CONWAY, S.C. — Ohio's defense came up with 5 turnovers and freshman running back Rickey Hunt scored five touchdowns to help the Bobcats win their fifth-straight bowl game, beating the Georgia Southern Eagles 41-21 in the Myrtle Beach Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
The win gave Ohio consecutive seasons with 10 wins for the first time in program history, despite being without a huge portion of their key players leaving through the transfer portal.
Most notably, the Bobcats were without their top two rushers in Sieh Bangura and O'Shaan Allison, who accounted for 1,263 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground this season.
Also missing was Ohio starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who passed for 2,207 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Bobcats. He commited to Indiana earlier this month.
Despite the key losses, Hunt and quarterback Parker Navarro, making his first career start, both picked up the slack on the offense.
Hunt, who appeared in just two games this season, scored on runs of 2, 6, 40 and 9 yards. His fifth score was an 18-yard touchdown catch off from Navarro. He finished with 115 yards rushing after coming into the game with 19 this season.
Navarro finished the afternoon 11 of 16 for 120 yards and ran for 71.
The Bobcats defense made life miserable for Eagles quarterback Davis Brin, forcing him to be responsible for four of their five turnovers and held Georgia Southern (6-7) to just 35 yards in the first half. Ohio also registered five sacks.
Ohio safety Jeremiah Wood picked Brin off on the fourth play of the game to set the tone and the Bobcats converted the turnover into points with field goal from Gianni Spetic to take an early 3-0 lead.
Things didn't get much better for Brin as he threw an interception safety Adonis Williams Jr. on their third possession and later lost the ball on a fumble while being sacked from behind right before halftime.
Navarro and Hunt hooked up to make one of the top offensive plays of the game. On a first-and-10 play, Navarro faked a run and threw a jump pass to Hunt out of the backfield — who reached back and made a one-handed grab — to give the Bobcats a 17-0 lead with 3:16 before halftime.
Ohio took a 20-0 lead into the locker room at the break.
The Bobcat defense continued to dominate the turnover battle, as defensive back Walter Reynolds intercepted Brin on the second play of the third quarter and ran it back to the Georgia Southern 6. Hunt took a pitch from Navarro for his third touchdown to give Ohio a 27-0 lead.
Georgia Southern finally found some offensive rhythm in the second half and whittled Ohio's lead down to 34-21 after Brin threw a 65-yard strike to receiver Derwin Burgess Jr. and 15 yards to tight end Jjay Mcafee.
But the Bobcats would slam the door shut on any Eagles comeback attempt, making the Eagles turn the ball over on downs on their final two possessions, and the Hunt scored his final touchdown with 2:52 remaining to cap off the win for Ohio.
Brin finished the day completing 32 of 42 for 350 yards to break the bowl game record that he set two years ago when he took snaps with Tulsa (294).
Georgia Southern receiver Khaleb Hood turned in a solid performance, with seven catches for 101 this season.
Ga. Southern 0 0 14 7 — 21
Ohio 3 17 14 7 — 41
First Quarter
OHIO—G.Spetic 27 field goal, (6:27).
Second Quarter
OHIO—R. Hunt 2 run (G.Spetic kick), 12:22.
OHIO—R. Hunt 16 pass from P. Navarro (G.Spetic kick), 3:16.
OHIO—G.Spetic 26 field goal, 0:00.
Third Quarter
OHIO—R. Hunt 6 run (G.Spetic kick), 11:46.
GSU—D. Mbadinga 3 run (M. Lantz kick), 7:54.
OHIO—R. Hunt 40 run (G.Spetic kick), 2:04.
GSU—D. Burgess Jr. 65 pass from D. Brin (M. Lantz kick), 1:13.
Fourth Quarter
GSU—J. Mcafee 15 pass from D. Brin (M. Lantz kick), 12:27.
OHIO—R. Hunt 9 run (G.Spetic kick), 2:52.
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GSU OHIO
First downs 18 16
Total Net Yards 383 352
Rushes-yards 21-33 46-232
Passing 350 120
Punt Returns 0-0 0-0
Kickoff Returns 5-96 1-15
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 3-40
Comp-Att-Int 32-42-3 11-16-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 5-34
Punts 2-36.5 3-38.3
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties-Yards 6-70 6-60
Time of Possession 26:42 33:18
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Georgia State: D. Mbadinga 4-44, D. Cobb 2-8, O. Arnold 5-6, J. White1-(minus 2), D. Brin 9-(minus 23); Ohio: R. Hunt 17-115, P. Navarro 15-71, N. McCormick 11-40, W. Kacmarek 1-5, S. Wiglusz 1-1, Team 1-0.
PASSING–Georgia State: D. Brin 32-42-3-350; Ohio: P. Navarro 11-16-0-120.
RECEIVING–Georgia Southern: D. Burgess Jr 6-117, D. Cobb 7-109, J. Mcafee 5-62, K. Hood 7-31, D. Mbadinga 4-20, O. Arnold 2-7, J. White 1-4; Ohio: S. Wiglusz 5-64, C. Hendricks 3-25, R. Hunt 1-18, T. Foster 1-9, R. Harris II 1-4.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
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