Ohio 24, Northern Illinois 17
Associated Press
ATHENS, Ohio - Sam Wiglusz leaped high to pull in a 22-yard pass from Kurtis Rourke over an outstretched defender in the end zone for the deciding fourth-quarter touchdown as Ohio pulled out a 24-17 win over Northern Illinois to improve to 3-1 in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
Roarke also found Wiglusz with an eight-yard touchdown pass to cap the game's opening drive and nosed in from the 1 with 4:16 left in the third quarter to give the Bobcats (5-3) a 17-9 lead.
Kacper Rutkiewicz scored the Huskies' lone touchdown of the game on an 11-yard run with 1:31 left in the third quarter and Nate Valcarcel threw to Cole Tucker for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 17.
John Richardson kicked field goals from 38-, 27- and 45-yards out to keep Northern Illinois (2-6, 1-3) within a point, 10-9 with just under 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
Rourke was 14 of 26 passing for 200 yards and two touchdowns and led the Bobcats' running game with 64 yards on seven carries, breaking free for a 61-yard dash. Wiglusz finished with six catches for 69 yards.
Antario Brown had 160 yards on 16 carries to lead Northern Illinois. Justin Lynch completed half of his 18 pass attempts for 110 yards.
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
NIU | Ohio |
| Ohio |
TD |
11:05 |
Sam Wiglusz 8 yd pass from Kurtis Rourke (Nathanial Vakos kick) |
0 |
7 |
| Second Quarter |
NIU | Ohio |
| NIU |
FG |
10:49 |
John Richardson 38 yd FG |
3 |
7 |
| NIU |
FG |
4:07 |
John Richardson 27 yd FG |
6 |
7 |
| Ohio |
FG |
0:19 |
Nathanial Vakos 31 yd FG |
6 |
10 |
| Third Quarter |
NIU | Ohio |
| NIU |
FG |
10:56 |
John Richardson 45 yd FG |
9 |
10 |
| Ohio |
TD |
4:16 |
Kurtis Rourke 1 yd run (Nathanial Vakos kick) |
9 |
17 |
| NIU |
TD |
1:31 |
Kacper Rutkiewicz 11 yd run (Cole Tucker 2pt pass from Shemar Thornton) |
17 |
17 |
| Fourth Quarter |
NIU | Ohio |
| Ohio |
TD |
7:00 |
Sam Wiglusz 22 yd pass from Kurtis Rourke (Nathanial Vakos kick) |
17 |
24 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Northern Illinois |
Ohio |
| First downs |
17 |
20 |
| Rushing |
13 |
7 |
| Passing |
4 |
11 |
| Penalty |
0 |
2 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
4-14, 29% |
8-14, 57% |
| 4th down efficiency |
2-4, 50% |
0-0, -% |
| Rushes-Yards |
48-267 |
33-154 |
| Passing Yards |
110 |
200 |
| Return Yards |
27 |
56 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
9-18-0 |
14-26-0 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
0-0 |
2--18 |
| Punts |
3 |
4 |
| Punts-Average |
40.3 |
45 |
| Fumbles Lost |
4-0 |
0-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
6-50 |
0-0 |
| Time of Possession |
32:30 |
27:30 |
| Northern Illinois Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| J. Lynch |
9 |
18 |
110 |
0 |
0 |
| Ohio Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| K. Rourke |
14 |
26 |
200 |
2 |
0 |
| Northern Illinois Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| A. Brown |
16 |
160 |
10.0 |
0 |
| H. Waylee |
18 |
97 |
5.4 |
0 |
| K. Rutkiewicz |
1 |
11 |
11.0 |
1 |
| J. Lynch |
11 |
10 |
0.9 |
0 |
| Ohio Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| K. Rourke |
7 |
64 |
9.1 |
1 |
| S. Bangura |
10 |
62 |
6.2 |
0 |
| N. McCormick |
14 |
30 |
2.1 |
0 |
| M. Cross |
1 |
1 |
1.0 |
0 |
| Northern Illinois Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| K. Rutkiewicz |
1 |
41 |
41.0 |
0 |
| C. Tucker |
3 |
24 |
8.0 |
0 |
| S. Thornton |
1 |
20 |
20.0 |
0 |
| M. Blakemore |
1 |
12 |
12.0 |
0 |
| T. Tewes |
1 |
7 |
7.0 |
0 |
| H. Waylee |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| L. Soraghan |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| Ohio Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| S. Wiglusz |
6 |
69 |
11.5 |
2 |
| J. Bostic |
1 |
38 |
38.0 |
0 |
| W. Kacmarek |
2 |
33 |
16.5 |
0 |
| S. Bangura |
3 |
32 |
10.7 |
0 |
| M. Cross |
2 |
28 |
14.0 |
0 |
| Northern Illinois Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Ohio Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Northern Illinois Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| T. Foley |
3 |
121 |
40.3 |
| Ohio Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| J. Wieland |
2 |
90 |
45.0 |
| J. Wilson |
2 |
90 |
45.0 |
| Northern Illinois Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| C. Tucker |
2 |
3 |
1.5 |
| Ohio Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| S. Wiglusz |
1 |
2 |
2.0 |
| Northern Illinois Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| B. Dozier |
1 |
14 |
14.0 |
| F. McCray |
1 |
10 |
10.0 |
| Ohio Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| K. Wilburn |
3 |
54 |
18.0 |
| Northern Illinois Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| Ohio Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| N. Vakos |
41 |
