No Photo Credit

Ohio blew out Miami 38-3 in the Mid-American Conference Championship Game on Saturday at Ford Field to win its first conference championship since 1968.

The sixth time was the charm. The Bobcats (10-3) had lost in all five of their previous MAC Championship Game appearances. They reached 10 wins in a season for a third straight season for the first time in school history and avenged a 30-20 loss to the RedHawks (8-5) during the regular season.

“Offensively, a masterful game plan by our offensive staff,” said coach Tim Albin, who earlier this week was named the MAC coach of the year. “We were on schedule all day. Time of possession; our defense was watching. ... This has to be the best four quarters of football I’ve ever seen in my 36-year career. For sure, my 20 years here at Ohio.”

Parker Navarro went 20-of-27 passing for 235 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 13 times for 67 yards and two scores and was named the offensive player of the game. Anthony Tyus III added 151 yards rushing and a touchdown on 27 carries.

While the offense racked up 467 yards and punted just once, the defense was just as impressive, holding Miami to just 185 yards, including just 2 yards rushing. Ohio ran out to a 21-3 halftime lead and never let up.

"I thought the offense came out sharp,” Navarro said. “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.”

It took a little bit of fortune for the RedHawks to score the only points they did manage on the opening drive. Brett Gabbert converted a first down with a pass that nearly was intercepted but instead was caught on a deflection. However, the Bobcats held on a later third down and gave up just a 29-yard Dom Dzioban field goal.

From then on, it was all Ohio, which faced just one third down on its first drive that culminated with a Navarro 4-yard touchdown run.

After a Miami punt, the Bobcats put together another long drive that started late in the first quarter and finished with just 5:20 left with a Navarro 1-yard touchdown run. The RedHawks gave the Bobcats a chance to extend the drive with a personal foul facemask penalty when Navarro previously was brought down for a loss on third-and-goal.

One more time before the end of the half, the Bobcats put together a scoring drive. This time, Navarro hit tight end Mason Williams, who avoided one tackler and took the ball into the end zone from 21 yards out to make it 21-3 with 59 seconds left.

With possession to start the third quarter, Ohio kept it rolling, this time with Coleman Owen making big plays. He had catches of 23 and 9 yards before Navarro rolled out to the right and hit him in the end zone as a Miami defender fell down trying to cover. The 25-yard touchdown pass made it 28-3.

Owen had a 72-yard return after Miami gained one first down and then punted again, but he lost a fumble at the end of the play. However, the play was negated by a penalty by Miami, which had to punt again. Another outstanding drive was halted by back-to-back holding penalties, but Gianni Spetic kicked a 52-yard field goal to put the Bobcats ahead by 28.

A quick Miami punt was followed by Ohio’s only punt of the game, and then Miami put together its only extended drive of the game outside of the opener, moving into the red zone. Tank Pearson ended the scoring threat with an interception early in the fourth quarter.

Ohio put an exclamation point on the day with one final touchdown drive, throwing just once and instead dominating with its running game. Tyus found the end zone on a 21-yard run that made it 38-3. Both teams turned to their backups for the final 6:45.

Owen had five catches for 73 yards, while Chase Hendricks made seven catches for 61 yards.

It was a rough day for Gabbert, who completed 14-of-25 passes for just 127 yards and one interception. Keyon Mozee gained just 28 yards on 11 carries.

Bradley Weaver, who had 1.5 tackles for loss, was named the defensive player of the game. Blake Leake made eight tackles.

"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 walkthrough 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 Bobcats can celebrate now like it’s 1968.

Ohio wraps up its season Dec. 20 in the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Florida.