For the second time in as many years, Wittenberg ruined Ohio State’s bid for a perfect regular season.
Ohio State, outmanned by nearly 50 players on the sidelines, battled for four quarters but ultimately fell 18-10 to the Tigers in the regular season finale on Sunday afternoon.
The Buckeyes fell down early, after a promising opening drive was thwarted by an intentional grounding penalty and a fourth down stop by the Tigers. Wittenberg responded with a touchdown drive on its opening possession, but the Buckeyes blocked the extra point to keep it to a 6-0 deficit.
After missing a field goal attempt on its third possession, the Buckeyes got momentum late in the second quarter. A 15-play, 69-yard scoring drive was capped by sophomore running back Ethan Young, who plunged into the end zone from two yards out. After a David Rive extra point, Ohio State took a 7-6 lead with just under two minutes left in the half.
The Buckeye lead grew to 10-6 at halftime after Wittenberg fumbled the ensuing kickoff, leading to a 34-yard field goal from Rive just before halftime.
However, the Ohio State lead would be short-lived as Wittenberg marched the opening drive of the second half for a touchdown. The extra point was missed though, leaving the score 12-10.
Ohio State’s ensuing drive showed promise, as the Buckeyes were marching into Tiger territory before a procedural penalty forced Ohio State to punt the ball away after a play that would have resulted in a first down inside the Tiger 25-yard line.
It’s as close as the Buckeye offense would get to the end zone for the rest of the day.
Ohio State’s defense forced a punt after the Buckeye offense faltered, however the Buckeyes muffed the kick, allowing Wittenberg to recover. The Tigers then proceeded to score their third touchdown of the day, despite being turned away on the two-point conversion by the Buckeye defense.
Despite two fourth quarter interceptions from the Ohio State defense by Ryan Globokar and JP Naylor, the Buckeye offense failed to produce any second half points, leading to an 18-10 final.
Starting his first collegiate football game, freshman quarterback Chris Atkins completed 13-of-29 passes for 140 yards to six different receivers. Tight end Aidan Donovan led the Buckeyes in receiving yards, hauling in three passes for 51 yards, including a bulldozing 37-yard catch-and-run effort in the second quarter. Jalen Haley produced four catches for 41 yards.
Ohio State showed promise at points running the football, especially with senior running back Johnathan Thiele who led the Buckeyes in rushing with 64 yards on 10 carries. He also caught two passes for 14 yards. Young finished with 22 yards on 10 carries as the Buckeyes rushed for just 102 yards as a team.
Defensively, Ohio State was led by linebacker Christian Allen, who posted a season-high 10 total tackles on the day. His 10 stops pushed him past current defensive coordinator and former Buckeye linebacker Dylan Barron for first all-time in career total tackles with 139. Barron posted 136 in his time at Ohio State, holding the record for six years. Fellow linebacker Tyler Beckman also played well, collecting seven total tackles and Ohio State’s lone sack of the afternoon.
Game Notes:
- Ohio State falls to 6-5 all-time against NCAA Div. III competition and 0-2 against Wittenberg.
- Ohio State falls to 4-2 all-time in one score games under head coach James Grega, Jr. It was the first one-score loss since Week 2 of the 2021 season against Denison University.
- Just the fifth time since 2018 Ohio State has failed to record a passing touchdown in a game, two of the occurrences against Wittenberg.
- Ohio State finishes the regular season without having thrown an interception, a program record seven-straight games.
- Running back Johnathan Thiele moves up to third in team history in career rushing yards (1,096), passing Madu Eneli (1,071). Thiele became just the fourth player to eclipse 1,000 career rushing yards two weeks ago in a win over UW-Milwaukee.
- Allen now holds the all-time career tackle record at 139 after starting the season fifth on the all-time list.
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