Box Score Wofford-Ohio game box (pdf)
ATHENS, Ohio – In the season opener on Saturday evening, the Wofford College football team was defeated by Ohio University 33-10 at Peden Stadium. Wofford was within seven points late in the third quarter, but three turnovers in the game hampered the Terriers’ chances.
The Terriers are 0-1 on the season and the Bobcats are 1-0. The Terriers were led by Mike Rucker with 76 yards rushing and Eric Breitenstein added 51 yards and a touchdown. Mitch Allen had 50 yards, but the Terriers did not complete a pass. The Bobcats were led by Vince Davidson with 70 yards and Boo Jackson had 97 passing yards on seven completions.
"We were playing a real good football team and a well coached football team," said Wofford head coach Mike Ayers. "We did some great things out there, but when the margin of error is small, you can't have as many turnovers as we had. We have to do a better job of ball security. We had some opportunities in the game to be there, but we did not make the plays when we needed to. The turnovers are the critical problem. For the most part I thought we did a good job on both sides of the ball. Our goal was to be physical against a physical football team and our kids came out and matched-up pretty well."
The Bobcats began the game with a 41-yard kickoff return, but the Wofford defense forced a three and out. On the first drive of the game for the Terriers, Mitch Allen and Mike Rucker both picked up rushing first down before having to punt the ball back to the Bobcats.
Wofford forced another punt, however on the return the ball was fumbled and recovered by Ohio’s Julian Posey and returned 38-yard for a touchdown with six minutes left in the first quarter. With the ball back, Wofford picked up a fourth-and-one with a five-yard run by Eric Breitenstein. On fourth-and-one again, Brenton Bersin went 20 yards on a reverse to gain the first down. After two more rushing first downs by Breitenstein and Rucker, Breitenstein scored the first Terrier touchdown of the season from one yard out to tie the game at 7-7 with eight seconds left in the first quarter.
Ohio used several strong runs by quarterback Phil Bates to move the ball deep into Wofford territory. The Bobcats were able to add a 37-yard field goal by Matt Weller at 11:13 in the second quarter for a 10-7 advantage. On the next drive by Wofford, the Terriers came up short on a fourth-and-two, giving the Bobcats the ball back on the Wofford 39-yard line.
With the short field, the Bobcats took advantage and needed only seven plays to add a touchdown by Boo Jackson from three yards out for a 17-7 lead with 6:36 remaining in the first half. Wofford was forced three-and-out on their next possession and punted.
The Bobcats gained one first down on their next drive, but a sack by Ameet Pall on third down forced a punt that was partially blocked and went only12 yards. However the Terriers fumbled on the first play of the drive, giving the ball back to the Bobcats at the 27-yard line with just over a minute to play in the half. Tommy Irvin ended the drive with an interception of Boo Jackson that he returned 21-yards. Wofford ran two plays before the first half ended with the Bobcats leading 17-7.
On the opening drive of the second half for the Terriers, Wofford was forced to punt after a three-and-out. The Wofford defense came up big on the next series as Phillip LeGrande forced a fumble that was recovered by Eric Eberhardt. After a first down by penalty, Mike Rucker converted a fourth-and-two with a 15-yard gain. Christian Reed hit a 24-yard field goal with 8:17 left in the third quarter for a 17-10 score.
With the ball back, the Bobcats drove to the two-yard line before settling for a 19-yard field goal by Matt Weller for a 20-10 lead with 2:27 remaining in the third quarter. Wofford was able to put together a drive that was aided by a pass interference call on the Bobcats as the Terriers. On fourth-and-one, Mitch Allen gained five yards to keep the drive moving. On a field goal attempt, a fake was run but a penalty for ineligible receiver was called and the ball went back to the Bobcats despite a challenge by the Wofford coaching staff.
The Bobcats were then able to put together a 15-play drive that was capped by a 16-yard touchdown run by Ryan Boykin for a 26-10 lead with 3:36 left in the game. Wofford turned the ball over on a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, which the Bobcats turned into points with a nine-yard touchdown run with 53 seconds left in the game for the 33-10 final score.
The Terriers had 220 total yards, all on the ground. Ohio had 331 total yards, with 230 on the ground. The Bobcats had the time of possession advantage. Wofford was 2-of-12 on third downs and 4-of-6 on fourth down. Ohio was 6-of-13 on third down and one-of-one on fourth down.
Wofford will play at Charleston Southern at 1:30 pm. The Bucs defeated North Greenville 41-31 on Saturday. The home opener is September 18 at 7:00 pm against Union (Ky.).
Wofford vs. Ohio Post-Game Notes
Players recording their first career starts included LB James Zotto, Brad Nocek, Mike McCrimon and Calvin Cantrell.
It marked the second straight season Wofford has opened on the road against an FBS team that played in a bowl game the previous season.
Game captains for Wofford were Pat Illig, Tommy Irvin and Kendall Bratcher.
Attendance was 22,995 at Peden Stadium.
