Ohio likely won’t face an easier opponent than Rhode Island for the rest of its season. The Bobcats needed to throttle the Rams with their high-powered offense if they wanted to evaluate their depth and inexperienced players — many of whom will see starting snaps this season.
The Bobcats did just that Saturday at Peden Stadium and defeated the Rams 41-20 for their first win of the season. Ohio scored points on seven of its 11 total drives.
Nathan Rourke started his first drive of the season with a 13-play, six-minute drive that ended with him finding the end zone on an eight-yard rush. The touchdown tied him with former Ohio running back A.J. Ouellette for third on the program’s all-time rushing touchdown list with 32 career rushing touchdowns and gave the Bobcats a 7-0 lead.
Tyler Tupa, a redshirt junior who had yet to make his first college reception before Saturday, put the Bobcats up 17-3 with three minutes left in the first half after he hauled in a 22-yard pass from Rourke for Tupa’s first career touchdown pass.
Ohio led 17-6 at halftime.
The Bobcats extended their lead on their first drive in the third quarter when Rourke hit tight end Ryan Luehrman for a four-yard touchdown. That put the Bobcats up 24-6 that capped off an impressive drive from Rourke, who scrambled away from two defenders at one point during the drive and found Isiah Cox for a 16-yard pass.
Rourke finished 16-for-22 with two passing touchdowns and no interceptions. The senior is two touchdowns away from breaking former Ohio quarterback Tyler Tettleton’s record of 82 career touchdowns set in 2013.
Running back De’Montre Tuggle put the game out of reach with 40 seconds left in the third quarter after he took his first collegiate carry six yards for a touchdown. The junior also ran for a 55-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and finished the game three carries for 65 yards.
Tuggle was one of four runnings backs to receive snaps Saturday as part of offensive coordinator Tim Albin’s plans to spread out snaps in the backfield. O’Shaan Allison and Julian Ross split carries to start the game and combined for 20 attempts and 106 yards.
Ohio’s win puts Frank Solich a win away from tying Bill Hess for 108 career wins, second on the program’s list of all-time wins by a head coach.
The Bobcats will prepare for a tougher test next week on the road against Pitt. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. on Sept. 7 at Heinz Field.
