WESTERVILLE, Ohio—The Otterbein University football team fell, 28-0, to 24th-ranked St. John Fisher in its season and home opener Saturday in Westerville.

St. John Fisher, known for its powerhouse running attack, struck first through the air instead, scoring twice in the second quarter on touchdown throws of 5 and 29 yards from senior quarterback Tyler Fenti to sophomore Nathan Nigolian and senior Kevin Francis.

The Cardinals put the game out of reach in the second half on a pair of 3-yard rushing touchdowns from seniors Ryan Kramer and Cody Miller as Otterbein struggled offensively to stay in the game.

Otterbein's best chance of the day ended on downs at the St. John Fisher 9-yard line with 13:31 to play in the fourth quarter.

"I don't think we gave up," said second-year head coach Tim Doup. "Our players played hard the whole game. We just have a lot of fixing to do before Wilmington comes to town."

Otterbein generated only 145 yards of offense in the game with just 14 yards coming on the ground.

"We've got to be able to move the ball effectively," Doup said. "If we can't run the ball and move the ball on first down that puts us in a bad spot.

"What came to light is we are young up front on the offensive line and it showed today," Doup continued. "They (St. John Fisher) are older than us up front and they physically dominated us. So we've got to get that fixed—get these young guys up front going because we have to be able to run the football to be successful. We can't throw it 70 times a game."

St. John Fisher tallied 353 yards of offense, including 233 passing yards.

Otterbein senior quarterback Ben Sizemore led the Cardinals on the ground, rushing for 15 yards on 13 carries. Sizemore completed 12 of 22 pass attempts for 131 yards. Sophomore receiver Jeremy McCoy, four catches for 65 yards, and junior running back Derik Rudolph, 3 receptions for 27 yards, led the Cardinals in receiving.

Freshmen inside linebacker Austin Jones and senior defensive end Zack Grieves led Otterbein with seven tackles each. D3football All-American defensive end Pat Seesholtz, a senior, did not play in the game due to injury.

Otterbein has a bye week Sept. 14 and is scheduled to return to action Sept. 21, hosting Wilmington College to open Ohio Athletic Conference play. It will be Homecoming on the Otterbein campus.