Freshman tallies five touchdowns in Ohio triumph
Rickey Hunt woke up edgy and nervous Saturday, having no idea he would soon have one of the best performances in Ohio football history.
Hunt, a freshman, ran for four touchdowns and caught a fifth as Ohio overcame a host of transfer portal losses to win its fifth straight bowl game, beating Georgia Southern 41-21 at the Myrtle Beach Bowl.
“I did not see this coming at all,” said Hunt, pressed into service when the Bobcats’ top two running backs in Sieh Bangura and O’Shaan Allison entered the portal after combining for 1,263 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Hunt’s five touchdowns were the best single-game showing for the Bobcats. He finished with 115 yards and had scoring runs of two, six, 40 and nine yards. Hunt also had an 18-yard touchdown catch off a jump pass from fill-in quarterback Parker Navarro.
“The last two weeks, it was shaky,” Hunt said. “We lost some big players.”
Along with Bangura and Allison, Ohio played without starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who threw for 2,207 yards and 11 touchdowns, but also went to the portal and committed to Indiana last week.
The Bobcats (10-3) forced five turnovers, four off Eagles quarterback Davis Brin, to win 10 games in consecutive years for the first time in program history.
Navarro made his first career start after four seasons as a backup at Central Florida and Ohio.
“He played phenomenal,” Hunt said of his quarterback, who passed for 120 yards and ran for 71.
Ohio’s defense made it all stand up. It held Georgia Southern (6-7) to 35 yards in the first half. Brin, who won this game’s MVP in 2021 in leading Tulsa to a 30-17 victory, threw an interception on the game’s fourth play to safety Jeremiah Wood.
Things didn’t get much better after that with a pick by safety Adonis Williams Jr. before Brin lost the ball on a fumble when he was sacked from behind by Wood.
“I’m not going to lie, that may have been one of the best defensive games we’ve played in my time here,” said Wood, whose been with Ohio the last five seasons.
Ohio also sacked Brin five times.
Georgia Southern found some offensive rhythm in the second half and cut its deficit to 34-21 after Brin threw scoring passes of 65 yards to receiver Derwin Burgess Jr. and 15 yards to tight end Jjay Mcafee.
But the Eagles could get no closer.
“I feel like we needed to play better early in this football
game,” Eagles coach Clay Helton said. “You look at the turnovers early, that really got us behind the eight ball.”
Celebration
Jeremy Moussa overcame a frustrating first half to throw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes, including a go-ahead, 38yarder to Jah’Marae Sheread on a flea flicker, powering Florida A&M’s comeback past Howard for a 30-26 win.
Florida A&M (12-1) closed the season with 11
consecutive wins.
New Orleans
Zion Webb completed a fourth-down pass to Perry Carter for an 18-yard, tying touchdown with 1:46 left in regulation, Garrison Rippa hit a 27-yard field goal in overtime, and Jacksonville State capped its first season in the Football Bowl Subdivision with a 34-31 victory over Louisiana Lafayette.
Ron Wiggins rushed for 126 yards and a score for Jacksonville State (9-4), which had to overcome four turnovers — three of which were returned for touchdowns — just to force overtime.
Cure
Joey Aguilar threw for 197 yards and scored on an eight-yard run in the third quarter as Appalachian State beat Miami (Ohio) 13-9 in a rain-soaked game.
New Mexico
Mikey Keene passed for three touchdowns and ran for another to lead Fresno State (9-4) to a 37-10 rout of New Mexico State (10-5) in Albuquerque. Keene completed 31 of 39 passes for 380 yards. Malik Sherrod rushed for 90 yards in 20 carries to lead Fresno State. The Bulldogs limited the Aggies to 200 total yards while the Bulldogs rolled up 491.
Also
Harding won its first Division II championship, defeating Colorado School of Mines 38-7. The Bisons became the first team to rush for 6,000 yards at any level . ... In the Football Championship Subdivision, Montana (13-1) edged North Dakota State (11-4) 31-29 in double overtime to earn a berth in the Jan. 7 title game against South Dakota State.