Saturday’s 55-34 win against Akron was all about two players for Ohio: a redshirt freshman seeing his first real college game time this season and a graduate transfer from one of the biggest programs in the country.
Sieh Bangura, the redshirt freshman from Bowie, Maryland, and Sam Wiglusz, who transferred from Ohio State, combined for 93 total yards for Ohio before this season, all belonging to Bangura.
This season, Ohio has relied on many different players to make plays on offense. It has nine receivers with at least 100 yards and eight with at least 10 receptions this season. The running game hasn’t been quite as varied, but there are still three players with more than 40 carries.
But Saturday, Bangura and Wiglusz combined for 259 total yards and six touchdowns. Wiglusz had 144 receiving yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yarder on the first play of the game. Bangura had 90 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground, and added a 25-yard receiving touchdown for good measure.
After last season, it’s surprising these two became arguably Ohio’s two best offensive players. Bangura was a drive-finisher who saw limited action and Wiglusz wasn’t even on the roster yet. Ohio looked to O’Shaan Allison, Ty Walton and James Bostic for most of their offensive production.
Allison went down with a season-ending injury before this season began, and Walton has also missed the last few games. This left Bangura and Wiglusz to join quarterback Kurtis Rourke in the trio leading one of the best offenses in the Mid-American Conference.
Even Bangura has dealt with some trouble of his own; he missed the Fordham game in week four and a solid chunk of time early in Saturday’s game.
“My offensive line and all my teammates have been behind me,” Bangura said. “And my mom is my number one supporter, I love her to death.”
According to Ohio coach Tim Albin, Bangura had plenty of family in the stands Saturday, and they were rewarded with the best performance of Bangura’s career.
Wiglusz also had his best performance in an Ohio uniform Saturday, and it was the culmination of all he has done for the program this season. He revitalized Ohio’s passing game and has become one of Rourke’s most trusted receivers. Wiglusz has caught 35 passes this season, 13 more than any other Ohio receiver and good for sixth in the MAC.
Of his seven catches Saturday, none was more important than his first, a 75-yard touchdown on the very first play from scrimmage.
“It was the best way to start the game,” Wiglusz said. “We had a couple of plays that we knew we were gonna get a chance to call if we got the right look, and we did.”
It may have been the most notable, but it was certainly not the only important catch for Wiglusz. His 30-yard catch in the third quarter on a beautiful back-shoulder pass from Rourke put Ohio up two scores for good.
Saturday was a departure from Ohio’s typical offense, which often spreads the ball around, but that turned out to be a good thing as Bangura and Wiglusz powered Ohio to its first MAC win of the season.
