ORLANDO, Fla. – Parker Navarro rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another in the first half as Ohio built a big lead and then held off Jacksonville State 30-27 in the Cure Bowl on Saturday at Camping World Stadium.

After building a 27-7 halftime lead, the Mid-American Conference Bobcats (11-3) scored just a field goal in the second half, but it was enough to beat the Conference USA champion Gamecocks (9-5) to win their sixth straight bowl game and set a new program record for wins in a season.

Navarro went 19-of-28 passing for 227 yards and rushed 15 times for 119 yards. Anthony Tyus III added 26 carries for 123 yards and caught Navarro’s touchdown pass. Coleman Owen made 11 receptions for 111 yards to become the program’s single-season leader in receiving yards with 1,216.

It was the first victory as head coach Brian Smith, who was promoted to replace Tim Albin after he resigned following the MAC Championship Game to take the head coaching job at Charlotte.

After both teams went three-and-out on their first two possessions, Ohio’s offense came to life. Owen had a 23-yard catch and Tyus a 26-yard run before Navarro scored on a 24-yard run to make it 7-0.

Navarro had a 29-yard run on the next possession, and that led to his own 8-yard touchdown run and a 14-0 lead with 1:22 left in the first quarter.

Jacksonville State’s highlight of the first half came on the next play from scrimmage as Tyler Huff completed a 75-yard scoring pass to Cam Vaughn to cut the Bobcats’ lead in half.

The Bobcats got going again in the second quarter with a longer scoring drive that included a fourth-and-1 conversion at the Gamecocks 10-yard line. Navarro scored on a 7-yard run on the next play, but the extra point missed, keeping the score at 20-7.

Bradley Weaver and Blake Leake combined for a sack on a Jacksonville State fourth-and-1 play, forcing a punt, and Ohio took over with two minutes left in the half at its own 32. That was plenty of time for the offense to strike again. Running to his left under pressure, Navarro flipped the ball ahead to Tyus for an 11-yard touchdown and a 27-7 lead with 41 seconds to go before halftime.

Jack Wilson shanked a punt on Ohio’s opening possession of the second half, setting Jacksonville State up at the Bobcats 20-yard line, and the Gamecocks needed only three plays to reach the end zone, with Huff scoring on a 7-yard run to put the score at 27-14.

After an Ohio punt, Weaver recovered a Jacksonville State fumble a short time later, giving Ohio an excellent chance to add to its advantage, but Tyus fumbled it back. Following a 60-yard completion from Huff to Jarod Bowie, Jacksonville State was in position to get to within one score, but Blake Leake picked off Huff at the Bobcats 9-yard line.

That led to the only points of the second half for Ohio, with Gianni Spetic connecting on a 48-yard field goal with 13:19 remaining in the game, making it 30-14.

Tre Stewart scored on a 3-yard run three and half minutes later, but the two-point version attempt failed, leaving Ohio ahead by two scores at 30-20.

Once more, it seemed the Bobcats had chance to put away the game. An 18-yard completion to Mason Williams, a 33-yard Navarro run and then a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved Ohio into the red zone, but Derek Carter made a huge play, deflecting a Navarro pass back behind him and then chasing it down for an interception with 6:38 to play.

After converting a fourth-and-1 with a 5-yard run, Stewart put one more touchdown on the board for the Gamecocks with a 1-yard touchdown run to make it just a three-point game with 3:35 left. But Jacksonville State did not get the ball back, as Ohio converted a pair of first downs to run out the clock. A 12-yard screen pass to Tyus on third-and-8 was the clincher.

Huff was 21-of-33 passing for 363 yards and a touchdown and also an interception. Vaughn torched Ohio for 181 yards on 10 receptions, and Bowie added four catches for 107 yards. But once again, the Bobcats shut down an opponents’ running game. Jacksonville State, which averaged 267.3 yards rushing per game, netted just 40 yards on 34 carries.

Leake finished with nine tackles in addition to his interception for Ohio. All-MAC third-team linebacker Shay Taylor was ejected and both teams had multiple players receive unsportsmanlike conduct penalties late in the first half.

Navarro came up 10 yards shy of the Ohio record for quarterback rushing yards in a season but became the second in program history to eclipse 1,000, finishing with 1,062. He did become the first Ohio player ever to amass both 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in a season. Tyus finished his season with 1,234 rushing yards.