Ohio Answers in 13 Seconds with a 100-yard Kickoff Return, Wins 24-20
Eastern Michigan went ahead 20-17 on a 24-yard pass to Joey Mattord with 3:53 left. It was the lead for 13 seconds. Darren James-Hamilton took the next kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, and Ohio won 24-20.
That was the fourth lead change of a game that was tied twice, and Ohio did not score on offense in the fourth. Its last offensive points came on Nick Poulos's 1-yard run with 0:26 left in the third. The kickoff return supplied the rest.
It was a strange box score on both sides. Ohio lost two fumbles and still won, threw no interceptions, and took the early lead on a 78-yard touchdown pass from Poulos to Dom Dorwart. Eastern Michigan's first points came on a 25-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Aaron Kearse, and it kicked field goals of 31 and 41 yards to lead 13-10 at the half. Brogan McCaughey threw 27 of 39 for 197 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and Eastern Michigan had 307 total yards to Ohio's 367.
The margin was four points, and Ohio's biggest hole all day was three. Ohio is 6-2. Eastern Michigan falls to 4-5, with a game they led in the last four minutes to think about.
Dorwart's catch gave Ohio its first lead of the day on a single 78-yard play, and he had 125 yards on four catches. Eastern Michigan had Riley Neer with five catches for 56 yards, Amareon Blue with 11 carries for 67 yards and Preston Bowman with four catches for 27, but it never got the lead back after the return. The game was within one score from the first quarter to the last.
Fantasy takeaway: Poulos and Dorwart carried the week, and the return itself did not count for either of them.