ATHENS, Ohio – Matt Weller missed a 41-yard field goal with 36 seconds left and Ball State held on a for a 23-20 victory to spoil Ohio’s homecoming on Saturday.

The Bobcats (4-3, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) could not overcome three turnovers to none by the Cardinals (4-3, 2-1 MAC) even as LaVon Brazill became the school’s all-time leading receiver with a huge game of eight catches, 157 yards and two touchdowns.

Ohio hit on big plays but did not sustain drives and ultimately could not finish off its final effort.

Backed up inside the 10-yard line for the third possession in a row, the Bobcats had a 12-play, 71-yard drive stall at the Ball State 24-yard line when Tyler Tettleton’s third-and-13 pass to Riley Dunlop was two yards shy of a first down.

Weller, who was coming off a three field goal effort against Buffalo, had plenty of distance but missed left.

“You could see right after the kick when it was going left and he knew it that he was distraught,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “He’s very much a competitor, but he’s done an awful lot for us over the course of his career, and he will win ball games in the future for us. It’s just unfortunate that it ended the way it did.”

Steven Schott made three field goals for the Cardinals, who also had touchdown runs by running back Jahwan Edwards and quarterback Keith Wenning. Edwards carried 25 times for 123 yards.

On its previous possession, pinned by punter Scott Kovanda at its 1-yard line, Ohio seemed to be in position for a score with plenty of time remaining. A 21-yard Dunlop reception converted a third down and Jordan Thompson made a 23-yard catch to midfield.

Donte Harden, who had 19 carries for 85 yards, coughed up the ball, though, with 5:27 remaining, leaving the banged up Ohio defense, with four starters sitting out, to make one more stop.

The defense came through, but after Kovanda pinned the Bobcats two times in a row, Brazill decided to field a punt inside the 5-yard line and got brought down 95 yards from the end zone with 3:15 remaining.

Brazill made a 20-yard catch on a third-down pass and the Bobcats moved the ball up the field efficiently after that, getting to the 28-yard line on a Tettelton run on first down. He was sacked for a 7-yard loss, however, and the pass to Dunlop on third down was shy of the marker.

“As the game goes, field position and momentum definitely played a big role in the second half,” Ohio linebacker Noah Keller said. “We didn’t have that on our side and we didn’t do a good job of forcing turnovers and we were giving them the ball, so we dug our own graves.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Ball State got on the board first with a 38-yard field goal.

The Bobcats answered on the ensuing possession by getting the game’s first touchdown on a 37-yard Phil Bates touchdown pass to Brazill on a wide receiver reverse.

Ball State regained the lead when Edwards broke free for a 28-yard run up the middle on a third-and-4 play with just 38 seconds left before the half.

Tettleton was picked off by Travis Freeman, who returned the ball to the Ohio 8-yard line, setting up the Cardinals for three more points before the break on a 25-yard field goal.

A 13-yard Tettleton touchdown pass to Harden tied the game at 13 on the opening possession of the second half, but the extra point was blocked, and only a downfield tackle by Paul Hershey prevented Ball State from returning the ball for two points.

The Cardinals also scored on their first possession of the second half to regain the lead, scoring on a third-and-2 play from the 3-yard line on a run by Wenning.

Two plays later, though, the Bobcats tied it again on a 74-yard pass from Tettleton to Brazill.

Scott’s 27-yard field goal on the third play of the fourth quarter proved to be the deciding score.

“When you’re playing a good football team and it’s going to be a close game, (turnovers) usually are a deciding factor,” Solich said.

Ohio outgained Ball State 413-372 despite running 17 fewer plays and holding possession of the ball for almost 15 minutes less than the Cardinals.

Tettleton finished 18 of 30 for 246 yards. He added 30 yards rushing on eight carries.

Wenning was 20 of 36 for 179 yards for Ball State.

Noah Keller had 15 tackles to lead the Bobcats. In his first game, true freshman nose tackle Antwan Crutcher had nine tackles, but Ohio did not manage any sacks.

Aaron Morris led Ball State’s defense with nine tackles. Four of Andrew Puthoff’s eight tackles were for loss.

“What we’ve got to do is to make sure that we stay together and make sure that we look at this in a manner that we all need to do better, offensively, defensively, special teams,” Solich said. “There’s not a unit out there that can’t play better than what we did. … Obviously, when you lose, those are paramount challenges for your team as to how they respond to it. That determines really what happens in your overall season.”

The Bobcats travel to Akron for a game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.