ATHENS – Quarterback Parker Navarro returned from an injury to spark the offense, and the defense was stout as Ohio celebrated homecoming with a 30-10 victory against Akron on Saturday at Peden Stadium.

Navarro, who sat out a loss to Kentucky last week, went 12-of-18 passing for 204 yards and two touchdowns and ran 13 times for 113 yards and a score. Meanwhile, the defense held the Zips to jut 178 yards of total offense, including minus 18 on the ground, the first time since 2006, also against Akron, that Ohio has limited an opponent to less than 0 yards rushing.

"The guys are bought in,” Ohio coach Tim Albin said. “They want to be great. They take the coaching, and sometimes it's really hard coaching, especially after some of the penalty or two.”

And yet the Bobcats (3-2, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) had trouble putting away the Zips (1-4, 0-1 MAC). Ohio trailed 10-7 until a Navarro 18-yard touchdown pass to Coleman Owen with 17 seconds left in the first half. The Bobcats’ lead remained one score until the fourth quarter.

The defense added to the Ohio lead with 5:24 left in the third quarter. Jack Wilson’s punt pinned Akron inside the 10-yard line, and on a third-and-15 play, Marcel Walker-Burgess sacked Ben Finley in the end zone for a safety to make it 16-10.

Marcus Moore Jr. recovered a Navarro fumble to keep the Bobcats from adding to their lead, but finally, early in the fourth quarter, Navarro found Owen open over the middle, he avoided one tackle and then raced 75 yards to the end zone to make it 23-10 with 11:51 remaining.

Akron followed with its best drive of the second half and appeared to reach the red zone on a third-down option pitch to tight end Jake Newell, but replay determined it was an illegal forward pass. The Zips then were stopped on fourth down.

Anthony Tyus III fumbled and was injured on the very next play to give the ball back to Akron, but only three plays after that, Dustin Johnson deflected a Finley pass, and it was intercepted by Austin Brawley.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against CJ Nunnally helped Ohio burn more clock, and then Navarro broke a 55-yard run to the 3-yard line, eventually leading to his own 3-yard touchdown run and a 20-point lead.

The last time Navarro played, he threw three interceptions in the first half against Morgan State. He reportedly was unable to grip a football for a while because of a hand injury, but he looked more than ready to go Saturday.

"I'm sure he's excited with how tonight transpired, but he is humble and hungry,” Albin said. “With his work ethic, he has all the most respect from his teammates. I really couldn't tell, body-language wise, but he had a big burden on him, and he never wavered. I'm really proud of him and his leadership."

Things were not easy early for the Bobcats. The Zips took their opening drive down the field before stalling and settling for a Garrison Smith 49-yard field goal.

After punting on its first three possessions, Ohio still could not score after putting together a good drive when Gianni Spetic missed a 44-yard field goal attempt. But DJ Walker’s interception of Finley helped give the Bobcats another chance with a short field, and this time they cashed in with a Tyus 4-yard touchdown run to make it 7-3 with 6:32 left in the half.

Akron moved but was unable to answer. However, Avery Book’s punt pinned Ohio at its own 2-yard line, and after a three-and-out, the Zips got an 18-yard Jordan Castleberry punt return to the 31. That led to Finley’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Jake Newell to put the Zips back on top 10-7 with 1:20 left before halftime.

The Bobcats answered with a drive that took barely over a minute, with Navarro having runs of 12 and 15 yards and also an 18-yard completion to Owen before an 18-yard touchdown pass to Owen. That score with 11 seconds left gave Ohio the lead for good.

Owen’s huge day included six catches for 130 yards, while Tyus ran the ball 30 times for 109 yards. In total, the Bobcats racked up 440 yards of offense.

"[The defense] gives us all the confidence in the world," Owen said. "We know that if we have a bad drive, we make a mistake, we go three-and-out or whatever it is, we know that these guys have our back. We see it every time we're running off the field. They're all screaming at us 'we got you.' These guys play like crazy. They played so well."

Finley was 25-of-38 passing for 196 yards. Adrian Norton had five catches for 59 yards, and Newell had eight receptions for 44 yards.

Bradley Weaver had a pair of sacks for Ohio’s defense.

Ohio has a week off before taking on Central Michigan at a time to be determined Oct. 12 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.