YPSILANTI, Mich. – Ohio overcame a slow start and earned its first road win of the season, beating Eastern Michigan 28-21 on Saturday at Rynearson Stadium.

Intercepted twice in the first half, Parker Navarro threw for a career-high 315 yards and added a pair of touchdown passes to Chase Hendricks, who had his nation-leading sixth 100-yard game of the season, making 10 catches for 112 yards. Sieh Bangura reached 100 yards rushing on 18 carries and scored two second half touchdowns.

"Something that we talked about all week long was that this was going to be a four-quarter game," Ohio coach Brian Smith said. "I really loved how our guys played on all three sides. There were great moments within the game, and I'm really proud of our defense."

After giving up touchdowns to the Eagles on their first two possessions, the Bobcats (5-3, 3-1 Mid-American Conference) did not allow points again until the final two minutes. The Ohio offense also got in gear after trailing 14-7 at halftime.

Bangura barely converted a fourth-and-1 at the Eastern Michigan 9-yard line, and after Navarro was ruled short of the end zone upon review on a scramble, Bangura smashed into the end zone from a half yard out to tie the game at 14.

The Eagles (2-7, 1-4 MAC) gained 43 yards on three plays on the possession that followed, but their drive stalled there, and Rudy Kessinger missed a 48-yard field goal attempt.

Ohio took its first lead of the day on the drive. Navarro scrambled back to his left and then found Hendricks open in the corner of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown that made it 21-14 with 13:36 remaining.

Eastern Michigan had two chances with possessions to try to tie it again, going three-and-out and then picking up one first down before quarterback Noah Kim fumbled, with Charlie Christopher recovering at the Eagles’ 31-yard line.

Brack Peacock missed a 34-yard field goal attempt on the Bobcats’ ensuing possession, giving the Eagles yet one more chance down by just one score with 6:03 to go. They went three-and-out again and punted.

Navarro found a wide open right sideline for a 33-yard run on the first play after, Bangura had a 22-yard run to the 2-yard line, and then Bangura plowed into the end zone for the clinching touchdown, making it 28-14 with 2:15 left.

With its back against the wall, Eastern Michigan drove quickly down the field, with Kim hitting Nick Devereaux for a big 39-yard gain and then throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Devereaux, making it a one-touchdown game again with 1:39 to play.

But with the Eagles out of timeouts, the game was over when they did not recover an onside kick attempt.

Early on, Ohio had no answer for Eastern Michigan’s offense and killed itself with mistakes on the other side of the ball.

The Eagles opened the game with a touchdown drive. After Kim scrambled for nine yards on third-and-8, he then threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Devereaux to make it 7-0.

Navarro countered by hitting Mason Williams for a 30-yard gain on the Bobcats’ first offensive play and then eventually threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Hendricks to make it 7-7.

Kim’s 51-yard pass to Mekhi Fox set up another Eastern Michigan touchdown, a 3-yard run by Kim that made it 14-7, which remained the score for about the next 30 minutes of game time, though Ohio had chances.

Early in the second quarter, Navarro was ruled just short of converting a fourth-and-2 at the Eastern Michigan 15-yard line, and then a long Ohio drive continued with a Bangura 7-yard gain on fourth-and-1 to the Eagles 18-yard line, but Tyrelle Deener intercepted Navarro on the next play.

One more time, the Bobcats had a chance for points before halftime. They used all of their timeouts and forced a punt, getting the ball back at their own 35 with 31 seconds left. A 23-yard completion to Rodney Harris II moved the ball to the Eastern Michigan 33. A touchdown pass to Harris was nullified by an ineligible receiver downfield penalty and then Navarro was intercepted by Juan Salas on the final play of the half.

It was also a big day for Harris, who had six catches good for 103 yards. Navarro rushed for 63 yards on 17 carries.

Kim went 21-of-33 passing for 259 yards and two touchdowns to Deveraux, who caught five passes for 121 yards.

Jalen Thomeson had a big game on defense for the Bobcats with 11 tackles, including 1.5 for loss. In addition to recovering the fumble, Christopher made 10 tackles.

That was a wrap on Saturday games for Ohio, which now will begin midweek MACtion, largely against other contenders for the conference title. That begins with a visit from Miami at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 on either ESPN2 or CBS Sports Network.