Lonnie McMillan Photo Jordan Reid

The Bobcats led 21-3 less than a minute into the second quarter and the FCS-level Panthers never threatened an upset.

The game Ouellette had last week against Idaho after he took over following an early Daz’mond Patterson fumble earned the former walk-on freshman the starting role and he excelled again with 87 yards on 11 carries. He left in the third quarter with an ankle injury and did not return, though he said he could have and will be fine going forward.

After being held to 34 points total in their first three games, the Bobcats (3-2) have scored 70 the last two weeks.

“It’s a great feeling,” Ouellette said. “We’re starting to pick it up on offense. Big plays are starting to happen. We left a couple plays out there, but we’ll get that.”

Sprague, a redshirt sophomore who also is a former walk-on, started in the place of the injured Derrius Vick and went 15-of-28 passing for 143 yards and ran for 69 yards on 12 attempts in three quarters of work.

He started hot, going 7 of 8 to begin the game, and led the Bobcats to touchdowns on their first three possessions.

“I made some plays but I left a lot out there,” Sprague said. “It just comes with experience and keep getting the reps and keep going into the games, but I hold myself to a higher standard. I could have made those plays and I’m disappointed in myself, but I’m glad to get the win.”

After Ohio’s defense held Eastern Illinois at the 1-yard line and forced an 18-yard Nick Bruno field goal to begin the game, Ouellette scored on a 1-yard run.

Landon Smith, who finished with five catches for 53 yards, had receptions on three straight plays on Ohio’s next possession, and Sprague capped off the drive with a 6-yard run on third-and-goal.

The Bobcats held the Panthers on downs and one play after that, Ouellette found space on the outside for a 65-yard touchdown run that made it 21-3.

McMillan Photo Tim Edmond

Grant Cunningham blocked a Panthers punt late in the first half, and that led to a 20-yard field goal by Josiah Yazdani, who added a 46-yarder to begin the second half to put the Bobcats up 27-10.

On third-and-goal from the 8-yard line on their next possession, the Bobcats scored when Sprague changed direction on a scramble and found his way into the end zone for a 34-10 Ohio lead.

“I didn’t really think I was going to score honestly,” Sprague said. “I just kept my feet moving. My teammates did a great job holding their blocks. That was a long time for them to hold a block and some of those guys went out the way to pick up and extra one.”

Ohio had a chance to add to their lead but Sprague was picked off at the Eastern Illinois 7-yard line.

Whitlow completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Taylor with 11:37 remaining, but the two-point conversion failed, leaving the Panthers down by three scores. They added a 24-yard Bruno field goal with 1:27 left in the game.

The Bobcats played without starting tackle Mike McQueen, who was suspended, and coach Frank Solich said that was one of a number of concerns he had entering the game.

“We had a quarterback who hadn’t started a game and a running back who hadn’t started and up until a few months ago was a walk-on,” he said. “We’ve got freshman linemen and wide receivers. … With all those variables, whether or not we were going to move the ball and put points on the board, I didn’t know.”

The Bobcats finished with 387 yards of offense, and all but 42 of those came in the first three quarters. The Panthers finished with 432 yards, and 162 of those came in the final 15 minutes when the game was decided.

Patterson was good as a reserve for Ohio, rushing for 39 yards on five carries. Jordan Reid made four catches for 52 yards.

Adam Drake led the Panthers with six catches for 90 yards.

Ohio plays at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Central Michigan.