Sieh Bangura ran for 149 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries and Ohio kept UNLV out of the end zone until the final five minutes of a 17-10 win Tuesday in the Frisco Bowl in Frisco, Texas.
Bangura’s 23-yard scoring jaunt at the 11:04 mark of the third quarter, followed by a 2-point conversion pass from Parker Navarro to Chase Hendricks, gave the Bobcats (9-4) a 14-0 lead. David Dellenbach added a career-long 45-yard field goal with 10:49 left in the game for a 17-3 advantage.
The Rebels (10-3) closed within a score when quarterback Anthony Colandrea rushed for a 2-yard score with 4:45 remaining, but they never saw the ball again. Ohio melted the remaining time away with three first downs, sealing the outcome when Navarro ran for 7 yards on third-and-3 with 1:51 on the clock.
“Forty (wins) is the best we’ve ever had here in (four years),” Ohio interim coach John Hauser said. “It’s unbelievable.”
Navarro completed 11 of 15 passes for 143 yards with an interception and rushed for the Bobcats’ first score. Colandrea, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, hit 19 of 30 throws for 184 yards and an interception.
Ohio rushed for 207 yards and outgained UNLV 350-281, winning its seventh straight bowl game despite committing three turnovers. The Rebels were restricted to 97 rushing yards on 29 carries.
The pregame storyline was how the Bobcats would react to playing without Brian Smith, who was fired last week with cause by school administration after one season on the job.
“I’m just elated for these kids and coaches,” Hauser said. “Nobody flinched; they just came to work every day and they got it done.”
After a first quarter rife with mistakes — the teams combined for three turnovers and a blocked punt — Ohio managed to find some traction.
Navarro initiated scoring at the 10:02 mark of the second quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run for a 6-0 lead. The 10-play, 84-yard march was extended when UNLV was flagged for offsides to negate a fourth-and-2 incompletion at its 19. Dellenbach missed the extra point.
Meanwhile, UNLV’s offense never got untracked as the Bobcats kept Colandrea in check all night. The Rebels didn’t get on the board until Ramon Villela bombed a 50-yard field goal midway through the third quarter.
