BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Matt Weller’s fifth field goal of the game, from 23 yards out as time expired, gave Ohio a 29-28 victory at Bowling Green and the Mid-American Conference East Division championship for the third time in six years on Wednesday night.

Ohio (8-3, 5-2 MAC) rallied from nine points down in the fourth quarter, and clinched a spot in the MAC title game with the aid of Miami’s 24-21 loss to Western Michigan.

Weller missed a potential game-tying field goal in a loss to Ball State earlier in the year but got redemption with a chip shot against the Falcons.

“It feels really good,” Weller said. “Ball State was in the back of my head going into this one, and it feels good to kind of get over that in my mind and go to the postseason after Miami, of course, with some confidence.”

Weller also had field goals of 31, 39, 24 and 49 yards in the game.

Tyler Tettleton rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown and also completed 18 of 27 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown.

He led the Bobcats’ longest drive of the season from the 10-yard line with 7:34 to play, running 15 plays to get down to the 7-yard line to set up the game-winning kick.

“This drive meant a lot to us,” Ohio wide receiver LaVon Brazill said. “We said, ‘This drive is going to be one we remember forever.’ We went out here and executed every play and made no mistakes.”

Ohio faced a fourth-and-1 from the Bowling Green 46-yard line after a Tettleton sneak on third down was stuffed, but Bowling Green’s Chris Jones went offside to give the Bobcats a first down.

A 13-yard Donte Harden run on the next play put Ohio into field goal range and from there, the Bobcats worked the clock, moved closer and then had Tettleton set up the ball for Weller with a run toward the middle of the field before calling a timeout with three seconds left.

“That was a pretty close-in field goal and somewhat in the middle of the field,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “I think it was placed in the right-middle instead of right in the middle, so unless there was penetration to where a guy gets a hand on it and we don’t get it high enough or unless someone comes off in between the wing and the tight end, your money’s on him on that kick.”

Matt Schilz, who completed 23 of 34 passes for 232 yards, threw his third touchdown pass of the game, connecting with Eugene Cooper for a 3-yard score with 13:41 remaining to give Bowling Green a 28-19 advantage.

The Bobcats answered back quickly, though, with the touchdown it needed. Donte Harden’s 33-yard kickoff return across midfield gave his team a short field, and Tettleton broke free for a 31-yard run to the 4-yard line. He scored around the left side on the next play.

“My eyes got real big coming around the corner,” Tettleton said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to score to get us within (two).’ It was a great job by the line and they did a great job of getting me in the end zone.”

After that, the defense of Ohio did what it needed to do, getting a stop, although it was not easy. Bowling Green (4-7, 2-5 MAC) converted two first downs, but Blake Jones came up with a big sack of Schilz on third-and-6 from the Ohio 40.

“We went to a package that is somewhat of a three-man front where we have three rushers in the game,” Solich said. “We used that not only on third-and-long, which is typically when we’ve used it, but we started using it on second-and-10 and second-and-8 and those kind of situations, too.”

Travis Carrie helped turn things in the Bobcats’ favor at the end of the first half with an interception near the end of the first half.

With Bowling Green already up 14-13, Schilz moved the Falcons to Ohio’s 25-yard line with 19 seconds remaining, putting his team in position to at least add a field goal. Instead, Carried picked off a pass at the 12-yard line and made plays down the field before being tripped up at the Bowling Green 7-yard line, leading to a Weller field goal for a 16-14 Bobcats lead at the break.

Weller opened the scoring in the second half with a 49-yard field goal for a 19-14 advantage, but the Falcons scored 14 unanswered points.

Anton Samuel had a 27-yard run on a third down that set up a 3-yard score.

Tettleton moved the Bobcats to the Falcons 8-yard line, but on third down, he was called for intentional grounding, and the penalty forced a 47-yard field goal try that Weller missed wide right.

Lost fumbles on Ohio’s first two possessions of the game helped Bowling Green get out to an early lead. Tettleton lost the ball at his team’s own 22-yard line, leading to a 5-yard touchdown pass from Schilz to Tyler Beck.

The Bobcats dodged a bullet when Derek Roback fumbled on the next possession, giving the Falcons possession near midfield. Ohio’s defense came up with a stop and the offense got the first of Weller’s field goals to make it a 7-3 game.

Noah Keller forced and recovered a fumble on the Falcons’ ensuing possession, and the Bobcats took advantage with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Tettleton to Brazill that gave the wide receiver his school-record 10th touchdown catch of the season.

Kamar Jorden scored on a 6-yard touchdown reception to put Bowling Green back on top, 14-10, and the Falcons had a chance to add to their lead, but Keller forced another fumble, this time leading to a Weller field goal that made it 14-13 with 1:27 left before the half.

Harden had 70 yards rushing on 17 attempts. Beau Blankenship added 55 yards on 10 carries for Ohio.

Riley Dunlop caught five passes for 96 yards, and Brazill had five catches for 43 yards.

“It means a lot,” Brazill said. “We were there before and we lost and we’ve still got a little sour taste in our mouth, so this is going to be a good way to make up for the last time.”

Samuel rushed 14 times for 67 times for the Falcons. Jorden caught eight balls for 87 yards.

Keller finished with 15 tackles, while Carrie and Gerald Moore had eight apiece. Cameron Truss led Bowling Green defensively with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery.

The Bobcats went to the MAC Championship Game in 2006 and 2009, losing to Central Michigan both times. Their last MAC championship was in 1968.

“It’s huge for the program,” Solich said. “It’s eight wins for us and we’re starting to put some things together back to back, in terms of productive seasons and winning seasons and getting things done and going to the championship game and winning is what it’s all about. Obviously, the idea is to win that game.”

But first, Ohio closes out the regular season with a 7 p.m. game Tuesday against Miami at Peden Stadium.