Sports

Ohio Football spoils Bowling Green’s homecoming with a powerful 38-7 victory

By: Maria Monesi
Posted on: Saturday, September 23, 2023

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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (WOUB) – Ohio Football kicked off Mid-American Conference play on Saturday afternoon with a dominant 38-7 victory over Bowling Green. 

“I’m just real happy with the guys today,” head coach Tim Albin said. “You know how the game went, I thought we handled ourselves very, very well.”

The Bobcats got rolling early. On the opening drive of the game, Keye Thompson intercepted a pass from Connor Bazelak which set the tone for Ohio’s defense. 

“When you get that kind of production from the defense, offensively, you get the lead and sometimes it can snowball,” Albin said. “It speaks volumes to the guys on defense, Coach Nowinsky and the guys just are flying around.”

Following the takeaway, Kurtis Rourke found a wide-open Sieh Bangura for a 29-yard score to get the Bobcats on the board early. After the defense forced the Falcons off the field, the Bobcats offense took advantage again. Rourke found Will Kacmarek in the end zone for a 10-yard score to extend the Bobcats lead, 14-0. 

With his second touchdown pass, Rourke reached 50 career touchdowns. He finished the game with three touchdowns and 196 yards. 

The defense continued to make crucial plays time and time again. Thompson recovered a fumble from Jaison Patterson and took it 71-yards for his first career touchdown.

“I just feel like as a defense we are flying around right now,” Thompson said. “We know we’re pretty high ranked in the nation as far as total defense and rush defense so we’re just trying to go in every week emphasizing to get turnovers and stop the run.”

It’s a defense that forced four takeaways and continues to make a statement. Roman Parodie capped off the defensive scoring with a 28-yard fumble recovery that extended the Bobcats lead, 31-0.

Rourke later connected with Miles Cross for a 19-yard touchdown for the Bobcats final score of the afternoon. The Falcons finally got on the board late in the game, but the Bobcats were able to take care of business for their first MAC win. 

“It should be a statement, it should be a wakeup call, we’re not the same Ohio Bobcats,” Thompson said. “We’re coming in here with a goal, a mission to win the MAC Championship, to finish as one of the best defenses in the country.”

Ohio Football has the week off before taking on Kent State at home for the Oct. 7 homecoming game