AKRON (Interstat) — Nick Poulos accounted for two touchdowns, DJ Walker returned an interception 45 yards for another score and Ohio scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 28-20 victory over Akron on Tuesday in an NCAA Football Bowl Division game at InfoCision Stadium. Ohio was the visiting team, and Akron was the home team.

The Bobcats improved to 7-2, while the Zips dropped to 1-8. Akron had the first scoring chance, but Aidan Stire missed a 40-yard field goal with 9:48 left in the first quarter. Stire made a 42-yard attempt with 3:35 remaining to give the Zips a 3-0 lead. Ohio answered just before the quarter ended when Broughton’s pass was intercepted by Walker at the Akron 45. Walker returned it 45 yards for a touchdown, and Brack Peacock’s extra point made it 7-3. Stire added a 47-yard field goal with 3:28 left in the second quarter to pull Akron within one, and Peacock missed a 41-yard attempt with two seconds left in the half. Ohio led 7-6 at halftime.

Stire made a 24-yard field goal with 9:32 left in the third quarter to put Akron ahead 9-7. Poulos then put Ohio back in front with a 5-yard run at 4:22, and Peacock’s kick made it 14-9. Ohio led 14-9 after three quarters.

Akron reclaimed the lead with 9:35 left when Jordan Gant scored on a 1-yard run and Marquese Williams completed the two-point pass, making it 17-14. Ohio needed only 13 seconds to answer. Poulos found Dom Dorwart for a 60-yard touchdown at 9:22, and Peacock’s extra point put the Bobcats ahead 21-17. Duncan Brune broke free for a 91-yard touchdown run with 3:57 remaining, and Peacock added the point to extend the lead to 28-17. Stire closed the scoring with a 43-yard field goal at 1:56.

Poulos, the top star for Ohio, completed 12 of 20 passes for 197 yards and one touchdown and ran nine times for 45 yards and one score. The 6-foot-6, 234-pound quarterback from Granite Bay, California, had led Ohio to a 24-20 win over Eastern Michigan in his previous game with 19 completions on 29 attempts for 266 yards, nine rushes for 22 yards and one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown.

Dorwart caught four passes for 108 yards and the 60-yard score. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound receiver was Ohio’s top target. Riley Neer added four receptions for 54 yards, Preston Bowman had three for 36 and Andrew Metzger caught one pass for minus 1 yard. Brune finished with 10 carries for 111 yards and one touchdown. Victor Rosa added five carries for 5 yards, and Irving Brown had one carry for 2 yards. Peacock made all four extra-point attempts, and Magnus Haines averaged 46.5 yards on four punts.

Ohio’s defense limited Akron to 20 points, forced one interception and recorded three sacks. Michael Molnar led Ohio with 16 tackles and one sack. Jack Fries had 10 tackles, Tyler Gillison seven and Walker added five tackles to go with his interception return for a touchdown. Darren James-Hamilton had five tackles and two kickoff returns for 33 yards. Ronald Jackson Jr., Evan Herrmann and Derek Reagans each made four tackles. Ike Ackerman, Nehemiah Dukes, Kendall Bannister and Joseph Marsh each had three tackles, with Ackerman adding a sack. Ty Neubert had one tackle, one sack and one quarterback hurry. KJ Sejour, Charlie Christopher and Blake Guffey each made two tackles. Zach Hackleman, Miles Cremascoli, JT Haskins, Caleb Chamberlin and Drayden Pavey each had one tackle. Nathan Hale had four tackles.

Gant led Akron with 16 carries for 112 yards and one touchdown and caught two passes for 17 yards. Brayden Roggow did not record a statistic in the provided summary. Kyan Mason caught six passes for 71 yards, Conner Cravaack had five for 43, Marcel Williams had three for 42, Miles Burris had four for 38 and Wyatt Hook had one for 14. Sean Patrick ran five times for 34 yards, caught one pass for 7 and returned two kickoffs for 25 yards. Marquese Williams ran once for 1 yard and completed the two-point pass. Cyrus Durham had two tackles, one sack and one quarterback hurry. Donelius Johnson made nine tackles, while Tairan Davis Jr. and Dwight Nunoo each had six. Rodrick Hunter and Dahvon Frazier each made four tackles, and Daunte Curtis had two. Stire made four field goals and missed a 40-yard attempt.

Ohio entered the game after a 24-20 win over Eastern Michigan, a 48-7 win at Sacramento State and a 31-14 win over Central Michigan. The Bobcats also had a 13-10 win at Kent State, a 35-7 win over Stonehill, a 41-36 loss at South Alabama, a 29-27 overtime win over Jacksonville State and a 49-21 loss at Nebraska. Akron’s losses included 35-20 at Kent State, 34-14 at Miami (Ohio), 25-23 to Eastern Michigan, 41-17 at Central Michigan, 38-10 to UNLV, 41-7 at Minnesota and 38-16 at Wake Forest. The Zips’ lone win was a 45-10 victory over Robert Morris. The game drew 5,479 at InfoCision Stadium. Ohio will visit Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 10, host Ball State on Nov. 17 and host Toledo on Nov. 27. Akron will host Western Michigan on Nov. 10, visit Massachusetts on Nov. 18 and host Buffalo on Nov. 27.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Ohio 37, Akron 28. Interstat’s ELO system had given Ohio a 91.9 percent probability to win. Ohio had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 13.5. The total score of 48 went over the over/under line of 51.5.