Ohio beats WMU, becomes bowl eligible

Published 6:12 pm Sunday, October 22, 2023

ATHENS, Ohio (AP) — Kurtis Rourke passed for 275 yards and a touchdown, Sam Wiglusz caught 10 passes for 155 yards and a score, and Ohio beat Western Michigan 20-17 on Saturday to become bowl eligible.

Rourke led an eight-play, 78-yard drive ending in a 7-yard touchdown catch by Wiglusz for a 20-10 lead with 4:36 left. Western Michigan answered with an eight-play drive to get within three points with 2:21 left.

O’Shaan Allison ran it four straight times on Ohio’s final possession, getting a first down and running out the clock.

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Sieh Bangura had 86 yards rushing and a score for Ohio (6-2, 3-1 Mid-American Conference). Keye Thompson had 11 tackles in the first half, and Tank Pearson grabbed an interception.

Hayden Wolff completed 30 of 42 passes for 290 yards with one touchdown and one interception for Western Michigan (2-6, 1-3).

W. Michigan 0 0 10 7 17
Ohio 3 3 7 7 20

First Quarter

OHIO–FG Spetic 28, 8:49.

Second Quarter

OHIO–FG Spetic 19, :02.

Third Quarter

WMU–FG Domschke 43, 7:07.

OHIO–Bangura 1 run (Spetic kick), 2:36.

WMU–Wolff 3 run (Domschke kick), :18.

Fourth Quarter

OHIO–Wiglusz 7 pass from Rourke (Spetic kick), 4:36.

WMU–Womack 8 pass from Wolff (Domschke kick), 2:21.

A–16,048.

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WMU OHIO
First downs 21 28
Total Net Yards 369 460
Rushes-yards 22-79 39-185
Passing 290 275
Punt Returns 1-27 1–1
Kickoff Returns 5-123 1-10
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-0
Comp-Att-Int 30-42-1 24-39-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 1-2 1-9
Punts 3-32.0 3-48.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 10-97 7-75
Time of Possession 24:19 35:33

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–W. Michigan, Hester 5-26, Wolff 4-23, Buckley 6-19, Abdus-Salaam 6-11, Kneeland 1-0. Ohio, Bangura 15-86, Allison 15-64, Rourke 6-33, Walton 1-5, (Team) 2-(minus 3).

PASSING–W. Michigan, Wolff 30-42-1-290. Ohio, Rourke 24-39-0-275.

RECEIVING–_W. Michigan, Womack 14-90, Thomas 6-68, Buckley 4-59, Hence 2-41, Dieudonne 2-23, Abdus-Salaam 2-9. Ohio, Wiglusz 10-155, Cross 6-63, Bangura 3-7, Kacmarek 2-32, Walton 2-13, Allison 1-5.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–W. Michigan, Domschke 46, Domschke 41. Ohio, Spetic 40, Spetic 26.