Spencer Brown's accomplishments almost add up his size.
The freshman running back for University of Alabama at Birmingham has a bio long enough to account for the yards he's gained this year: 1,292.
Brown was the Conference USA Freshman of the Year and named Second Team All-Conference, apart of the All-Conference USA Freshman Team and named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List. He's also the biggest back the Ohio defense will have to face this season.
“Well he’s 235 pounds, so we better be able to tackle and do a good job of being physical," defensive coordinator Jimmy Burrow said.
The matchup, on paper, looks like a matchup made in bowl heaven. The Bahamas Bowl on Friday will host Ohio and UAB at Thomas A. Robinson Stadium on ESPN.
The Blazers are second in Conference USA with 190.3 yards per game on the ground. The Bobcats are first in the Mid-American Conference in run defense, allowing just 111.4 yards per game. That mark is good for ninth in the country.
In essence, something's got to give.
"They run the ball in a physical style, too," Burrow continued. "Our base has always been to stop the run, and we’ll continue to do those type things that hopefully gives us our best chance to win.”
The Bobcats stressed fundamentals before they left for Nassau for a game what will undoubtedly come down to just how well the front seven can tackle.
“(Brown's) a load, but that just comes back to form," linebacker Evan Croutch said. "You’ve got to tackle through him, just go back to our basics of tackling and make sure you wrap up.”
Ohio will carry its own powerful back(s) into Friday, however, as Dorian Brown figures to get a lion-share of the carries with A.J. Ouellette questionable with a shoulder injury. The Bobcats lead the MAC in rushing yards with 244.2 yards per game.
Despite that, it will be a still-meaningful cap to a season that looked like it was destined for a game in Detroit. For a large chunk of the season, and especially after Ohio beat Toledo by 28, the Bobcats looked on a collision course for a second-straight MAC Championship Game.
Then, just six days after the thrashing of the Rockets, the Bobcats lost to Akron on the road. Akron beat Kent State a week later for the MAC East Division title.
"Unfortunately, in the tail end of the season we did not play as well as we are capable of playing, and we didn't coach as well as we're capable of coaching," coach Frank Solich said. "We let a couple of games get away from us. We want to go down there and make sure we play our very best football game and it's not a situation where we have any regrets when we walk off the field."
UAB, returning from a two-year absence as a football program, will ensure that Ohio is ready to play as well as it can. Otherwise, the Bobcats are in danger of ending the season with three straight losses.
"When you get ready for a bowl game there's a lot of excitement and enthusiasm that takes place," Solich said. "You want to make sure that you are going down there to win a ball game, and I think that's the makeup of our team. That's what we've been all about."
Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
