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ATHENS, Ohio – Coming off their bye week, Ohio (2-7, 2-3) returned to Peden Stadium for a Tuesday night matchup against rival Miami (4-5, 3-2). The Bobcats knocked off the RedHawks by a score of 35-33. Offensively, Ohio was led by quarterback Kurtis Rourke who threw for 288 yards and a career high three touchdowns. He was joined offensively by De'Montre Tuggle who logged 119 yards combined on the ground and through the air en route to three total touchdowns. On defense, John Gregory led the Bobcat effort with eight tackles, four of them solo. Tariq Drake also contributed seven total tackles, four of them solo, alongside 0.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup.  

"The kids came to work and gave outstanding effort," head coach Tim Albin said after the game. "Defensively, we stopped them on fourth downs and got the lead. Chuck Martin teams, they're going to come back and they did. We made it more interesting than it should have been. I'm happy for our fanbase, they are very passionate. We had a great turnout tonight for a weekday game, 7:30 on a school night. It's a great fanbase and I'm happy for everyone."

The two defenses started strong, as both Ohio and Miami went three-and-out on their first possessions. The Bobcats offense opened the scoring on their next drive, as Rourke led a 12 play, 86 yard touchdown drive that ended with a two-yard rush by Tuggle to put Ohio up 7-0 with 5:06 remaining in the first quarter. 
 
Miami moved the ball down the field on their next drive as well, gaining 60 yards in 11 plays and set up for a field goal attempt from the 15-yard line. Ohio's Kai Caesar had other plans however, fighting his way through the protection and blocking the kick, giving the Bobcats the ball back at their own 20-yard line with the score still 7-0. 
 
Ohio capitalized on the momentum swing, scoring their second touchdown of the game in just six plays. Rourke connected with Tuggle on a swing pass, and the running back tiptoed down the sideline for a 48-yard score. The quick scoring strike gave Ohio a 14-0 lead with 12:12 remaining in the second quarter, and snapped a streak of fifteen quarters without a passing touchdown.

"I would say we just wanted to beat them," said Tuggle. "That was a big thing. We really wanted to beat them. It's a rivalry game and it means a lot more." 
 
Ohio's defense stepped up on the next drive, as Roman Parodie stepped in front of a deep pass attempt from Miami and recorded his first interception of the season. It was the redshirt-freshman's second interception for the season. The Bobcats were unable to take advantage of the turnover however, as the offense went three-and-out and punted the ball back to Miami with 9:11 remaining in the first half. The Bobcats defense continued their strong play, forcing yet another RedHawk punt with 6:44 left in the second quarter. However, a fumble by Ohio gave possession back to Miami shortly after. 
 
The two teams traded punts for the remainder of the first half, as Ohio headed into the locker room for the intermission still holding a 14-0 lead. The Bobcats out-gained the RedHawks in total yards 241-119, and held Miami to just 4.6 yards per play. 

"That's just us trying to play big in the moment and knowing that we need to make big plays especially on fourth down to get the offense ball back, reading keys, and doing your job. It's very important to know situations," said Drake. "You have to give credit to whoever made those plays on those fourth downs because they did a very good job."

 
Miami went three-and-out to start the second half, as the Ohio defense continued their strong play from the first 30 minutes of action. The Bobcats offense also continued their trend from the first half, as Rourke led a quick two play, 41-yard capped off by a 25-yard touchdown catch and run by Isiah Cox. The redshirt-seniors second touchdown of the season pushed Ohio's lead to 21-0 just one minute and thirty-three seconds into the second half. 
 
The defensive unit continued to stifle the Miami offense on the next possession, forcing a turnover on downs after a stop on 4th and short. Ohio's offense took advantage of the good field position, converting on a 4th down attempt of their own with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Rourke to Cox. The second touchdown catch of the quarter set a new single-game high for Cox, and extended the Bobcats' lead to 28-0 with 10:30 remaining in the third quarter. 
 
Miami's offense finally got on the board with their next drive, going 77 yards in just under two minutes of play for a touchdown, with a 51-yard touchdown pass being the capper to the five-play possession. With that score, the Bobcat lead was trimmed to 28-7 with 8:30 left before the fourth quarter. 
 
A short drive by the Ohio offense gave the ball back to Miami with just under seven minutes left in the quarter, and the RedHawks added more points to the scoreboard. An eight play, 55-yard march down the field was finished with 15-yard touchdown pass. A missed extra point by Miami meant the score sat at 28-13 with just over five minutes left in the quarter. 
 
Another short drive by Ohio's offensive unit put the ball back in Miami's possession. The next RedHawk drive ran into the fourth and final quarter of the contest, but ended with yet another 4th and short defensive stand by the Bobcats defense on their own 11-yard line, turning the ball over to Ohio on downs. The Bobcat offense were able to advance the ball on their subsequent drive, but ultimately ended up punting the ball back to the RedHawks with 11:44 left in the game. 
 
Miami was faced with another decision to make with just over ten minutes remaining, as they had to decide on whether to attempt another 4th down conversion from their own 26-yard line. A strong defensive effort courtesy of a pass breakup by Parodie led to yet another fourth down stand by the Bobcat defense, giving the ball back to Rourke and the offense with 10:07 remaining. 
 
Ohio was able to put the ball into the endzone courtesy of Cox's third touchdown reception of the game, but the score was negated by an offensive pass interference call that pushed the Bobcats back to near midfield. Faced with plenty of yards to gain for a first down, Ohio settled for a 46-yard field goal that was pulled left, leaving the score still at 28-13, with just under eight minutes to play in the game. 
 
Miami marched down the field on the ensuing possession, scoring a touchdown in just under two and a half minutes, pulling the RedHawks within nine points at 28-19. A failed two-point conversion kept the margin at two possessions, with Ohio getting the ball back with 5:18 remaining. 
 
A quick drive by the Bobcats ended with a punt downed on the RedHawks' five-yard line, leaving Miami with a long field ahead and needing two scores. Ohio's defense forced a fourth down conversion attempt, but an 82-yard touchdown pass helped the RedHawks draw within just two points, 28-26 with 3:17 left in the game. 
 
Ohio recovered the ensuing onside kick, and seemingly put the game away on 3rd and 8, when Tuggle rushed 46 yards for his second touchdown of the evening, making it 35-26 with just over 90 seconds left in the contest. Miami scored another touchdown, this time in just 40 seconds, once again drawing the RedHawks within two points after a successful extra point try to make the score 35-33. 

"Miami just has a lot of pride," explained Albin. "Coach Martin has done a great job, I've known him for many years. So you just know they're going to come back. Back to our end of it, I thought Coach Rudolph did a fabulous job getting us to 35."

Ohio once again fell on the onside kick, and with Miami lacking any timeouts, kneeled the ball twice to end the game. 
 
Miami finished the game with 569 total yards compared to Ohio's 413. The RedHawks gained 492 yards through the air on 32-57 passing, while Ohio quarterbacks went 23-33 for 288 yards. On the ground, Ohio out-gained Miami 125-77, led by Tuggle with 69 yards and two touchdowns. 

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