DeKALB, Ill. – Led by All-American Sutton Smith, Northern Illinois’ defense made big plays to help lift the offense to a pair fourth-quarter scores and rallied the Huskies past Ohio, 24-21, on Saturday at Huskie Stadium.

Ohio led 21-9 following a Nathan Rourke 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Connor Brown on the final play of the fourth quarter but could not hold the lead. After Marcus Childers’ 10-yard touchdown run got Northern Illinois to within five, Smith’s strip sack of Rourke set up the go-ahead touchdown.

"We cannot hand out turnovers and expect to win," Ohio coach Frank Solich said.

The Bobcats (3-3, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) were looking to answer Northern Illinois’ score, getting a 21-yard completion from Rourke to Papi... <Read More>

Lonnie McMillan Photo

For the fourth time this year, the Bobcats (3-2, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) fell in an early hole, giving up a pair of early touchdowns, but the previously struggling defense held the Golden Flashes (1-5, 0-2 MAC) to four field goals the rest of the way while the offense did enough in the end.

While Ohio’s defense put together its best game of the season, the offense was held under 30 points for the first time this year. Yet when the Bobcats needed it most, Rourke led three straight touchdown drives.

"This was a... <Read More>

ATHENS – Ohio set a new school record for yards in a game with 664, winning a shooting against UMass for the second straight year, 58-42, on Saturday at Peden Stadium.

The Bobcats racked up 394 yards rushing and quickly erased an early 14-point deficit, scoring exactly 58 points against the Minutemen for the second straight year. Ohio won 58-50 last year on the road. The Bobcats set a Peden Stadium record for points in a game.

Nathan Rourke rushed for 189 yards and a touchdown on just 16 carries and completed 23 of 32 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns, overcoming an interception on his first pass attempt. Rourke’s 459 total yards broke the school record previously set by Greg Windham when he had 430 against Texas State in... <Read More>

CINCINNATI – Ohio solved its problem with starting slowly but still could not manage to play a whole game, allowing Cincinnati to rally from 21 points down for a 34-30 victory Saturday at Nippert Stadium.

The Bobcats ran out to a 21-0 advantage in the second quarter and led 24-7 at halftime before getting outscored 27-6 in the second half. Still, Ohio held the lead until Michael Warren’s 3-yard touchdown run with 3:24 remaining and still had a shot to win until Nathan Rourke’s goal line interception in the final minute.

“They played well for parts of the game, we played well for parts of the game,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “We showed a lot of character having a chance at the end. I feel good about our football team in that regard... <Read More>

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It was too little, too late.

Ohio got into a huge early hole and came up short, 45-31, against Virginia on Saturday at Vanderbilt Stadium.

The Bobcats got as close as 10 points with a chance to make it even tighter down the stretch, but they could not overcome a first-half 35-7 deficit.

"Slow start, just didn't play well on either side of the ball at the beginning," Ohio coach Frank Solich said. "I thought we progressed as an offensive unit, showed flashes at times defensively of playing good defense but not nearly enough. The early part of the game was ridiculous in terms of explosive plays that we gave up."

Down by 28 on Bryce Perkins’ 10-yard touchdown pass to Hasise Dubois with 2:52 left in the first half, Ohio (1-1)... <Read More>