ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio football team (1-1) defended the Frank for the 14th straight time, posting a huge win in a four-overtime classic against Jacksonville State (1-2). The Gamecocks took an early lead but the Bobcats battled back, grinding out a win through the rainy conditions in the longest game in Ohio football history.  

Individually, junior quarterback Matt Vezza had 80 passing yards and one touchdown, while rushing for an additional 67 yards. Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Riley Neer  had four catches for 38 yards and a touchdown while junior running back Duncan Brune had 66 yards on the ground. Fellow running back, graduate Victor Rosa had 17 yards and a touchdown.  

Defensively, redshirt senior linebacker Michael Molnar  led the team with 13 tackles, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Fellow Redshirt senior linebacker Jack Fries was second with 11 tackles. Redshirt sophomore safety Darren James-Hamilton made three tackles, and returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.  

The Bobcats won the toss and took the ball to start the game, but the offense was unable to get anything on the board. Jacksonville State got the ball for its first drive and went on an 88-yard scoring drive, punching it in from eight yards out.  

Following an Ohio punt, Jacksonville State started the second quarter hot, scoring a one-play touchdown on a deep ball to take a 14-0 lead.  

The Bobcat offense did not stay dormant for long, as after graduate quarterback Nick Poulos went out with an injury, Vezza came into the game and lead the offense down the field for a score, throwing his first touchdown as a Bobcat to Neer. 

After a long drive by the Gamecocks, they responded with a score of their own, knocking in a field goal to take a 10-point lead setting the score at 17-7 with 57 seconds left in the half. Ohio special teams responded to Jacksonville State's field goal as James-Hamilton caught the kickoff and torched the Jacksonville State kickoff team for a 98-yard kickoff return touchdown.  

James-Hamilton's burst was the longest kickoff return since Sieh Bangura's 97-yard return against Miami last season. It also provided Ohio with some instant momentum, and cut the Jacksonville State lead to just three.  

Ohio's defense was next to make a huge play, as Molnar forced a fumble that was recovered by Walker on the first play after the kickoff return touchdown.  The Gamecocks blocked the ensuing Bobcats field goal attempt, and the Bobcats went into the half down by a score of 17-14.  

Jacksonville State carried the momentum from the blocked kick into its first drive of the second half, as the Gamecocks went marching down the field for a touchdown to start the second half.  

Ohio made its way down the field on the next drive, fueled by some strong runs from Brune, including a conversion on fourth and one. The Bobcats got inside the 10 on the drive, and they got on the board with a 23-yard field goal from graduate kicker Will Hryszko.

After a defensive stop and a huge run that put Ohio inside the 10-yard line, Vezza left the game with an injury, allowing freshman quarterback Levi Davis (Lewis Center, Ohio) to make his debut as a Bobcat.  

Davis handed it off to Rosa for the game-tying score, with Rosa's first touchdown as a Bobcat tying the game at 24-24 with less than two minutes remaining.  

Jacksonville State was able to drive down the field and get into field goal range for a 38-yard try that was missed wide right, ending regulation.  

The Bobcats' defense got a huge stop to start the first overtime period, but after a blocked field goal, the game headed into double overtime. Hryszko drilled a 43-yard field goal to start the second overtime, and after a massive tackle from Molnar on third down, it forced a field goal try from the Gamecocks that was good from 28 yards out, pushing the game to a third overtime period.  

The Gamecocks first two-point try in the third overtime period was a pass to the end zone that fell incomplete, and Ohio's first two-point was an incomplete pass as well.  

The next play was a successful conversion from Davis, who scampered in from three yards out to put pressure on Jacksonville State in the fourth overtime period.  

The Bobcat faithful caused the Gamecocks to commit a false start, pushing them back to the eight-yard line. The ensuing two-attempt was a pass that found a receiver just short of the goal-line, and James-Hamilton made his second game-changing play of the game with a tackle to keep the Gamecocks out of the end zone at the one-yard line to win the game.  

With the win, Ohio moves to 1-1 on the season and extends its home winning streak to 14 games, the second-longest in the country.  

 

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts football team jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the blink of an eye and didn't look back, defeating Sacred Heart 37-10 on Saturday in front of 14,895 fans at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. In the game's first 3:16, T.Y. Harding had a 48-yard receiving touchdown and an 82-yard punt return touchdown. With the win, the Minutemen improve to 2-0 on the season for the first time in the FBS era. 

William "Pop" Watson III finished 9-of-10 passing for 152 yards and a passing touchdown, playing until midway through the third quarter before being relieved by Aedan McCarthy, who made his collegiate debut, with the Minutemen holding a comfortable lead. 

Joseph Griffin Jr., led UMass in receptions (3) and yards (59) while Harding's 49 receiving yards were second for the Minutemen. Elijah Faulkner had 72 yards on 11 carries while Watson III added 40 yards on the ground on four attempts and a rushing touchdown. Reece Adkins also had a rushing touchdown, which marked the first of his career. As a team, the Minutemen eclipsed 150 rushing yards for the second straight week. 

Khari Bendolph led the defense with 11 tackles, with Tyler Martin tallying seven. Jahmad Harmon had an interception return for a touchdown, which marked his third interception of the season. 

TOLEDO, Ohio - The University of Toledo wasted little time putting its stamp on the first home game of the Mike Jacobs era, scoring early and often in a 63-10 victory over Central Connecticut State on Saturday at the Glass Bowl. The victory marked the first for Jacobs as Toledo's head coach.

The Rockets overcame an early special teams miscue and quickly turned the game into a rout, taking a 14-3 lead after the first quarter and extending their advantage to 35-3 by halftime. Toledo fumbled the opening kickoff, giving Central Connecticut State possession at the Rockets' 8-yard line. But the Toledo defense immediately responded, holding the Blue Devils without a yard to force a field goal. From there, it was all Rockets, piling on touchdowns with three each in the second and third quarters.

Senior running back Connor Walendzak put Toledo on the scoreboard with an 8-yard touchdown reception, and the Rockets continued to pour it on from there. Walendzak finished with a 34 yards on six carries, with a both rushing and receiving score, while CJ Miller rushed for 56 yards on nine carries. Sophomore wide receiver Rico Bond finished with four catches for 135 yards and an 85-yard touchdown reception, the longest catch of his college career.

Junior quarterback John Alan Richter turned in an efficient performance, completing 15 of 24 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns. He set a career high in passing yards, breaking his previous mark of 227 in 2024 at Buffalo. His biggest play came in the second quarter on Rico Bond's 85-yard touchdown, the longest completion of Richter's career.

On Toledo's opening possession of the third quarter, Richter found junior wide receiver Adjatay Dabbs for a 4-yard touchdown to extend the lead. Walendzak scored his second touchdown of the afternoon a few minutes later, powering into the end zone from one yard out.

Toledo held Central Connecticut State to 139 total yards and seven first downs. The Rockets finished with five tackles for loss, one sack and an interception, and held Central Connecticut State to just 4 of 16 (25 percent) on third downs. 

Junior linebacker Julian Fox had a team-high eight tackles, and sophomore linebacker Isaac Zay had the Rockets' interception plus seven stops. 

AKRON, Ohio —Cibastian Broughton threw four touchdown passes, Sean Patrick accounted for 161 all-purpose yards and Akron's defense stifled Robert Morris in the second half as the Zips rolled to a 45-10 victory in their home opener Saturday at InfoCision Stadium — Summa Health Field.

Akron (1-1) piled up 523 yards of total offense, including 241 on the ground, while limiting Robert Morris (2-1) to 194 total yards and just 14 rushing yards. The Zips held a 28-12 advantage in first downs and possessed the ball for more than 35 minutes.

Broughton, making his second consecutive start, completed 23 of 27 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. He also rushed for 71 yards on 13 carries, giving him 298 yards of total offense.

Patrick provided Akron's first big play of the afternoon, hauling in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Broughton with 3:52 remaining in the first quarter to cap a nine-play, 82-yard drive. Patrick finished with 67 rushing yards on eight carries, 65 receiving yards on four catches and another 29 yards on three punt returns.

Robert Morris answered early in the second quarter when Carson Haggard connected with Galen Combs for a 43-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7.

The Zips needed only 1:20 to respond.

Broughton found Elijah Alexander for a 25-yard touchdown three plays later, putting Akron back in front 14-7. 

Broughton then connected with Miles Burris on a 6-yard touchdown with 5:45 remaining in the half to extend the lead to 21-7. Robert Morris' Lucca Valens made a 22-yard field goal as time expired to cut Akron's halftime advantage to 21-10.

From there, the Zips took control.

Akron scored the final 24 points and held Robert Morris scoreless over the final two quarters. Matthew Schramm's 38-yard field goal pushed the lead to 24-10 before Jordan Gant scored from 1 yard out following the Colonials' second lost fumble of the third quarter.

Broughton capped his afternoon with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Alexander early in the fourth quarter. Backup quarterback Brayden Roggow provided the final score on a 15-yard run with 3:27 remaining. Akron outscored Robert Morris 24-0 after halftime.

Alexander caught five passes for 55 yards and two touchdowns, while Gant led Akron's ground attack with 81 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Akron averaged 6.2 yards per rush and 7.3 yards on its 72 offensive plays.

Defensively, the Zips allowed only 26 yards of offense in both the third and fourth quarters and forced two Robert Morris fumbles in the third. Omari Abor recorded Akron's lone sack, forced a fumble and finished with four tackles. Akron limited the Colonials to 0.7 yards per rushing attempt.
 

MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State football team opened its 2026 home slate Saturday afternoon, topping Stony Brook in the programs' first-ever meeting, 41-17, in front of a Family Weekend crowd of 10,390.  

After a late Stony Brook touchdown, TJ Horton ran a career-long 54-yard rush to award the Cardinals (1-1, 0-0 MAC) their final score of the game, stamping an exclamation point on the program's first win of the year. Horton's first rushing touchdown of the season capped a late back and forth between Ball State and the Seawolves (1-2, 0-0 CAA) which also saw Jalen Bonds run the ball 49 yards down the field for a touchdown, earning the longest rush of his career.

Horton had a career-day on the ground inside Scheumann Stadium, starting with a 37-yard rush in the opening quarter which set up Tate Hoover's first touchdown reception at Ball State and Keldric Luster's first career passing touchdown.

Luster and his corps of backs and receivers totaled 486 yards in total offense, the most by a Ball State team since recording 520 yards at Buffalo in 2024.

Luster's offensive efficiency was marked by throwing for 256 yards on 27-of-32 passing. In just the first half alone, Luster's 18 completions eclipsed last year's Ball State season-best total of 17 through an entire game (three times by Kiael Kelly).

With an .843 completion percentage, Luster broke the program record by a quarterback with at least 30 attempts.

Along with the three-yard connection with Hoover, the fourth-year quarterback had a pair of 23-yard TD passes to Jabari Smith and Bonds in the second quarter. Luster's success in the aerial game included a career-long pass of 28 yards to Jamarion McDougle.

Ball State's receiving unit was led by Smith, who grabbed six catches for 72 yards, followed by Isaiah Thacker who totaled 31 yards on five catches. Ten different Cardinals were successful targets and four tallied four or more receptions – the first time since 2024 versus Central Michigan.

Kamron Chamble recorded the first two interceptions of his collegiate career Saturday, with the first creating the opportunity for Bonds' receiving touchdown, following Chamble's 33-yard return. It was Bonds' first career receiving touchdown.

Kaleb Stewart led Ball State's tackling effort, totaling seven. He also shared a sack with Ben Marsh in the fourth quarter. Layton Starks and Ka'Shawn Thomas also had half a sack a piece while four different Cardinals tallied four tackles. Starks led the unit in tackles for loss, finishing with 2.5.  

The defensive pressure brought on by the Cardinals limited the Seawolves to 183 rushing yards, with 69 of those yards stemming from two rushing touchdowns in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Ball State's defense also held Stony Brook's Quinn Boyd to 147 passing yards, the first time he's thrown under 300 passing yards this season.

On special teams, Brody Boehm went 2-of-2 with field goals from 38 and 30 yards in the fourth quarter, giving Ball State six points and extending the lead to 27-11, prior to final touchdowns from Bonds and Horton.

OXFORD— The Miami University football team scored touchdowns on each of its first-half possessions Saturday en route to a 45-7 blowout win over Holy Cross in the RedHawks' home opener. 

David McComb completed all 13 of his passes, finishing with 234 yards through the air and four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) in one half of action. The RedHawks (1-1) scored 42 points before halftime, their most in any half ever under head coach Chuck Martin. Holy Cross falls to 0-3 on the season.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Home opener, outstanding crowd, and a surprisingly stubborn opponent.

In the end, Central Michigan had enough starch to overcome a 10-0 halftime deficit and pull out a 13-10 nonconference victory over Football Championship Subdivision Colgate on Saturday before 19,005, the largest crowd for a CMU home opener since 2015, on Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

The Chippewas improved to 1-1, bouncing back from a 38-7 season-opening loss at New Mexico. The Raiders are 2-1. CMU entertains Wyoming in a nonleaguer on Saturday, Sept. 19.

The Chippewas got a 50-yard touchdown run from quarterback Angel Flores with under a minute remaining in the third quarter and then Vaughn Blue wrestled his way into the end zone on a 6-yard run with 7:29 for the go-ahead touchdown.

The Chippewa defense pitched a second-half shutout and twice intercepted Colgate quarterback Jake Stearney in the final 3:04.

CMU swung momentum in its favor when it went 87 yards in 10 plays with Flores covering the final 50 with his TD run. The senior, who posted his second career 100-yard rushing game, broke through the left side of the line, slipped a tackle at the 40, and raced to the end zone to pull the Chippewas within 10-6 with 24 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Chippewas took the lead on their next possession, a nine-play, 65-yard drive. The key play – and arguably the play of the game – came when they faced a fourth-and-9 at the Colgate 47. Flores found sophomore Justin Ruffin over the middle for an 18-yard gain and a first down at the Colgate 29.

Flores, facing pressure, fired a dart to Ruffin, who stretched all of his 5-foot-9 frame to haul it in at the Colgate 40. Ruffin tacked on another 11 yards with his legs.

Three plays later, Blue sliced his way into the end zone from 6 yards out with a defender wrapped around his waist to put the Chippewas ahead for good.

The Chippewa defense then made the plays the rest of the way. Safety Darrell Bryant Jr. made an interception at the Chippewa 24-yard line to end the Raiders' next drive with 3:04 to play, and then Mayson Hitchens picked off a pass at the CMU 26 with 13 seconds remaining to seal it.

KENT, Ohio – The Kent State Golden Flashes erased a fourth quarter deficit, outscoring Wofford 22-0 in the fourth quarter to claim their home opener 36-15 Saturday afternoon at Dix Stadium. Kent State improved to 1-1 on the season while Wofford fell to 2-1.

The Golden Flashes struck first, capping a nine-play, 83-yard opening drive with a Dru DeShields 12-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. But the second quarter brought a turbulent swing of fortune. Wofford answered with a field goal, then took the lead on a Gerald Modest Jr. 10-yard scoring run, followed moments later by a safety when a bad snap rolled into the Kent State end zone and was kicked out of bounds by punter Jake Stoeckel. The pivotal play of the afternoon came in between those two Wofford scores: with just under two minutes left in the second quarter, linebacker Rafael Terrero Jr. picked off an Ethan Drumm pass and returned it 63 yards to the house to briefly put Kent State back in front 14-12. With 12 seconds remaining in the half, Wofford's Sam Spence drilled a 50-yard field goal to send the Golden Flashes to the locker room trailing 15-14.

The third quarter produced no points for either team, though Kent State drove 65 yards on 12 plays before a 43-yard Sean Leonard field goal attempt fell short. Wofford could not sustain drives of their own, going 0-for-12 on third downs throughout the afternoon.

When the fourth quarter arrived, Kent State took over. A six-play, 85-yard drive ended with Jakorion Caffey punching in a 5-yard score, with DeShields hitting Wayne Harris on a two-point conversion pass to push the lead to 22-15. DeShields then capped a seven-play, 68-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown scramble at the 8:27 mark. DeShields completed the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown strike to Harris with just over four minutes remaining, putting the game out of reach at 36-15.

DeShields finished with 248 passing yards and a touchdown on 16-of-25 attempts to go along with 74 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground. Da'Realyst Clark was DeShields' favorite target, hauling in five receptions for 90 yards while adding 59 kickoff return yards for 149 all-purpose yards on the day. Harris contributed three catches for 78 yards and the receiving touchdown. Mason King continued his strong early-season form with 68 rushing yards on nine carries, while Caffey added 23 yards and a score.

On defense, linebacker Rocco Nicholl led the way with six tackles and a sack, while Hayden Dawahare contributed five tackles and two tackles for loss. Jaihien Roy harassed Wofford quarterbacks all afternoon, posting a sack, four quarterback hurries, and an interception.