ATHENS – Slowed by injuries early in the year, the Ohio offense found a groove late in the first half Saturday as the Bobcats rolled to a 42-17 homecoming victory against Kent State at Peden Stadium.

Led by Kurtis Rourke and Miles Cross, Ohio scored touchdowns on five straight possessions after managing just seven points the first four times it had the ball. Rourke threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns, with Cross catching two of those while piling up 125 yards on seven catches.

With the score tied at 7, the Bobcats (5-1, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) took advantage of good field position to take the lead. Kent State’s punt netted just 30 yards, and two plays later, Rourke connected with Sam Wiglusz for a 30-yard touchdown catch to put the Bobcats up for good with 3:57 left in the half. Originally ruled out of bounds, the call was reversed.

The Bobcats got the ball back with 2:30 remaining and used a 32-yard reception by Cross to get inside the 10-yard line. Rourke ran it from 4 yards out with 37 seconds to play, making it a 21-7 game.

It was more of the same in the second half. After an Andrew Glass 37-yard field goal for the Golden Flashes, a 50-yard reception by tight end Tyler Foster led to a 22-yard touchdown catch by Cross that he tipped to himself, and Ohio led 28-10.

"I'm just so happy for (Cross),” Alban said. “He's just what you're after. He's got a quiet demeanor, but he plays large. He plays loud. The one catch, the (defensive backs) kind of ducked it and took off and that was a big play on third down-and-5 or 6. He's the total package. He can block, and we're gonna need him to continue to make plays like he did today without Jacoby (Jones)."

Pressure by Rodney Mathews led to Bryce Houston intercepting a Michael Alaimo pass, and the Bobcats turned it into points on a Sieh Bangura 3-yard touchdown run. Then, early in the fourth quarter, Bangura scored on another 3-yard run for a 42-10 margin.

Even with the backups in the game, Ohio moved the ball after that, though it did not result in points. Quarterback Parker Navarro broke a 52-yard run to the Kent State 7 before Ohio turned it over on downs.

Ohio finished with 466 yards of offense and 24 first downs on offense while the defense continued to be stingy, giving up just 228 yards.

Kent State running back Jaylen Thomas netted 67 yards rushing, but it took 24 carries to do so. Two Golden Flashes quarterbacks combined to go 11-of-20 for 119 yards.

Early on, the Golden Flashes (1-5, 0-2 MAC) were good enough to stay in the game. They kept the Bobcats off the board until Rourke threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Cross early in the second quarter and then answered with a 42-yard scoring pass from Alaimo to Crishon McCray.

That was the only touchdown Kent State managed until scoring against Ohio’s reserves on a fourth-down touchdown pass from Tommy Ulatkowski to McCray from 10 yards out. McCray made six catches for 93 yards, while the rest of the team had just five receptions for a combined 26 yards.

"We played basically a very clean game,” Ohio coach Tim Albin said. “Both sides of the ball were like lights out on third down. Defense is getting after the quarterback. We had several tackles for losses, and we took care of the football.”

Houston finished the day with 10 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, in addition to the interception to lead the defense. Bradley Weaver had two of the Bobcats’ six sacks on the day.

The Bobcats won their fifth straight game and started 2-0 in MAC play for the first time since 2016.

“We're going one at a time and there's gonna be more of that stuff coming with those types of stats or data," Albin said. "That's going to keep coming and the bull's eye is going to get bigger. We're going to embrace it. We're going to accept it. We're going to keep that bullseye on our chest, moving around. A moving target is harder to hit, and that's gonna just push them to keep getting better."

Ohio takes on Northern Illinois at 4 p.m. Saturday at Huskie Stadium on ESPNU.