MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — Nathan Rourke accounted for 258 yards of offense and ran for two touchdowns to lead Ohio to a 34-21 victory over Ball State on Saturday.
Ohio (4-4, 3-1) has won two of its last three games while Ball State (4-4, 3-1) lost its first Mid-American Conference game.
Rourke was 8-of-16-passing for 131 yards and had 127 yards rushing. O’Shaan Allison added 104 yards on the ground, and De’Montre Tuggle had a pair touchdown runs for Ohio.
Drew Plitt threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score for Ball State. Walter Fletcher ran for 156 yards on 14 carries that included a 73-yard touchdown run.
Rourke and Plitt traded 1-yard scoring runs in the first quarter. Louie Zervos kicked field goals from 20 and 23 yards to give the Bobcats a 13-7 halftime lead.
Tuggle scored on an 11-yard run and Fletcher answered with his 73-yarder on the next play from scrimmage. Tuggle’s 1-yard TD run stretched Ohio’s lead to 27-14 with 4:33 remaining in the third quarter.
Rourke capped a 9-play, 64-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown run with about four minutes to play that made it 34-14.
Ohio U. stats
Ohio 7 6 14 7 = 34
Ball St. 7 0 7 7 = 21
First Quarter
OHI—N.Rourke 1 run (Zervos kick), 9:10
BALL—Plitt 1 run (Rimmler kick), 3:01
Second Quarter
OHI—FG Zervos 20, 10:20
OHI—FG Zervos 23, 5:00
Third Quarter
OHI—Tuggle 11 run (Zervos kick), 9:47
BALL—Fletcher 73 run (Rimmler kick), 9:29
OHI—Tuggle 1 run (Zervos kick), 4:33
Fourth Quarter
OHI—N.Rourke 12 run (Zervos kick), 4:12
BALL—R.Miller 14 pass from Plitt (Rimmler kick), 2:45
A—5,572.
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OHI BALL
First downs 21 16
Rushes-yards 56-316 35-242
Passing 131 109
Comp-Att-Int 8-16-1 11-20-0
Return Yards 2 124
Punts-Avg. 4-32.75 6-35.66
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 5-45 3-25
Time of Possession 39:52 20:08
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Ohio, N.Rourke 18-127, Allison 18-104, Tuggle 14-50, Portis 5-36, (Team) 1-(minus 1). Ball St., Fletcher 14-156, Dunner 1-36, Plitt 11-23, W.Jones 2-17, Huntley 6-12, (Team) 1-(minus 2).
PASSING—Ohio, N.Rourke 8-16-1-131. Ball St., Plitt 11-20-0-109.
RECEIVING—Ohio, Cox 5-92, Odom 2-32, Tuggle 1-7. Ball St., J.Hall 4-26, Tyler 3-44, R.Miller 2-27, A.Davis 2-12.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—Ball St., Rimmler 25.