Lonnie McMillan Photo

Ohio (3-0) led 21-0 at halftime, but SLU (2-1) made a game of it with consecutive scores in the second half. But just when it seemed the momentum was shifting, White struck with one of the Bobcats’ only successful run plays of the day – a 58-yard touchdown on a sweep to the right side.

“We needed something right then at the 10-minute mark and luckily first play, right then, I wouldn’t say took their soul out, but they thought about it,” Ohio quarterback Derrius Vick said.

Shortly after a lightning delay of more than an hour, the Bobcats added a 67-yard touchdown catch by Brendan Cope to end any upset threat by the FCS No. 17 ranked Lions.

Vick had a career day, completing 17-of-26 passes for 327 yards and a pair of scores, which was important because the Lions held the Bobcats to 115 yards rushing – with more than half of that on White’s run – on 31 attempts.

Daz’mond Patterson gave Ohio a 7-0 lead at the 6:57 mark in the first quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run that was set up by two penalties and a 20-yard catch by tight end Keith Heitzman.

Passes of 30 yards to Smith and 35 yards to Heitzman set up White’s first touchdown run from 10 yards out and made it 14-0, and the Bobcats went up 21-0 late in the first half on a 31-yard touchdown catch by Sebastian Smith, who outjumped a defender for the ball and then stayed on his feet for a clear path to the end zone.

“I think their coverage kind of dictated that and the fact that they were stacking people against the run,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “It made it easier to maybe take a chance on those kinds of plays because we have receivers who can go up and battle one-on-one on those plays and then they can run. … I thought Derrius really put the money on the mark.”

But things were not as easy as they seemed they might be as the Lions responded in the second half.

D. Isom threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to J. Smiley with 4:15 left in the third quarter, and then with 11:01 remaining in the game, Isom hooked up with D. Bossier on a 38-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-14.

All of the momentum shifted, though, with White breaking free on the first play of scrimmage after a nice kick return by Devin Bass.

Lonnie McMillan Photo

White finished with four carries for 66 yards and caught two passes for 50 yards. Cope had four receptions for 101 yards, Smith finished with four grabs for 82 yards, and Heitzman made three catches for 76 yards.

“They played a lot of man, put a lot of men in the box,” Vick said. “We have people on the outside we believe in and that’s what happens.”

After sharing time at quarterback most of last year and the first two games of this season, Vick played all but the final offensive possession with J.D. Sprague out with an injury. Linebacker Jovon Johnson missed his second straight game, and offensive lineman Durrell Wood left the game with the injury and afterward was in a sling.

The Lions threw far more than they did in their first two games and were fairly efficient. Isom was 21-of-31 passing for 174 yards and also added 19 carries for 65 yards. The Lions finished with 322 yards of offense, while the Bobcats had 471 yards.

“It was a day that was frustrating because we were supposed to win, and I knew it would not be easy, but I wanted it to be,” Solich said.

Ohio closes non-conference play with a trip to Minnesota at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.