Despite losing its starting quarterback on the opening series of the game, Ohio State built a 17-0 lead before a late rally by Ohio Wesleyan pushed the Buckeyes to the brink. The host Battling Bishops scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, but the Buckeyes made just enough plays in the end to defeat Ohio Wesleyan, 17-14, to move to 6-0 on the season.
Starting quarterback Niko Pappas opened the game by leading his team down inside the 5-yard line before suffering an injury that forced him to miss the rest of the game. Despite getting the ball down to the 1-yard line, Ohio State failed to score on fourth-and-goal as OWU forced a fumble on the goal line.
After a scoreless first quarter, freshman quarterback Chris Atkins stepped up to break the tie. Atkins fired a short pass to tight end Aidan Donovan, who took the pass 23 yards for a score to give the Buckeyes a 7-0 lead. Ohio State would extend its lead to 10-0 at halftime after a 40-yard field goal from David Rive Jr. split the uprights as time expired in the first half.
After trading punts with the Bishops, Ohio State put together a stellar 16-play, 75-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by Ethan Young. Playing against his former team, Young led all Buckeyes with 15 carries for 49 yards and the early fourth quarter touchdown. On the touchdown drive, the Buckeyes converted four third downs, en route to building a 17-0 lead with just over nine minutes to play in the game.
However, the Bishops stormed back, returning the ensuing kickoff 90-yards for a touchdown. Then, on the second play of Ohio State’s following drive, Atkins was sacked and fumbled, giving the ball back to OWU near midfield. The Bishops drove down the field and, aided by a critical fourth down pass interference call, found the end zone on a short QB run to bring the score to 17-14.
Ohio State recovered OWU’s onside kick attempt, but failed to run out the clock. Punting back to the Bishops, Will Muster was able to pin OWU inside its own five-yard line. The Buckeye defense then stiffened, as junior safety Giancarlo Carone corralled a third-down interception to give the ball back to the Buckeye offense, which this time was able to run out the remaining clock.
Playing in just his second collegiate football game, Atkins completed 9-of-18 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown and no interceptions, despite fumbling twice. He also rushed eight times for 14 yards. As a team, the Buckeyes rushed for 159 yards. Sophomore Lucas Fenstermaker carried nine timed for 39 yards and Johnathan Thiele toted the ball seven times for 26 yards, including a 5-yard gain on third-and-four that iced the game late in the fourth quarter.
Ohio State’s defense posted arguably its best overall performance of the season. The Buckeyes surrendered just 102 total offensive yards to the Bishops, forcing six punts. Christian Allen put together his best performance of the season, posting six total stops and his first sack of the season. He also had 1.5 tackles for loss and pressured OWU quarterbacks five times in the win.
Ohio State is set to return to action on Nov. 3 against Wittenberg’s JV squad to close out the regular season.
Game Notes:
- It was the first meeting between Ohio State and Ohio Wesleyan (JV) in series history.
- Ohio State is now 6-4 all-time against NCAA Div. III JV opponents.
- Ohio State is now 4-1 under head coach James Grega, Jr. in one-score games with the lone loss coming in 2021 to Denison JV, 28-20. It’s the first time since 2017 that the Buckeyes have won multiple one-score games in the same season. Ohio State won three one-score games in 2017.
- Matt Humphreys collected sack No. 9.5 in the win over OWU, tying him for second in program history for sacks in a single-season. Mike Fenstermaker holds the program record with 12, set in 2017.
- Giancarlo Carone’s interception made him the seventh Buckeye to record an interception this season. That ties the program record which was set in 2013 and matched in 2023.
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