ATHENS, Ohio – The defense dominated in a shorted Green-White Spring Game that wrapped up the football spring practice season Saturday at Peden Stadium.

With about 30 players sitting out – most of them on offense – points were hard to come by as the Bobcats did not reach the end zone in 38 plays. Ohio managed 139 yards of offense and committed one turnover.

Rather than playing a regular game, the Bobcats were forced to shorten the scrimmage.

“We didn’t have any choice,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “If we had a choice, we would have liked to have most of our guys healthy and we would have liked to have put on a spring game. I think the players would have enjoyed that a little bit more and the fans probably. But we were forced to go the route that we did and it worked OK.”

All possessions began at the 30-yard line with special teams work randomly worked into the afternoon. There also was a session of 15 seven-on-seven plays, with Tyler Tettleton taking 10 of those snaps for the only action he saw in the game.

Throughout the course of the regular offensive plays, walk-on Paul Wilks led the way with 40 yards rushing on nine carries. Kyle Hammonds carried nine times for 26 yards.

Ohio’s offense looked best early, but the Bobcats failed to score a touchdown after reaching the red zone on their first two possessions. The defense got stingier as the game advanced.

“We got in the red zone right away and for some reason we have a tendency at times to start off a scrimmage or even some games over the years not great, so we’ve got to work on that,” defensive coordinator Jimmy Burrow said. “… You saw mistakes that we’ll have to iron out, but overall, trying to be physical was a positive.

Beau Blankenship saw action on only the first three plays, catching a 9-yard pass and then rushing for a 13-yard gain. A personal foul penalty and a 10-yard pass from Derrius Vick to tight end Troy Hill moved Ohio to the 15-yard line, but the drive stalled at the 13.

All four kicker candidates got a shot for a field goal from 30 yards away, with Matt Green and Matt Amicone making and Josiah Yazdani and Matt Ringle missing. Green, a transfer from Oklahoma State, is hoping to be granted eligibility right away this fall because he transferred to be closer to his ill father in Lexington, Ky.

Solich said he has moved no closer to a decision about which of the kickers will replace the school’s all-time leading scorer, Matt Weller.

“That’s going to go into the fall,” Solich said. “Each of them has strong points. We’ve just got to find the guy who is going to be able to put it all together in terms of consistency, strong leg and all those things, composure, that come into the picture.”

Green and Yazdani also each attempted a kickoff. Green’s kick traveled about 5 yards deep into the end zone, while Yazdani, who missed all of last season with an injury, came up about 5 yards shy of the goal line.

Ohio’s second possession featured the game’s two longest plays – a 25-yard run by Wilks and a 35-yard pass completion from J.D. Sprague to Matt Waters, but freshman DyQuan Stewart forced an immediate fumble and then recovered it to end that drive.

The Bobcats’ third possession crossed the defensive 30-yard line but ended on a Kurt Laseak sack.

Ohio’s offense went three-and-out on its last three opportunities, getting stuffed on short-yardage plays twice in a row on two different possessions.

In addition to Laseak, Tarrell Brown and Jovon Johnson had sacks.

Vick was 3 of 5 for 25 yards, Sprague went 2 of 3 for 42 yards and Greg Windham was 2 of 2 for 3 yards. All seven completions were to different receivers.

In the seven-on-seven portion, Tettleton completed 7 of 10 passes, while Vick was 3 of 4 attempts. Yardage was not marked.

“He doesn’t need a lot of work and we needed to get as much work scrimmage-wise as we could for all of the other quarterbacks,” Solich said.

Ohio’s regular season opens Aug. 31 at Louisville.