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ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio football team (0-1, 0-1 MAC) will host a game at Peden Stadium for the first time since last November as it welcomes Mid-American Conference East Division rival Akron (0-1, 0-1 MAC) to Athens on Tuesday (Nov. 10) for a 7 p.m. ET nationally televised tilt on CBS Sports Network. Dave Ryan and Corey Chavous will have the call of the game.
The Bobcats' matchup with the Zips can also be heard on the Ohio Sports Network from Learfield IMG College. Russ Eisenstein returns for his 13th season as the "Voice of the Bobcats" and will be joined by Ohio alum Rob Cornelius, who has been a part of the broadcasts for two decades.
WEEK TWO
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020 | Ohio (0-1, 0-1 MAC) vs. Akron (0-1, 0-1 MAC) | 7 p.m. ET | Peden Stadium | Athens, Ohio | CBS Sports Network | Ohio Sports Network from Learfield IMG College | TuneIn | Live Stats
'CATS DROP SEASON OPENER
Senior running back De'Montre Tuggle ran the second-half kickoff back for a touchdown after closing out the first half with a rushing touchdown, but Ohio ultimately fell to MAC West Division foe Central Michigan, 30-27 last Wednesday (Nov. 4) in the 2020 season opener at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
The Bobcats held a 27-20 lead after Tuggle's kickoff return for a touchdown, but the Chippewas scored 10 unanswered points over the final 25 minutes of play to earn the victory.
Ohio was hampered by two lost fumbles and 11 penalties that resulted in a loss of 74 yards. Central Michigan outgained Ohio, 427-345, and piled up 184 rushing yards, averaging 3.9 yards per carry. The Chippewas held a 9:34 advantage in time of possessions (34:47-25:13). Ohio did not force any turnovers, and the Bobcats surrendered five sacks while producing none of their own.
The Bobcats fell to 10-6 (.625) in season openers and 12-4 (.750) in MAC openers in the Frank Solich era. The loss to the Chippewas snapped a streak of three-straight season-opening victories and nine-straight victories to open conference play.
TUGGLE TUDDIES
Senior running back De'Montre Tuggle's 12th career rushing touchdown as a Bobcat came from three yards out with 58 seconds left in the second quarter in last Wednesday's season opener at Central Michigan. He then opened the second half by receiving the kickoff and racing 93 yards. His kickoff return for a touchdown marked his first as a Bobcat, and he earned the distinction of becoming the first Ohio player to both rush for a touchdown and return a kickoff for a touchdown in the same game in at least 60 years.
Tuggle finished the contest with 79 rushing yards on 16 attempts and piled up 160 yards on three kickoff returns (53.3 yards per return), giving him a game-high 239 all-purpose yards. He has now recorded five career games with two touchdowns scored.
COX'S CAREER MILESTONE
Redshirt junior wide receiver Isiah Cox led Ohio with four receptions for 102 receiving yards at Central Michigan. He went over the 1,000-yard career receiving mark in the contest, having now hauled in 54 career receptions for 1,074 yards in 27 games over the past two-plus years. Cox tallied his third career game with at least 100 receiving yards. His 58-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter marked his sixth career touchdown reception.
Last season, Cox led Ohio with 39 receptions and 663 receiving yards, both of which set career highs.
FINDING THE END ZONE
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Shane Hooks scored Ohio's first touchdown of the 2020 season, hauling in a 21-yard scoring reception to cap off the Bobcats' first drive of the year in last Wednesday's loss at Central Michigan. Hooks has now logged six touchdown catches in 19 career games as a Bobcat, including a five as a redshirt freshman a year ago, which tied for the team lead.
made his first career start under center for the Bobcats in the loss at Central Michigan, completing 12 of his 19 passing attempts for 231 yards and two touchdown passes. The first drive of his first start culminated in a 21-yard touchdown pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Shane Hooks. He also threw a 58-yard scoring strike to redshirt junior wide receiver Isiah Cox in the second quarter.
LAUNCH OF THE MAPLE MISSILE
Redshirt freshman quarterback Kurtis Rourke made his first career start under center for the Bobcats in the loss at Central Michigan, completing 12 of his 19 passing attempts for 231 yards and two touchdown passes. The first drive of his first start culminated in a 21-yard touchdown pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Shane Hooks. He also threw a 58-yard scoring strike to redshirt junior wide receiver Isiah Cox in the second quarter.
A native of Oakville, Ontario, Canada, Rourke is the younger brother of former Ohio quarterback Nathan Rourke, who started for the Bobcats the last three seasons. Nathan Rourke finished his three-year career at Ohio with a record of 24-13 as starting quarterback and was under center for an unprecedented three-straight bowl victories. He ranks first in program history in career touchdowns scored (51), touchdowns responsible for (111), total offense yards gained (10,091), total offense yards per play (7.65), total offense yards per game (258.7), passing yards per attempt (8.3), passing yards per game (191.2) and passing efficiency (146.5); tied for first in rushing touchdowns (49); second in completions (525), attempts (894), passing yards (7,457) and passing touchdowns (60); third in points scored (306) and completion percentage (58.7 percent); fifth in passing yards per completion (14.2); eighth in rushing yards (2,634); and ninth in rushing yards per game (67.0).
Nathan Rourke was the inaugural winner of the Jon Cornish Trophy, which is awarded annually to the most outstanding Canadian player in NCAA Football, in 2017-18 and repeated as the winner in '18-19. On April 30, 2020, he was selected with the 15th overall pick in the second round of the 2020 Canadian Football League Draft by the BC Lions.
FOR STARTERS
Eight Bobcats made their first career start in last Wednesday's loss at Central Michigan, including redshirt freshman quarterback Kurtis Rourke, redshirt junior left guard Brody Rodgers, redshirt junior right tackle Samson Jackson, redshirt freshman defensive tackle Jeremiah Burton, redshirt sophomore nose tackle Kylen McCracken, redshirt sophomore strongside linebacker Jeremiah Wood, redshirt sophomore right cornerback Justin Birchette and redshirt sophomore free safety Jamison Collier.
Collier led the Ohio defense with eight total tackles, including seven solo stops, which matched Wood for the team lead. Burton finished the contest with five total tackles, including two solo stops.
FROM LA, TO VEGAS, TO ATHENS
Redshirt senior quarterback Armani Rogers made his Ohio debut in last Wednesday's loss at Central Michigan. He completed one pass for four yards while rushing for 32 yards on seven attempts.
Rogers saw action in 21 games with 18 starts over the last three seasons at UNLV. He holds UNLV's record for career net rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,549, a total that also ranked 10th in Mountain West Conference history. His 18 career rushing touchdowns tied for eighth in school history for any position, and he is the only signal-caller in school history to rush for at least 100 net yards in a game more than three times during his career (six). Rogers passed for 2,465 yards and 18 touchdowns over his three years under center for the Rebels. He was named Mountain West Freshman of the Year in 2017 after a record-setting debut campaign with nine starts in 10 games played, breaking the program records for both rushing yards in a season by a freshman and rushing yards in a season by a quarterback with 780 and setting the UNLV record for rushing touchdowns by a freshman in a season with eight. He also threw for a career-high 1,471 yards in his rookie campaign and followed it up by tossing a career-high 10 touchdown passes as a sophomore. Rogers earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiological sciences from UNLV in 2020 and then entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Prior to arriving at UNLV, the Los Angeles native was a three-year letterwinner under coach Ernest King at Alexander High School. Rogers was rated as a four-star recruit by ESPN and a three-star recruit by Rivals, 247Sports and Scout. He ranked as the nation's No. 11 dual-threat quarterback according to ESPN and No. 15 by 247Sports.
SWITCHING SPECIALISTS
Ohio's special teams unit will have a different look this year, as redshirt freshman placekicker Tristian Vandenberg, freshman punter Jack Wilson and redshirt sophomore long snapper Justin Holloway all made their Ohio debuts in last Wednesday's loss at Central Michigan.
Vandenberg made three extra points to provide the Bobcats with three points and kicked off five times for 306 yards (61.2 yards per kickoff) and two touchbacks. Wilson punted five times for 179 yards, with a long punt of 51 yards.
Vandenberg is taking over the kicking duties for Louie Zervos, who departed Athens as Ohio's all-time scoring leader with 437 career points. His 70 field goals made rank second in program history while his 215 extra points made are the most in program history. Wilson assumes punting responsibilities after the graduation of Michael Farkas, who ranks second in program history in punting average (41.43 yards per punt) and third in punting yards (9,073). Holloway takes over the role of long snapper, a position held down by Devin King the last two seasons.
MAC WINS KING
Frank Solich has built the Ohio football program into one of the Mid-American Conference's most consistently successful over the last 15 years.
On Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, Solich etched his place in MAC history, becoming the conference's winningest head coach with his 111th victory -- an impressive 66-24 triumph over East Division rival Bowling Green.
Solich has turned the Bobcats into one of the Mid-American Conference's premier programs since his arrival in Athens in 2005.
Ohio is 113-82 during the Solich era. His 113 victories are the second-most in program history behind Don Peden (121; 1924-46). Ohio has gone 75-46 in conference play since Solich's arrival in Athens. His 75 MAC wins rank second to former Central Michigan head coach Herb Deromedi's 90. Deromedi was previously the conference's winningest head coach until Solich surpassed him last season. Ohio's 113 wins under Solich rank as the seventh-most among active NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches.
Solich entered the 2020 season as the dean of MAC head coaches. He is tied with Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy for fourth among active NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches in terms of longest tenure with their current school. Only Iowa's Kirk Ferentz (22 years), TCU's Gary Patterson (21 years) and Utah's Kyle Whittingham (17 years) have served as head coach at their respective institutions longer. Prior to arriving in Athens, Solich spent six years as head coach at his alma mater, Nebraska. Solich's 21 years of experience tie him with Ferentz (21 years) for the third-most among active NCAA FBS head coaches, ranking behind North Carolina's Mack Brown (30 years) and Alabama's Nick Saban (24).
Solich owns a career coaching record of 171-101. His 171 wins rank as the fourth most among active NCAA FBS head coaches, trailing only Brown (256), Saban (249) and TCU's Gary Patterson (175). He is well-respected by his peers, having served as the president of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) in addition to receiving the Tom Osborne Legacy Award in January of 2019.
With the retirement of longtime Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder following the 2018 season, Solich is the leader in life experience among NCAA FBS head coaches at 76 years old. Solich turned 76 on Sept. 8.
SERIES HISTORY VS. AKRON
Ohio is 21-14-1 all-time against Akron in a series that dates back to 1919. The Bobcats are 12-3 (.800) against the Zips under head coach Frank Solich, including a perfect 7-0 against Akron in games played at Peden Stadium. Akron's last visit to Athens came on Nov. 23, 2018, with Ohio closing out the 2018 regular season with a 49-28 win over the Zips. The Bobcats ran for 381 yards in the victory.
Ohio and Akron last met in the 2019 regular-season finale on Nov. 26, 2019, at InfoCision Stadium in Akron - a dominant 52-3 win for the Bobcats over the Zips. The Bobcats piled up 603 yards of total offense, with a season-high 352 through the air and 251 on the ground. Ohio's defense produced the most dominant performance in the last 15 years under the leadership of head coach Frank Solich, limiting the Zips to just 74 yards of total offense and marking the first time an opponent has failed to reach 100 yards of total offense in the last 15 years. Akron's 33 passing yards marked the fewest by an Ohio opponent since the Bobcats held Wofford to zero passing yards in a 33-10 win on Sept. 4, 2010. The Zips' 41 rushing yards marked the fewest by an Ohio opponent since the Bobcats limited Akron to just 32 in a 49-28 win in the 2018 regular-season finale on Nov. 23, 2018.
Then-redshirt freshman wide receiver Shane Hooks tied for the team lead with five receptions, two of them going for touchdowns as he hauled in a 39-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter and an 11-yarder in the second. On the ground, then-junior running back De'Montre Tuggle totaled a game-high 78 rushing yards on nine carries, with a long run of 38 yards. Then-redshirt freshman running back O'Shaan Allison picked up 71 yards, with a long run of 46 yards and a seven-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Then-redshirt junior running back Ja'Vahri Portis gained 37 yards on a team-high 10 touches and scored Ohio's seventh and final touchdown on a three-yard run in the fourth quarter.
SCOUTING AKRON
Tom Arth is in his second season as Akron's head coach. The Zips went 0-12 (0-8 MAC) in 2019 and are still in search of their first victory under Arth after suffering a 58-13 setback to Western Michigan to open the 2020 campaign last Wednesday in Akron. Akron took a 7-3 lead with 7:32 left in the first quarter when redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Gibson threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Michael Mathison, but the Zips were outscored by the Broncos by a 55-6 count the rest of the way.
Gibson finished the contest 18-of-30 for 125 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Redshirt junior wide receiver Jeremiah Knight led all rushers with 74 rushing yards on 11 attempts. Defensively, redshirt junior linebacker Bubba Arslanian compiled a game-high 11 total tackles, including six solo stops.
UP NEXT
Ohio heads to Oxford, Ohio, for the latest edition of the 'Battle of the Bricks' against archrival Miami. The latest chapter in the rivalry is set for Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. ET at Yager Stadium and will be nationally televised on ESPN. The game can also be heard on the Ohio Sports Network from Learfield IMG College.
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