Ohio is going to a bowl game for the 12th time since Tim Albin joined the staff as Frank Solich’s offensive coordinator in 2005. It will be the first bowl game with Albin as head coach.
The Bobcats will take on Wyoming in the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl in Tucson, Arizona, on Dec. 30.
Here are some takeaways from Albin’s pre-bowl press conference Monday:
Keye Thompson is done for the year
After being named to the All-MAC Third Team in his first full season since 2019, Thompson went down multiple times in the first half of the MAC Championship game and had to leave the game early.
Albin confirmed Monday that Thompson would have surgery this week and miss the bowl game.
Albin’s history with Craig Bohl
Albin and Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl go back a long way. Bohl was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach under Solich at Nebraska when Albin was hired as a graduate assistant.
After Albin and Solich were let go by Nebraska following the 2003 season, Bohl, who had left the Cornhuskers after the 2002 season and become the head coach at North Dakota State, offered Albin a job as offensive coordinator and running backs coach. Albin worked with Bohl in Fargo for the 2004 season before leaving to take the same position under Solich at Ohio.
“I was in a tough spot, I was heartbroken from the Nebraska exit,” Albin said. “Craig came to see me multiple times in Lincoln... and really got me back on track. It’s a powerful thing. Some 20 years ago when I went to see Coach Bohl after working for him in Fargo and told him that I was going to come to Ohio with Coach Solich, it was very, very difficult for me.”
Wyoming’s defense
Albin spotlighted Wyoming’s defense in his comments, and there’s a good reason. Wyoming ranks 40th in the nation in points per game allowed at 23.4.
The Cowboys also ranked third in the Mountain West in sacks with 34. They ranked fourth in the conference in passing yards allowed, so the Bobcats will have to be effective in the running game, something they were unable to do against Toledo in the MAC Championship game.
“Defensively, they’ve been very physical,” Albin said. “They make things tough for the quarterback, they’re going to make him feel uncomfortable. Us trying to establish a running game and not being one-dimensional will be huge.”
Sending the seniors off with a win
Ohio has 21 seniors, six sixth-year students and six graduate students on the roster, and while not all of them will be gone next season, Albin would love to send those graduating off with one more win.
This year’s Ohio team also has a chance to become only the fourth in school history to reach double digits wins, accomplished only by Solich in 2011 and Bill Hess in 1968 and 1960.
“I’ve spoken about our leadership on this football team throughout the whole season,” Albin said. “We have numerous super seniors on this team, and I would love to send those guys out with a win.”
