Ohio Beats Eastern Michigan 24-20 on Darren James-Hamilton's 100-Yard Kickoff Return and Goal-Line Stand

There is a certain kind of kick returner who takes it personally when the other team stops kicking to him. Darren James-Hamilton is that kind of kick returner.

Eastern Michigan had not always wanted to kick to him on Saturday. Then, with 3:53 left and a fresh 20-17 lead, the Eagles kicked it to him anyway. Thirteen seconds later, he was standing in the end zone at Peden Stadium, 100 yards from where he started.

"They didn't want to kick it to me at times, and I just felt like them kicking it to me is kind of disrespectful," James-Hamilton said.

That return, plus a goal-line stand in the final 21 seconds, gave Ohio a 24-20 win over Eastern Michigan on Senior Day. The Bobcats are 6-2, 4-0 in the MAC for the first time since 1997, bowl eligible, alone in first place, and owners of the nation's longest home winning streak at 17 games. Eastern Michigan falls to 4-5 and 3-2.

A fast start, then a long grind

Ohio needed just two plays to get on the board. Nick Poulos found Dom Dorwart on a catch-and-run that went 78 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. It was the longest completion of Poulos' career and the longest catch of Dorwart's, and with Eastern Michigan punting on each of its first three drives, it looked like a comfortable afternoon was coming.

It was not. Early in the second quarter, Ronn Hardin sacked Poulos and knocked the ball loose, and Aaron Kearse scooped it up and ran 25 yards for a touchdown to tie it at 7. James-Hamilton also picked off Brogan McCaughey in the second quarter, but he fumbled a punt return when Bryce Eliuk jarred it loose, and Quincy Byas recovered at the Ohio 34.

Rudy Kessinger turned that into a 31-yard field goal for Eastern Michigan's first lead. Will Hryszko answered with a 49-yarder for Ohio, and Kessinger capped a 52-yard drive with a 41-yard field goal as time expired. Eastern Michigan led 13-10 at the half.

A first start worth noticing

McCaughey deserves a lot of credit for that. He was making the first start of his career with Noah Kim injured, and he played like someone who was not interested in an easy road loss. He finished 27-of-39 for 197 yards and a touchdown, grinding out about five yards an attempt against a defense that made him earn everything.

Ohio went back in front late in the third quarter. Poulos led a six-play, 78-yard drive and finished it himself on a 1-yard run with under a minute left in the period. It was 17-13, and the Ohio defense had held the Eagles' offense to field goals all day.

The 98-yard answer

Then Eastern Michigan put together its best drive of the day. Pinned deep after a Magnus Haines punt, the Eagles went 98 yards in eight plays. The key snap came on fourth-and-1, when McCaughey hit Tanner Lemaster for 34 yards. A few plays later, he found Joey Mattord for a 24-yard touchdown with 3:53 left. Eastern Michigan led 20-17.

That lead lasted about as long as it took the ensuing kickoff to come down.

Thirteen seconds

James-Hamilton took it the distance, 100 yards, for his second kickoff return touchdown of the season. Hryszko's extra point made it 24-20 with 3:40 to play.

"I take that as disrespect, knowing that I'm one of the top return guys," he said later, and it is hard to argue with him. On a day when he also made six tackles, intercepted a pass and coughed up a punt, he finished as the most important player on the field. The MAC agreed, naming him one of its players of the week along with Michael Molnar. He passed the credit around anyway, saying it took all 11 players being "on the same page."

The goal-line stand

Eastern Michigan was not done. The Eagles drove back down the field, and a pass interference penalty on fourth down gave them first-and-goal at the Ohio 4 with 21 seconds left. Four shots to win the game.

The first two passes fell incomplete. On third down, Molnar got to McCaughey, and the throw he got rid of under pressure drew an intentional grounding flag that pushed Eastern Michigan back to the 16. The fourth-down pass fell incomplete with five seconds left, and Ohio's sideline could finally exhale.

"If you give it an inch, we'll defend it," Ohio coach John Hauser said.

The defense that carried the day

Molnar was everywhere. The redshirt senior linebacker finished with a career-high 18 tackles, four tackles for loss and a sack, and he did it after getting banged up during the game. "I think it's a career high for him, and he got a little banged up, but he was not coming out of that game," Hauser said.

Jack Fries added 10 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks, one of which pushed an Eastern Michigan red-zone drive back and forced a field goal. DJ Walker had eight tackles. Eastern Michigan scored just one offensive touchdown.

The numbers that tell the story

Ohio outgained Eastern Michigan 356-307, but the box score does not scream blowout in either direction. Eastern Michigan held the ball for 32:32 and actually outrushed Ohio 110-78, with Amareon Blue carrying 11 times for 67 yards. Bryce Llewellyn led the Eagles with 10 tackles, and the Eastern Michigan defense forced two turnovers and two sacks.

The number that decided it was on third down. Eastern Michigan converted only 2 of 15 third-down tries, which explains why so many of its drives ended in punts or field goals.

Poulos finished 19-of-29 for 266 yards with a touchdown through the air and another on the ground. Dorwart had four catches for a career-high 126 yards, and Riley Neer added five for 56. The running game never really got going, though graduate student Victor Rosa gave it a jolt with four carries for 40 yards, including a 21-yard burst. Mostly, Ohio lived on shots downfield. "We liked some of the one-on-one matchups," Hauser said. Ohio's official recap (opens in a new tab) has the full breakdown, and the box score (opens in a new tab) has every snap.

What it means

Ohio has won five straight and sits alone atop the MAC at 4-0, a game clear of a four-team pack of Toledo, Western Michigan, Buffalo and Miami (OH) at 3-1. Bowl eligibility is locked, and the Bobcats now have a real path to Detroit in December. They get a short break before a Tuesday night trip to Akron on Nov. 3. The Zips are 0-4 in conference play.

"Excited to get number 17, number four for this group at home," Hauser said. "It was big for us to find a way to win this game."

Eastern Michigan, meanwhile, will feel this one for a while. A first-time starter nearly stole a road win from the league leader, and the Eagles are still in the thick of the race at 3-2. Their next game is Central Michigan at Ford Field on Wednesday, Nov. 4.

The last word

Dorwart, whose 78-yard touchdown started the scoring, kept the big picture simple. "We have to continue to execute and keep rolling," he said.

Simple enough. But it helps to have a defense that will not give an inch and a return man who treats every kickoff as a personal insult.

Sources: Ohio Athletics recap, The Associated Press, ESPN, The Athens Messenger, The Post and The Eastern Echo. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Ohio Athletics.