HUNTINGTON, W.Va. Nate Carpenter has been classified as a "great factor" guy by the Ohio University coaching staff.
Saturday night against Marshall, Carpenter's presence factored into a 48-yard fumble return which set up Matt Weller's go-ahead field goal with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Bobcats (3-0) then sealed a 27-24 victory with 20 seconds showing on the clock when Jelani Woseley intercepted Marshall quarterback Rakeem Cato deep in Ohio territory.
Ohio, which claimed the Battle of the Bell for the second straight year, rallied from a one touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter.
After Justin Haig's 37-yard field goal put Marshall in front 24-17 in the opening moments of the final period, the Bobcats came right back when quarterback Tyler Tettleton connected with Ryan Clark for a 27-yard touchdown completion Tettleton's third of the game. Weller's point after tied the game at 24 with 10:43 remaining in regulation.
Later in the quarter, Marshall started a drive on Ohio's side of midfield, and appeared destined to re-take the lead. However, the Herd turned the ball over for the third time in the game when receiver Antavious Wilson fumbled a pass reception at the Bobcat 21. Carpenter picked up the loose ball and raced downfield before getting tackled at the Marshall 31.
Fact Box
No. 9 WEST VIRGINIA 42, JAMES MADISON 12
James Madison0327-12
West Virginia21777-42
First Quarter
WVU-Alston 2 run (Bitancurt kick), 10:16.
WVU-Bailey 9 pass from G.Smith (Bitancurt kick), 6:29.
WVU-Bailey 3 pass from G.Smith (Bitancurt kick), 1:38.
Second Quarter
WVU-Campbell 4 pass from G.Smith (Bitancurt kick), 10:15.
JMU-FG Starke 33, 1:02.
Third Quarter
JMU-Marlowe Safety, 9:33.
WVU-Bailey 30 pass from G.Smith (Bitancurt kick), 4:37.
Fourth Quarter
WVU-Austin 7 pass from G.Smith (Bitancurt kick), 14:56.
JMU-Latney 20 run (Starke kick), :49.
A-45,511.
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JMUWVU
First downs1528
Rushes-yards49-18826-121
Passing112448
Comp-Att-Int10-23-138-48-0
Return Yards00
Punts-Avg.7-40.31-24.0
Fumbles-Lost0-00-0
Penalties-Yards7-413-25
Time of Possession35:3124:29
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-James Madison, Anderson 17-75, Thorpe 14-44, Latney 3-24,
Brodie 8-24, Birdsong 4-13, Simmons 3-8. West Virginia, Alston 14-62,
Buie 7-31, G.Smith 2-18, Austin 1-14, Team 2-(minus 4).
PASSING-James Madison, Thorpe 6-13-1-71, Birdsong 4-10-0-41.
West Virginia, G.Smith 34-39-0-411, Millard 4-9-0-37.
RECEIVING-James Madison, Woodyard 3-24, Dixon 3-19, Barlow 2-46,
Brodie 1-14, Hart 1-9. West Virginia, Bailey 13-173, Austin 11-113,
Buie 5-90, McCartney 3-19, Woods 2-27, Arlia 1-14, Myers 1-6,
Campbell 1-4, Thompson 1-2.
No. 12 OHIO ST. 35, CALIFORNIA 28
California70714-28
Ohio St.137015-35
First Quarter
OSU-B.Miller 55 run (kick failed), 5:11.
Cal-Harper 19 pass from Maynard (D'Amato kick), 2:38.
OSU-D.Smith 25 pass from B.Miller (Basil kick), 1:27.
Second Quarter
OSU-Stoneburner 1 pass from B.Miller (Basil kick), 13:30.
Third Quarter
Cal-Bigelow 81 run (D'Amato kick), 9:34.
Fourth Quarter
Cal-Maynard 1 run (D'Amato kick), 12:26.
OSU-Stoneburner 3 pass from B.Miller (B.Miller run), 8:31.
Cal-Bigelow 59 run (D'Amato kick), 8:10.
OSU-D.Smith 72 pass from B.Miller (Basil kick), 3:26.
A-105,232.
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CalOSU
First downs2214
Rushes-yards41-22433-163
Passing288249
Comp-Att-Int27-38-116-30-1
Return Yards(-9)40
Punts-Avg.5-43.28-40.9
Fumbles-Lost1-01-0
Penalties-Yards4-4011-101
Time of Possession35:1024:50
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-California, Bigelow 4-160, Sofele 21-86, C.Anderson 4-13,
Stevens 2-11, Maynard 10-(minus 46). Ohio St., J.Hall 17-87,
B.Miller 12-75, Corey (Philly).Brown 1-5, Team 3-(minus 4).
PASSING-California, Maynard 26-37-1-280, Allen 1-1-0-8. Ohio St.,
B.Miller 16-30-1-249.
RECEIVING-California, Allen 9-80, C.Anderson 4-65, Harper 3-32,
Treggs 3-28, Powe 2-44, Stevens 2-13, Wark 2-12, Maynard 1-8,
Sofele 1-6. Ohio St., D.Smith 5-145, Stoneburner 3-44,
Corey (Philly).Brown 3-31, Vannett 2-6, Spencer 1-10, Heuerman 1-9,
Z.Boren 1-4.
Ohio 27, Marshall 24
Ohio (3-0) 0 17 0 10 - 27
Marshall (1-2) 14 0 7 3 - 24
M: Jazz King 3 pass from Rakeem Cato (Justin Haig kick), 11:08, 1st
M: Aaron Dobson 5 pass from Cato (Haig kick), 6:46, 1st
O: Troy Hill 6 pass from Tyler Tettleton (Matt Weller kick), 11:24, 2nd
O: Weller 22 field goal, 6:27, 2nd
O: Tyler Futtrell 4 pass from Tettleton (Weller kick), 0:49, 2nd
M: Gator Hoskins 14 pass from Cato (Haig kick), 5:20, 3rd
M: Haig 37 field goal, 14:13, 4th
O: Ryan Clark 27 pass from Tettleton (Weller kick), 10:43, 4th
O: Weller 38 field goal, 1:37, 4th
Team statistics
Ohio: First downs: 26. Rushes-yards: 52-199. Passing yards: 200. Total yards: 399. Passing: 20-35-0 . Penalties-yards: 4-33. Fumbles-lost: 1-1. Punts-avg.: 6-43.0
Marshall: First downs: 26. Rushes-yards: 22-59. Passing yards: 432. Total yards: 491. Passing:44-65-1 . Penalties: 5-35. Fumbles-lost: 3-2. Punts-avg.: 5-43.4.
Individual leaders
Ohio: Rushing: Beau Blankenship 30-102, Ryan Boykin 8-45, Tyler Tettleton 7-35, Daz'mond Patterson 4-30. Passing: 20-35-0, 200 yards. Receiving: Ryan Clark 4-50, Tyler Futtrell 5-42, Donte Foster 3-30, Bakari Bussey 2-26, Matt Walters 1-22, Troy Hill 2-12, Jordan Thompson 1-9, Chase Cochran 1-7, Daz'mond Patterson 1-2.
Marshall: Rushing: Rakeem Cato 6-32, Travon Van 13-15, Remi Watson 2-10, Steward Butler 1-2. Passing: Rakeem Cato 44-65-1, 432 yards. Receiving: Tommy Shuler 13-121, Aaron Dobson 11-94, Antavious Wilson 6-59, TrGator Hoskins 4-36, Andre Snipes-Booker 1-17, Eric Frohnapfel 1-17, C.J. Crawford 1-14, Demetrius Evans 2-13, Jazz King 1-3, Remi Watson 1-3.
Next game: Marshall at Rice, 3:30 p.m. Saturday; Norfolk State at Ohio, 2 p.m. Saturday
Capital 13, Marietta College 7
MC (0-2) 0 0 7 0 - 7
CU (1-1) 0 3 7 3 - 13
C: Travis Bosanac 33 field goal 14:21, 2nd
C: Casey Meridieth 10 pass from Ryan Kremcheck (Bosanac kick) 7:43, 3rd
MC: Louis DiPaolo 91 interception return (Conor Durina kick) 1:46, 3rd
C: Bosanac 45 field goal 3:16, 4th
Team stats
Marietta College: First downs: 7; Rushes-yards: 35-58; Passing yards: 30; Total yards: 88; Passing: 3-12-2; Punts-average: 7-34.7; Fumbles-lost: 1-1; Penalties-yards: 5-50
Capital University: First downs: 18; Rushes-yards: 53-222; Passing yards: 122; Total yards: 344; Passing: 12-25-1; Punts-average: 5-34.8; Fumbles-lost: 1-1; Penalties-yards: 5-60
Individual stats
Marietta College: Rushing: Alexander Fountain 8-45, Quincy Bell 7-24, Julius Nero 6-18, Chris Sanders 1-3, Thomas Hinkle 6-1, Tom Fulton 7-(-33); Passing: Hinkle 1-6-1, 16 yards; Fulton 2-6-1, 14 yards; Receiving: Kirby Harris 1-16, Josh Llaneza 1-9, Sean Munfield 1-5
Capital University: Rushing: Bo Hardy 26-197, Nolan Gill 4-17, Miles Robinison 5-6, Ryan Kremcheck 7-4; Passing: Kremcheck 12-25-1, 122 yards; Receiving: Mike Epstein 4-37, Casey Meridieth 4-15, Alex Coleman 3-49, Jacob Batcho 1-21
Next game: Mount Union at Marietta College, 7 p.m. Saturday.
Ohio chewed off three-plus minutes off the clock and moved the ball to the 21 before Weller connected on the 38-yard field goal at the 1:37 mark.
Marshall's final drive of the game included four completions from Cato for a total of 48 yards and the Herd appeared to be in business with the ball sitting at the Ohio 27 with under a minute to go. But on second-and-10, Woseley picked off the sophomore to preserve the win.
Cato finished with 432 yards through the air compared to 200 for Tettleton. Beau Blankenship led the Bobcats with 102 yards rushing on 30 carries.
Marshall (1-2) came out of the gates on a terror after scoring on its first two drives.
On the game's opening series, Cato completed 7-of-9 passes for 51 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jazz King on first-and-goal. The point after put Marshall in front 7-0 at the 11:08 mark of the first quarter.
Following a three-and-out from Ohio, Marshall answered with its second touchdown. Cato misfired on only one of eight pass attempts and hooked up with four different receivers, including a 5-yard scoring strike to Aaron Dobson. With 6:46 still remaining in the first period, the Herd extended their lead to 14-0.
Ohio finally solved Marshall's offense and limited the Herd to one first down and 47 yards of total offense for the rest of the first half.
Offensively, Ohio began to methodically move the ball late in the first quarter. On their third drive of the game, the Bobcats started on their own 32. They converted on five third-down attempts, including Tettleton's 6-yard completion to Troy Hill which gave them first-and-goal from the Marshall 5.
Blankenship was pushed back for a 1-yard loss before Tettleton connected with Hill on the 16th play of the drive for a 6-yard touchdown pass. The point after sliced the deficit in half at 14-7 with 11:24 remaining before intermission.
A Marshall 59-yard punt on the ensuing drive gave Ohio possession at its own 20. Ohio then covered 75 yards in 11 plays highlighted by Tettleton's 22-yard completion to Matt Walters on third-and-9 which put the Bobcats in the red zone. A couple of short gains and an incompletion later, and Ohio had to settle for a Weller 22-yard field goal with 6:27 showing on the second quarter clock.
Ballcarrier Ryan Boykin took matters into his own hands on Ohio's next drive, which began at its own 4, and gained 41 yards on six carries as the Bobcats reached the red zone once again. On first-and-goal from the 4, Tettleton found Futtrell for the touchdown reception. With just 49 ticks left in the first half, Ohio led 17-14.
