By the time Theo Scott entered Saturday’s game against Kent State, only a sparse crowd remained at Peden Stadium, as it was all but a foregone conclusion that the Bobcats had dug themselves a hole too deep to climb out of.

His first drive didn’t amount to much, as Ohio punted the ball away for the sixth time. But on his second possession at the helm, Scott marched his team 98 yards downfield for his first touchdown pass as a Bobcat.

The 15 points and 10 first downs Ohio claimed with Scott under center ultimately didn’t matter in the loss to the Golden Flashes, but those left in the stadium saw a glimpse of what the Bobcats have waited for Scott to become since he arrived in Athens last winter.

“I felt good,” said Scott, who went 16-of-24 for 161 yards and two touchdowns. “I know what the coaches want and I’m working on it, learning it and observing it. It’s all coming together and when it does it’s going to be nasty.”

Scott knows his performance Saturday wasn’t flawless, though. There was the shotgun snap that sailed over his head causing the Bobcats to lose 17 yards on their final possession, the interception that ended a possible game-tying drive and the risky back-handed shovel pass off a scramble that miraculously wasn’t picked off.

“You’re going to have some of those things pop up when you’re learning and you’re learning on the run like Theo is right now,” said coach Frank Solich. Scott’s desire to keep the play alive, however, and his ability to generate a positive play when conventional wisdom says it’s impossible is quite possibly his strongest asset.

“He is a guy who can create things, so you don’t want to totally take away from his creativeness,” Solich said.

“Sometimes he goes maybe a hair too far on some of the creativeness and is on the edge as far as maybe a possible turnover. But to his credit, he’s been able to make plays, and we like that about him.”

The 6-foot-1, 197-pound junior college transfer from Los Angeles Southwest College has always had the ability to escape pressure from the pocket, partially because of his speed, he said, but it’s also a result of his eagerness to win.

Scott’s enthusiasm to learn and gain playing time emanates from him even in regular conversation. As he discusses his progress in picking up Ohio’s offensive system, Scott’s regularly cool cadence transforms into rapid speech, as his words can’t seem to come quite fast enough.

“I really am feeling more comfortable,” he said. “And right now I’m making steps to the point that I’ll be the man eventually. I want to keep getting better, but I want to win games because that’s all that really matters.

“I don’t care right now as far as who’s playing. Well, I do, but I’m looking for us to win more than anything.”

While he’s pleased with Scott’s development so far, especially against Kent State, Solich was quick in stating that Brad Bower will remain the starter.

“I think we’ll just take it a step at a time and see how it all works out,” Solich said. “Brad is playing well at times, exceptionally well at times. Theo can give us something when he is in there, so I think the combination of the two can work well.”

Solich added that he’d like to see a sense of urgency from Scott when breaking the huddle and calling plays on the line of scrimmage. And Scott is willing to put in the work.

Lately, the sophomore has been one of the last players to leave the practice fields. After Solich told him to change how he holds the football in order to protect it better when he races out of the pocket, Scott started tucking a football safely in the crook of his arm and carrying it everywhere he could during practice. He’s the only player who runs sprints while holding a ball.

“I’m waiting. Everybody likes to play as much as they can, and I’m the type of player who wants to play,” Scott said. "I'm hungry to be out there, but everything happens for a reason, and I still have things to learn."