On Wednesday, the Mid-American Conference announced its end-of-season awards for the 2023 season. Ohio took home six different All-MAC Team awards, including three All-MAC First Team honors.
Ohio will not participate in the MAC Championship game this weekend in Detroit, Michigan, but still had a very successful season. The team finished its season last Friday with a win over Akron, securing a 9-3 record in the regular season and a chance for a tenth win in its upcoming bowl game appearance.
Here is the full list of who was recognized in the end-of-season MAC awards for Ohio.
All-MAC First-Team Offense
Sam Wiglusz
Wiglusz is participating in his second season as a Bobcat after transferring from Ohio State as a Wide Receiver in 2021.
During this season, Wiglusz had Ohio’s second-highest receiving yards and touchdowns, behind only Miles Cross in each category. With 596 receiving yards, Wiglusz had the sixth most yards in the MAC at the receiving position.
All-MAC First-Team Defense
Bryce Houston, Keye Thompson
Both Houston and Thompson have been playing at Ohio for six seasons. Entering 2023, each was nominated team captain and led what ended up being one of the top defenses in the nation.
Houston and Thompson’s inclusion in the First-Team All-MAC cements the duo as one of the best linebacker tandems in the country.
Houston, who seemingly had a chance to win Defensive Player of the Year, tallied a team-leading 119 total tackles, which included 12.5 tackles for loss. Houston also recorded a team-leading three interceptions.
Thompson was also in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year with 94 tackles and 10 tackles for loss. Thompson also led the whole conference with three recovered fumbles.
Both Houston and Thompson are in the top 10 in the MAC in terms of tackles and tackles for a loss.
All-MAC Second-Team Offense
Kurtis Rourke
Ohio’s quarterback, Rourke, won Offensive Player of the Year last season and follows it up with an All-MAC second-team performance. During the 2023 season, Rourke passed his brother Nathan for second all-time in passing yards in Ohio football history.
Rourke was sidelined for multiple games to start the season as a result of an injury suffered against San Diego State in the team's first game of the season.
Despite missing time with an injury, Rourke finished the season with 2,207 passing yards and 11 passing touchdowns. Rourke’s 200.6 passing yards per game ranks second in the MAC behind only Miami’s Brett Gabbert.
All-MAC Third-Team Defense
Vonnie Watkins, Rayyan Buel
Closing out the awards are defenseman Watkins and Buell, making it four players on the Ohio defense to be recognized for the impressive season that the unit had.
Watkins led Ohio in both forced fumbles with 2 and quarterback hits with 10.
Buell led Ohio in sacks with 4.5 along with Shane Bonner, and had the second most tackles for loss with 11.5, trailing only Houston.
