Ohio will play its final game of the season against Nevada at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Jan. 3 at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. It will be the Bobcats’ 13th bowl appearance in program history and fifth consecutive postseason appearance.
Coach Frank Solich discussed the bowl game and more about Ohio’s regular season Monday in his press conference.
— Solich vividly remembers the Bobcats’ last trip to Boise in 2011 when Ohio won its first bowl game in program history against Utah State with a 24-23 win. He’s excited to return, and he can tell his players are looking forward to it, too.
“The experience that our players have had there, that their families have had there, I think these guys are excited to go,“ Solich said. “They know the former players really liked the bowl, and to top it off, we had a really good bowl win. There was nothing but positiveness about it.”
— Ohio fell short of its Mid-American Conference Championship Game expectations and ended the season with a disappointing 6-6 record, but Solich is happy that the group will have one more game to play.
“I think everybody associated with our program is excited about the fact that we get a chance to play another game,“ Solich said. “We’re on a roll. We were playing really well at the end of the season. We loved the way they were committed to finishing the season. I think we’re all excited to play another game.”
— Solich anticipates Ohio to use 14 of the 15 allocated practice slots to prepare for the bowl game. He emphasized that those practices will be used strictly for bowl game prep, and not for additional looks at who will be on the roster next season.
“We’re practicing to win a ballgame,“ Solich said. “We’re not practicing for next season. Good practices will lead into those helping you next season.”
— The biggest concern for Ohio in the bowl game might be its backup quarterback position. Joe Mischler is in the transfer portal and Kurtis Rourke is recovering from shoulder surgery. That leaves Drew Keszei, who spent the majority of the season as a wide receiver, in line for backup duties if Nathan Rourke has to exit.
“We’re in a situation where Drew would be the backup at this time,“ Solich said. “He came in and performed well in the few snaps he had in our last ballgame. That’s always encouraging. He’s a smart young man with excellent quickness. He has the capability to run the ball from the quarterback position, so it’s not like we would have to change offenses to try to show him at his best.”
— Solich has not been informed of any other players entering the transfer portal, and he didn’t have much to say about Mischler’s decision to leave.
“You’ll have to ask Joe,“ he said.
— Nathan Rourke won First Team All-MAC honors last week for the first time in his three years as a starter at Ohio. Solich believes that honor was long due.
“Well deserved, but in my mind, he should have gotten it earlier in his career,“ Solich said. “He’s played at that level, so it’s what it is. I’m glad that it happened for him now. He’s been tremendous for this program, and he's been great for this conference. He’s gotten this conference a lot of recognition.”
— Rourke was selected to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, which is held on Jan. 18 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. He was also ranked third in the Canadian Football League Scouting Bureau in its top-20 eligible scouting prospects list.
Rourke will almost certainly continue to play professionally after graduating from Ohio, but Solich didn’t want to speculate where.
“t’s difficult for me to judge it. I’m biased,“ Solich said with a smile. “He’s got a tremendous amount of talent and toughness. He’s got the ability to escape in the pocket, which any more of the announcers doing pro football love. They’re all over that, a quarterback that can run. Certainly, he’s got that. I think they’re intrigued by him. I think they want to see him in person.”
— Solich has already completed plenty of scouting for Nevada. The Wolf Pack finished the season third in the West Division of the Mountain West Conference with a 7-5 overall record, and Solich saw a lot of similarities in Nevada’s season compared to Ohio.
“Their season hasn’t been too far from ours,“ he said. “They’ve had some great wins, but they also had a few disappointing losses in some very close ballgames. I see them as being an excellent football team on both sides of the ball.
