Nathan Rourke sat in his postgame press conference wearing a smile and eye black smeared on his face.
His mood was a stark contrast to that from a week ago, when Rourke stood stoically outside the Nippert Stadium visitors locker room in Cincinnati, pinpointing what to say after his interception in the final minute.
Rourke fielded questions just as he shredded the UMass defense — with ease. He flipped the script in just a week. He was a conductor on the field Saturday at Peden Stadium, and his offense was dominant in Ohio’s 58-42 shootout win over UMass.
“When we have the offensive line that we have, and obviously we have (running backs A.J. Ouellette and Maleek Irons) running the way that we do, we can involve guys like (wide receiver) Cam (Odom), Papi (White) and Andrew (Meyer), and we can use our tight ends in the passing game, we’re going to be really tough to stop,” Rourke said.
It had seemed like he was in for a long day when his first pass attempt was completed — to a UMass defender — for a 54-yard interception return for a touchdown, which gave the Minutemen a 14-0 lead in the first five minutes.
But following that blunder, Rourke was surgical with his passes. He evaded defenders and found holes with his legs. The signal caller finished the day with a career-high 23 completions, 459 total yards — including 189 on the ground — and four total touchdowns.
As the Minutemen continued to score early in the game, Rourke and the Bobcats seemed to always have an answer.
After UMass grabbed a quick 14-point lead, Rourke led Ohio down the field and found Papi White fading to the corner of the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown to start the barrage of scoring for Ohio.
By the time the halfway point of the second quarter had come, Rourke’s offense had already taken the lead.
“It started to get clearer as the game unfolded that we were able to move the ball with pretty good consistency and able to put points on the board, but then it became a question of 'was it going to be enough points on the board?'" coach Frank Solich said.
Of course, he didn’t do it alone.
White, who has become his favorite target, had 84 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Nine different Bobcats caught a Rourke pass, including left tackle Joe Lowery on a failed trick play. Rourke’s two running backs — Ouellette and Irons — each had runs of over 40 yards. Irons had a career high in rushing yards with 140 and two scores. Ouellette had 70 yards and a touchdown.
Before a negative gain near the end of the game, Ohio had over 400 rushing yards on the afternoon. But the Bobcats settled for 394 when the game ended. Through the first three games, Ohio struggled to effectively run the ball how Solich likes.
“It was a wall of people with a huge gap,” Ouellette said. “The gap could be anywhere. Mainly, it was backside. I learned that watching Maleek in there. His first couple series, he was hitting huge holes backside.”
As the running backs ran free, Rourke continued to pull the ball and drop back to pass. He could scan the field and find an open target; his offensive line kept his jersey clean for most of the game.
What more can you ask for as a quarterback.
With big running plays, accurate passing and an offensive line that controlled the line of scrimmage, Rourke’s offense set a new program record for total yards in a game with 664. The Bobcats scored 58 points. They racked up nearly 400 rushing yards.
But in true fashion, he sat in his chair answering questions. He discussed the points the Bobcats left on the field, when they stalled three different times in the red zone and settled for field goals.
“We had a couple attempts when we were right down inside the 10-yard line that we would like to have capitalized on,” Rourke said. “And if we put a touchdown in there, the game is out of reach sooner than it was."
