O’Hara sparks Middle Tennessee past Old Dominion 38-17

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Asher O’Hara tossed two first-quarter touchdown passes to Jimmy Marshall and Kylan Stribling returned an interception 38 yards for a score as Middle Tennessee rolled to a 38-17 victory over Old Dominion on Saturday night.

O’Hara hit Marshall for a pair of 19-yard TDs, sandwiching them around a 14-yard scoring run by Old Dominion’s Robert Washington, to put the Blue Raiders (4-7, 3-4 Conference USA) up 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Middle Tennessee backup QB Chase Cunningham connected with Jarrin Pierce for a 57-yard scoring strike and a 21-7 Blue Raiders’ lead early in the second quarter. After a Nick Rice 27-yard field goal pulled the Monarchs (1-10, 0-7) within 21-10, Terelle West scored on a 6-yard run with 69 seconds left to give Middle Tennessee a 28-10 halftime lead.

Stribling’s pick-6 stretched the Blue Raiders’ advantage to 35-10 at the 9:53 mark of the third quarter.

Wolff added a 63-yard scoring strike to Aaron Moore in the third quarter and Crews Holt kicked a 46-yard field goal in the final period to wrap up the scoring for Old Dominion.

O’Hara completed 18 of 25 passes for 185 yards and added 78 yards on 14 carries.

Wolff finished 39-of-65 passing for 321 yards with an interception. Moore, a freshman, hauled in a career-high 14 passes for 194 yards.