AKRON — A record-setting day by Kurtis Rourke helped lead the Ohio Bobcats to a 25-14 comeback win over the Akron Zips in the regular season finale on Friday afternoon.
Rourke became the second all-time leading passer in program history, by passing his older brother Nathan, who threw for 7,457 yards during his tenure with Ohio (2017-19). Rourke finished the day 19 of 30 for 208 yards and a score through the air. He also had rushing touchdown in the third quarter.
Ohio (9-3, 6-2 MAC) took an early lead on a 26-yard field goal by Gianni Spetic to cap off the Bobcats opening drive.
Akron would grab the lead in the second quarter, with a 66-yard drive that saw the final 43-yards come on a touchdown pass by Tahj Bullock to Lorenzo Lingard. Owen Wiley's extra point made it 7-3.
The Zips (2-10, 1-7 MAC) would be aided by two personal foul penalties on Ohio to help set up their next score. Bullock would run in from five yards out to extend Akron's lead to 14-3 at the half.
After forcing a punt on Akron's opening drive, Ohio would need just seven plays to march down the field for their first touchdown of the game. The key play in the drive would be a 31-yard pass from Rourke to Tyler Foster to put the Bobcats in the red zone.
Then two plays later, Rourke would take it in from four yards for the score. Rourke would throw the two-point conversion pass to Tyler Walton to cut the deficit to 14-11 with 8:16 remaining in the third quarter.
After forcing another Akron punt, the Bobcats would quickly move down the field again. On their first play of the drive, Rourke would hit Miles Cross for a 42-yard gain to the Akron 32. A facemask penalty would tack on another 15 yards and set Ohio up at the Zips 17.
Then on third-and-goal from the one, Rourke would find Cross for the touchdown pass and their first lead of the game. Spetic's extra point made the score 18-14 with 2:06 left in the third frame.
Cross led all wideouts catching seven balls for 85 yards. Foster had four catches for 53 yards.
Sieh Bangura, would ran for a game-high 121 yards on 23 carries, added the exclamation point on the win, with a one-yard score to make the final score 25-14.
Ohio now awaits their bowl game destination, which will be officially announced on Dec. 3.
Ohio 3 0 15 7 — 25
Akron 0 14 0 0 — 14
First Quarter
OHIO—G.Spetic 26 field goal, (10:50).
Second Quarter
AKR—L. Lingard 43 pass from T. Bullock (O. Wiley Kick), 9:53.
AKR—T. Bullock 5 run (O. Wiley Kick), 1:50.
Third Quarter
OHIO—K. Rourke 4 run (K. Rourke pass to T. Walton), 8:16.
OHIO—M. Cross 1 pass from K. Rourke (G. Spetic kick), 2:06.
Fourth Quarter
OHIO—S. Bangura 1 run (Gianni Spetic kick), 7:23.
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OHIO AKR
First downs 27 13
Total Net Yards 394 183
Rushes-yards 47-186 20-37
Passing 208 146
Punt Returns 1-3 0-0
Kickoff Returns 2-40 4-63
Interceptions Ret. 1-0 0-0
Comp-Att-Int 19-30-0 17-30-1
Sacked-Yards Lost 4-26 3-23
Punts 3-43.3 4-46.2
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 4-43 7-68
Time of Possession 38:35 21:25
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Ohio: S. Bangura 23-121, O. Allison 12-50, K. Rourke 9-10, T. Cox 1-7, Team 2-minus 2; Akron: T. Bullock 6-31, L. Lingard 6-29, D. Anderson 2-4, J. Undercluffer 5-minus 26, Team 2-minus 2.
PASSING–Ohio: K. Rourke 19-30-0-208; Akron: J. Undercuffler 16-27-1-103, T. Bullock 1-3-0-43.
RECEIVING–Ohio: M. Cross 7-85, T. Foster 4-53, S. Wiglusz 3-30, S. Bangura 0-22, T. Walton 2-18, O. Allison 1-2, W. Kacmarek 1-2, R. Harris II 1-minus 4; Akron: L. Lingard 5-54, J. Gathings 5-43, D. George 4-21, D. Anderson 2-18, B. Golden 1-10.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–Ohio: G. Spetic (52, 48).
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