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ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio football team (2-1, 2-1 MAC) rolled to a 52-10 victory over Mid-American Conference East Division rival Bowling Green (0-4, 0-4 MAC) this afternoon at Peden Stadium behind a career afternoon by senior running back De'Montre Tuggle (Channelview, Texas) and a stifling effort by the Bobcats' pass defense that featured three interceptions.

"I thought it was a complete ball game by really the offense, defense, special team units. everyone. Good plays by all three of those units," said 16th-year head coach Frank Solich following the win. "Obviously, that's what it takes in order to continue to have success in this conference. It's good to see it materialize the way it did out there today. I thought our guys played hard, and I thought our guys played physical. Bowling Green is a physical football team. They played hard. I give them a lot of credit. It's not easy when things aren't going well and a few things go against you. They hang in there, and they battle. A lot of credit to those guys. In saying that, I really feel good about our guys and what they got accomplished not only today on the field, but through this whole pandemic and how they handled it. Just continue to do the right things, make good decisions, and give ourselves the best chance to move forward with games in this conference." 

Tuggle rumbled for a career-high 185 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries, including a career-long run of 70 yards for a score. He posted his second career 100-yard rushing performance and second in as many games and notched his sixth career game with multiple rushing touchdowns and second in a row.

"It was nice to actually show the explosiveness that we have been talking about for the longest," said Tuggle of the offense's performance. "It was pretty good to put that on display, especially after this long period that we had off. To come out and execute like we did, it was really, really good."

Ohio's defense has now logged five interceptions and six takeaways overall in the last two games, with redshirt junior free safety Alvin Floyd (North Miami Beach, Fla.) recording his third career interception and redshirt junior safety Tariq Drake (Leavittsburg, Ohio) and redshirt freshman safety Jett Elad (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) each tallying their second career interceptions.

"They performed very well. Come out, make tackles. We got guys back there, Jett and Alvin that are just kind of ballhawks," said Solich of his safeties. "They got a real good feel for the game. They break on balls and cover a lot of ground. They're physical players."

Really pleased with how they moved forward so quickly in this program. The whole secondary played well. I mentioned two guys, but I got to pat the secondary on the back." 

Coming off an 18-day layoff, the Bobcats earned their fifth-straight win over the Falcons, including their third-straight in games played at Peden Stadium in the series.

It proved fitting that the Bobcats sported throwback uniforms inspired by Ohio's 1960 MAC championship and NCAA College Division national championship squad, a team that outscored the opposition 269-34 that year. Ohio scored at least 50 points in a game for the 14th time in 16 years under Solich, with nine of those performances coming in the last four seasons. The Bobcats have outscored the Falcons by a 245-102 count in the last five meetings between the two teams.

Ohio's defense allowed just 10 points for the second game in a row after posting a 24-10 win over Akron on Nov. 10. The stretch marks the fewest points the Bobcats have given up in back-to-back games since shutting out Austin Peay, 38-0, and knocking off Akron, 43-3, in 2013. Bowling Green's 10 points mark the fewest the Bobcats have allowed the Falcons to score against them since shutting them out, 24-0, on Oct. 18, 1997.

The Bobcats raced out a 45-10 halftime lead and never looked back. Ohio's 45 first-half points equaled the most scored in a half by the Bobcats in the Solich era, with the feat also occurring in a 59-14 triumph at Western Michigan in 2018.

Ohio set the tone with a seven-play, 54-yard scoring march on the first drive of the contest. A 20-yard scramble by redshirt freshman quarterback Kurtis Rourke (Oakville, Ontario, Canada) and a 12-yard completion from Rourke to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Shane Hooks (Orlando, Fla.) set up an eight-yard touchdown run by Tuggle.

After the Bobcats forced Bowling Green to go three-and-out on its first possession, Tuggle quickly made it a two-score game by scampering a career-long 70 yards for a touchdown on the first play of Ohio's ensuing drive.

"It was great blocking from my line, that is all I can say. Great blocking by the receivers," said Tuggle. "They came pretty much on a blitz from both outsides and our line picked it up which was great. I was able to get through there and I wasn't even touched by the secondaries so, that's a testament to what my receivers are doing outside, handling their business. 

The Falcons got on the board with 44 seconds left in the first quarter as a 32-yard field goal by redshirt sophomore placekicker Nate Needham trimmed Bowling Green's deficit 11 points. That margin didn't hold for long, however, as redshirt junior running back Julian Ross (Kansas City, Mo.) ran the ensuing kickoff back a career-long 96 yards for a touchdown to help up the Ohio lead to 21-3. The return for a score marked the first for Ross in his career and gave Ohio multiple kickoff returns for touchdowns in a single season for the first time since the Bobcats returned three to the house in 2008.

Bowling Green responded with a five-play, 73-yard scoring drive to start the second quarter, with redshirt junior quarterback Matt McDonald capping it off with a 26-yard scoring strike to freshman wide receiver Javonte Kinsey.

Rourke retaliated by engineering a 15-play scoring drive that covered 75 yards, chewed nearly nine minutes off of the clock and ended with redshirt senior tight end Ryan Luehrman (Athens, Ohio) scoring on a five-yard reception. Rourke completed five passes on the drive and converted a 3rd-and-7 with a nine-yard run, a 3rd-and-5 with a 14-yard run and a 3rd-and-13 with a 13-yard completion to redshirt junior wide receiver Isiah Cox (Jasper, Ala.).

After another three-and-out for the Falcons, Rourke drove the Bobcats to the Bowling Green 29-yard line with completions of nine yards to Luehrman, six yards to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Tyler Walton (St. Louis, Mo.) and nine-yards again to Luehrman to move the chains on a 3rd-and-5. Rourke was injured when he was hit on the third-down conversion to Luehrman, however, and was forced to exit the game. He was relieved by redshirt senior quarterback Armani Rogers (Los Angeles, Calif.), who scored on a 29-yard run on the next play, giving the transfer from UNLV his second rushing touchdown in as many games as a Bobcat.

Floyd quickly put an end to Bowling Green's next possession by picking off McDonald at the Falcons' 33-yard line. A 23-yard by Tuggle on Ohio's second play of the ensuing drive set the table for a Rogers to throw a two-yard touchdown to Luehrman, giving the Athens native his first career game with multiple touchdown receptions and seven receiving touchdowns for his career. The touchdown pass by Rogers marked his first as a Bobcat.

A Bowling Green drive was halted by an Ohio interception for the second possession in a row when Drake picked McDonald off at the Bobcats' 35-yard line and returned it 52 yards to the Bowling Green 13 with two seconds remaining in the half. Ohio sent out redshirt freshman placekicker Tristian Vandenberg (Buffalo, N.Y.) to try a 30-yard field goal, and he converted to send the Bobcats into halftime with a 35-point advantage.

After forcing Bowling Green to punt on its first drive of the second half, the Bobcats moved 96 yards in 10 plays, with Tuggle taking the ball the final 43 yards for his third rushing touchdown of the afternoon. Tuggle accounted for 61 rushing yards on the drive while Rogers added 33 and a 12-yard completion to Luehrman.

The scoring march gave Ohio a 52-10 lead with just over seven minutes to play in the third quarter, and that score held for the remainder of the contest. The Bobcats allowed Bowling Green to manage just 41 yards over its final four drives of the game. Elad's interception on the second play of the fourth quarter highlighted the final 15 minutes of play.

"I always prayed and worked do to as well as I am doing right now," said Elad. "I'm just happy that I'm able to do the things I've been doing, and our defense is able to do the things they've been doing. I'm just blessed right now, and our defense is doing good and I couldn't be happier."

Ohio finished the game with 436 total yards, and 355 of them came on the ground. In addition to Tuggle's effort, Rogers accounted for 65 rushing yards while Rourke added 43. Rourke finished the game 10-of-11 passing for 63 yards before leaving due to his injury.

Twenty-three Bobcats recorded a tackle in the victory for Ohio, with redshirt sophomore linebacker Bryce Houston (Lewis Center, Ohio), who made his first career start, leading the way with six total tackles. Redshirt senior linebacker Jared Dorsa (Kings Mills, Ohio) recorded a sack while redshirt sophomore left defensive end Bryce Dugan (Milford, Ohio), redshirt sophomore nose tackle Kylen McCracken (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) and redshirt sophomore defensive end Vonnie Watkins (Lusby, Md.) each recorded tackles for loss.

For Bowling Green, McDoanld finished the game 9-of-20 passing for 125 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. Senior tight end Quintin Morris led all receivers with six receptions for a game-high 69 receiving yards. Redshirt junior running back Andrew Clair totaled 118 yards on 15 carries with a long run of 42 yards. Defensively, sophomore middle linebacker Darren Anders posted a game-high 13 total tackles for the Falcons, which included five solo stops and a tackle for loss.

Ohio concludes the home portion of its 2020 schedule on Saturday, December 5, as it entertains MAC East Division rival Buffalo (4-0, 4-0 MAC) in a Senior Day matchup at Peden Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET, and the contest is set to be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network. The matchup can also be heard on the Ohio Sports Network from Learfield IMG College. 

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