Parker Navarro had 268 yards of total offense, Sieh Bangura added 120 yards rushing, and Ohio stayed alive in the chase for the MAC championship game, defeating Buffalo 31-26 on Friday.
Ohio (8-4, 6-2 Mid-American Conference) needs Ball State (3-4) to defeat Miami (5-2) on Saturday in order to have a shot at making the conference championship game. Miami is heavily favored.
A Miami loss would leave Ohio tied for second place with the winner of the Saturday matchup between Central Michigan (5-2) and Toledo (5-2). In that scenario, the final tiebreaker would go to the team with the higher Team Rating from SportSource Analytics.
Western Michigan (7-1) has clinched first place.
Against Buffalo, Navarro passed for 147 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He had 121 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Bangura had a rushing touchdown. Led by the two 100-yard rushers, Ohio had 359 yards on the ground.
Navarro threw two touchdown passes in the first half and the Bobcats took a 21-7 halftime lead. His 6-yard scoring run in the third quarter made it 28-13.
A 58-yard pass from Ta’Quan Roberson to Victor Snow helped set up Roberson’s 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. The two-point try to get the Bulls within seven points failed and Ohio led 28-19. Roberson’s 29-yad TD pass to Jesaiah Gathings made it 31-26 but the Bulls did not cross midfield on their final possession.
Roberson had 270 yards passing and Nik McMillan caught five passes for 122 yards for Buffalo (5-7, 4-4).
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