Rourke, Bobcats outlast UMass, 58-50
Published 12:37 am Sunday, October 1, 2017
HADLEY, Mass. (AP) — Nathan Rourke threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 113 yards and two scores and Ohio fought off winless Massachusetts 58-50 on Saturday.
A.J. Ouellette ran for 125 yards and scored a touchdown and now has three-straight games rushing for more than 100 yards. Brendan Cope had 126 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Ohio (4-1) took the lead for good at the beginning of the third quarter when Ouellette scored on a 5-yard run. On the Bobcats’ next drive, Rourke threw a 12-yard score to Ouellette to make it 41-27.
The game was knotted at 27 at the half after the Minutemen rallied from a 24-13 deficit. After an Ohio field goal, Marquis Young returned the kickoff 81 yards to the Bobcats’ 6-yard line. Andrew Ford threw a 6-yard score to Adam Breneman to make it 24-20.
UMass (0-6) forced Ohio to a three-and-out, then used a 7-play 71-yard drive that ended when Ford completed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Brennon Dingle to put the Minutemen up 27-24. Louie Zervos tied it with a 23-yard field goal with 38 seconds to play before the break.
Ford threw for 390 yards and tied a school record with five touchdown passes. Breneman had 131 yards receiving and two touchdowns and Dingle caught two scores.
Ohio U. stats
Ohio 7 20 14 17 = 58
UMass 10 17 2 21 = 50
First Quarter
UMASS—FG Laurent 24, 12:30
OHI—Rourke 5 run (Zervos kick), 9:03
UMASS—Comis 2 run (Laurent kick), 4:05
Second Quarter
UMASS—FG Laurent 35, 11:35
OHI—Cope 16 pass from Rourke (Zervos kick), 10:22
OHI—Rourke 17 run (Zervos kick), 8:57
OHI—FG Zervos 25, 7:24
UMASS—Breneman 6 pass from Ford (Laurent kick), 7:09
UMASS—Dingle 30 pass from Ford (Laurent kick), 2:26
OHI—FG Zervos 23, :38
Third Quarter
OHI—Ouellette 5 run (Zervos kick), 12:41
OHI—Ouellette 12 pass from Rourke (Zervos kick), 6:38
UMASS—safety, 3:14
Fourth Quarter
OHI—D.Brown 15 run (Zervos kick), 13:41
UMASS—Young 19 pass from Ford (pass failed), 10:41
OHI—FG Zervos 34, 6:10
UMASS—Breneman 7 pass from Ford (Isabella pass from Ford), 3:23
OHI—D.Brown 42 run (Zervos kick), 1:42
UMASS—Dingle 16 pass from Ford (Laurent kick), :11
A—7,696.
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OHI UMASS
First downs 25 30
Rushes-yards 40-297 37-147
Passing 181 403
Comp-Att-Int 13-24-0 33-58-1
Return Yards 186 193
Punts-Avg. 2-36.0 1-41.0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 8-74 5-39
Time of Possession 26:39 33:21
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Ohio, Ouellette 12-125, Rourke 16-118, D.Brown 7-72, Ross 3-4, (Team) 2-(minus 22). UMass, Ally 13-57, Young 14-56, Comis 4-17, Ford 4-16, Isabella 1-1, (Team) 1-0.
PASSING—Ohio, Rourke 13-24-0-181. UMass, Comis 1-3-0-13, Ford 32-54-1-390, (Team) 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING—Ohio, Cope 7-126, Ouellette 3-26, Odom 1-17, Knock 1-7, Meyer 1-5. UMass, Breneman 12-131, Britt 5-70, Dingle 4-59, Palmer 4-49, Isabella 4-43, Young 3-34, Lee 1-17.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.