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Ohio's QB Nathan Rourke (12) readies himself to throw the ball in a play against Kent State at Peden Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019.

Football: Nathan Rourke gives Ohio another memorable performance in 45-38 win over Kent State

Nathan Rourke couldn’t hide his smile when he walked into the media room following Ohio’s win over Kent State on Saturday at Peden Stadium.

The senior quarterback usually keeps a straight face — win or lose — when asked to speak with the media after each game, but he couldn’t hide his grin as sat in his chair and learned that his performance against the Golden Flashes had gone exactly as he hoped.

Rourke passed for 342 yards and went 19-of-28 with two touchdowns in the Bobcats 45-38 final over Mid-American Conference East Division rival Kent State. 

It was the first time Rourke had surpassed 300 passing yards in his career, and he couldn’t have been happier.

“Did I break it?” Rourke eagerly said as he leaned forward in his chair. “I guess it’s been... well, I haven’t done it. I wanted that one.”

Rourke usually never gloats about individual stats. When he broke the program’s career touchdown record Week 3 at Marshall, he said he wasn’t even thinking about the record.

But he was happy to discuss his performance against Kent. It’s probably because Ohio won its biggest game of the season and has a 2-0 MAC East record, which is enough to temporarily forget about the struggles the Bobcats faced before Saturday.

Those problems were mostly attached to the their defense, which had overshadowed the success of Rourke and cost Ohio a win last week in homecoming.

Rourke’s career day ensured that it wouldn’t happen again. 

His biggest play wasn’t a pass. It was a 7-yard rushing touchdown that gave Ohio a 38-31 lead with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, but it happened after he already passed for 53 yards on the drive and picked up three clutch first downs.

None of it was surprising. Rourke has done that all season.

No, his whole career.

“I’m so proud of that man in terms of how he’s contributed to this program from Day 1,“ coach Frank Solich said. “I think he showed his complete talent today.”

Rourke also had 14 carries for 79 yards and two touchdowns, but he’s done that almost every week, too. At this point, his dual-threat capabilities are never a surprise.

Kent knew about Rourke’s potency better than anyone. Before Saturday, Rourke had completed 70% of his passes, totaled 108 rushing yards and scored five touchdowns against the Flashes, who hadn’t won a game against the Bobcats in their last five meetings.

Yet they still had no answer for Rourke. Not many teams in the MAC do, either, and now the Bobcats have a clear path to the MAC Championship if they can build a similar performance against the three MAC East Division teams left on the schedule.

That seemed far-fetched last week when Ohio’s defense spoiled two fourth quarter touchdowns from Rourke and lost on a game-winning field goal.

Now, that feels meaningless. It will be as long as Rourke continues to dominate and win games against division opponents.

“Teams that win...have a really outstanding quarterback,“ Solich said. “Obviously, we’re fortunate to have one.”

As the postgame press conference dragged on, Rourke’s smile faded. Not because he wasn’t happy, but because he was already focusing on next week against Ball State.

It’s another chance for Rourke — who moved his program record to 94 career touchdowns — to push Ohio a tad closer to its first MAC Championship win since 1968.

Still, he was just 15 minutes removed from another memorable performance in the Bobcats’ biggest game of the season.

It didn’t matter. He had already moved on.

“You don’t get to Detroit by just playing well in the beginning or the last couple games,“ Rourke said with a straight face. “We got to show it against Ball State and keep things going and take it one game at a time.”

@anthonyp_2

ap012215@ohio.edu

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