ATHENS – Ohio lost its third straight game in blowout fashion, falling 44-13 to Kent State on Tuesday night at Peden Stadium.

The Golden Flashes took the lead on a late first-half touchdown and carried that momentum into the second half, scoring the game’s final 34 points.

Dri Archer tore through Ohio’s defense for 138 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries and added 53 yards on five receptions to nearly outdo the Bobcats’ entire offense, which was limited to 204 yards. It was the third straight game Ohio was held to less than 240 yards.

Ohio (6-5, 3-4 Mid-American Conference) scored its only touchdown in the last three games on a 1-yard pass from Tyler Tettleton to Mario Dovell, putting the Bobcats up 13-10 at the 10:04 mark in the second quarter.

Kent State avoided a special teams disaster on its next possession. The snap went over the head of punter Andrew Horning, but he picked it up near the goal line and was able to get off a punt to near midfield. Ohio failed to take advantage of the field position and instead flipped it in favor of Kent State when punter Grant Venham bobbled the snap and was dropped for a loss of 15 yards.

The Golden Flashes initially missed their chance to take advantage, failing to convert a 31-yard field goal, but they went on top with 31 seconds left when Casey Pierce went up over defenders to make a touchdown catch on a third-and-9 play.

From there, it was all Kent State. Archer opened the second half scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run before a fake punt turned into a 61-yard touchdown for 6-4, 265-pound Nate Terhune, an upback who took a direct snap, found plenty of green space down the left sideline and then leaped an Ohio defender who tried to go low to make a tackle.

Anthony Melchiori connected on a 26-yard field goal with 14:18 remaining to make Kent State’s lead 34-13. He added a 28-yarder at the 7:32 mark and Archer broke free with 1:46 to go for a 29-yard score.

Ohio settled for a 20-yard Josiah Yazdani field goal on the game’s opening possession and it was matched by Melchiori with a 47-yard attempt two minutes later. Yazdani’s 49-yarder made it 6-3 after one quarter before Archer ran in the game’s first touchdown from 24 yards away at the 13:34 mark.

Tettleton was just 11 of 24 for 132 yards with an interception. Beau Blankenship rushed for 76 yards on 23 attempts.

Kent State’s Colin Reardon was 18 of 30 for 213 yards and rushed seven times for 53 yards.

The Bobcats close their regular season with a game against UMass at 2 p.m. Nov. 29 at Peden Stadium.