Ohio hangs on to defeat Akron 14-12 in MAC opener

AKRON, Ohio (AP) Derrius Vick threw for one touchdown, Daz'mond Patterson ran for another and the Ohio defense made that hold up for a 14-10 win over Akron in the Mid-American Conference opener on Saturday.

Despite out-gaining the Bobcats by nearly 100 yards, the Zips (2-3) were limited to four Robert Stein field goals.

After Stein's 30-yard field goal with 3:55 to play, Ohio (4-1) went three-and-out. However, the Bobcat defense got a sack by Quentin Poling on second down and Ian Wells broke up a fourth-down pass to seal the win.

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After Stein staked Ohio to a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter, Vick connected with Keith Heitzman for a 24-yard score. Early in the second Patterson scored on a 4-yard run before Stein kicked a 33-yarder three seconds before halftime.

Stein booted a 41-yard field goal late in the third quarter.

Akron had 319 total yards to 227 for Ohio.

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