicker Gianni Spetic (Chardon, Ohio). His 52-yard boot beat his previous best of 46 yards, set earlier this season at Central Michigan. Spetic ended the afternoon 1-for-1 and 5-for-5 in PATs and was named the Special Teams Player of the Game.
"Earlier, my PATs were looking good. I was a little nervous going out there," Spetic said. "I was rushing. I was nervous just because I didn't know if I had that much time to breathe and whatever. I went out there and everything blanked out, and I kind of just hit it."
Ohio's offensive prowess was aided in part by its defense.
Graduate student linebacker Blake Leake (Culpepper, Va.) led Ohio with eight tackles. Redshirt junior linebacker Shay Taylor (Sheridan, Ohio) and redshirt senior cornerback Roman Parodie (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) followed close behind with five each. Redshirt junior defensive end Bradley Weaver (Hilliard, Ohio) earned the Defensive Player of the Game nomination for his contributions as well, which included a tackle for a loss of four yards.
Senior cornerback Tank Pearson's (Oxford, Miss.) interception saved what would have been a Miami touchdown in the beginning of the fourth quarter. That made way for Tyus, who scurried into the endzone to punctuate the Bobcats' victory.
"I had a little pep talk for my guys on the defense," Weaver said. "Two years ago, we didn't do a great job at the hotel with our walk through with just our mental preparation. We kind of already thought we had it in the bag. I think we started celebrating a little bit too soon. I told my guys in that D meeting room at the end of the film 'We're locked in, this is a business trip until that clock hits zero across the board, until then we're not celebrating."
The champion Bobcats still have one more stop on their third-straight 10 win season. The Bobcats will travel to Orlando, Fla. for the StaffDNA Cure Bowl on Dec. 20. To learn more about the Cure Bowl, visit CureBowl.com.
Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.