Syracuse football 2024 opponent preview: Ohio Bobcats

The countdown to college football is on once again! With the Syracuse Orange due to kick off the Fran Brown era in three short months, our Get to Know Your Orange Man series is underway to get you familiar with each player on the roster. It’s also time to break down each of SU’s 12 regular season opponents, one at a time.

We’ll start things in Week 1, where the Orange open up in the Dome for the third straight season. The last time they didn’t was against this very program:

Ohio Bobcats

School: Ohio University

Nickname: Bobcats

Mascot: Rufus

#BRAND Slogan: #OUohyeah

Alternate #BRAND Slogan Suggestion: “The OTHER Ohio from the OTHER, OTHER Athens”

Recommended Blog: Hustle Belt

Conference: MAC

History vs. Syracuse: The Bobcats are winless in three games against SU. Their last meeting was the 2021 season opener, when some kid named Sean Tucker exploded for 181 rushing yards and a TD in a 29-9 ‘Cuse victory. The other games in the series were both played over 100 years ago – and were both shutouts.

Coach: Tim Albin, fourth season. Albin unexpectedly began his DI head coaching career against Syracuse when Frank Solich stepped down from the position due to health reasons. After a rough start with Ohio, Albin rebounded to lead back-to-back 10-win teams, both of which included Bowl victories. Albin’s first head coaching job was at his alma mater of Northwestern Oklahoma State. After three years as the offensive coordinator/OL coach, he was promoted to HC, a job he also held for three seasons. In 1999, Albin’s Rangers went a perfect 13-0, beating Georgetown (sadly, the college in Kentucky, not the Hoyas) to win the NAIA National Championship. He departed for Solich’s Nebraska Cornhuskers after that and, following a brief layover at North Dakota State, also followed him to Ohio in 2005.

2023 Record: 10-3 (6-2)

Recapping Last Season:

After starting off the season with a one score loss at San Diego State, the Bobcats rattled off five straight wins, including two against MAC foes Bowling Green and Kent State. After a small hiccup where the squad lost two of three, Ohio took care of business in their weeknight games at Buffalo and against Central Michigan. They secured win number nine in the regular season finale in Akron, then traveled to the home of Coastal Carolina, where they defeated Georgia Southern 41-21 in the Myrtle Beach Bowl to again get to double digits.

The 2023 Bobcats were loaded with senior starters, including the man behind center. Kurtis Rourke didn’t repeat his insane performance from the year before (25 touchdowns to four picks) but still threw for 2,207 yards and 11 TDs. Sam Wiglusz and Miles Cross were the one-two punch in the receivers’ room, both racking up over 600 yards through the air. On the ground, Sieh Bangura also fell short of replicating his 2022 stats, going from almost 1,100 rushing yards to just over 800. As a team, they averaged 348 yards-per-game, just a few more than the Orange did.

On the defensive side, turnovers were the name of the game. Ohio’s 4-3 unit had 22 of them, with linebackers Bryce Houston (128 tackles, three picks) and Keye Thompson (94 tackles, one pick, three fumble recoveries) doing the most damage. A loaded secondary featuring the safety trio of Walter Reynolds, Austin Brawley, and Adonis Williams Jr. kept the skies clear. The four starting linemen combined for 20 sacks. This suffocating group was one of the best in the entire country, allowing the 4th-fewest YPG among all FBS teams. It was a balanced effort too, with opponents’ rushing and passing yards both among the bottom-10 – translating to a meager 15 points on average. Honestly, this is the model I dream Elijah Robinson implements in ‘Cuse. Freshman Gianni Spetic went 18/26 on FGs – 0/5 on kicks more than 40 yards.

2024 Season Outlook:

MAC teams frontload their out of conference schedule – after facing SU, Ohio heads home to Athens for games with South Alabama and Morgan State, then they travel to Lexington to battle Kentucky. In conference play, home games are against Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, and Ball State. Games with Central Michigan, Miami (OH), Kent State, and Toledo will be on the road.

It’ll be a near-total reset on offense: QB1 & 2, RB1 & 2, WR1, 2, and 3, both tight ends, and three of five starting linemen are all gone. (At least the other two stayed for their final year?) It’s not as hopeless as that may sound, as Albin grabbed a few intriguing transfers including WRs Coleman Owens from Northern Arizona and Eamonn Dennis from Michigan. Parker Navarro should finally get his chance to start as a 5th-year QB, and redshirt freshman Rickey Hunt Jr. is favored for an expanded role after scoring five TDs in just three games last season. There are still battles to be had in fall camp.

Defense isn’t clear-cut either. Houston and Thompson graduated, and the internal options will have some huge cleats to fill. Only one of those ferocious d-linemen is back, with five transfers competing for the other spots. Brawley and Williams retain some consistency, but this side of the ball also seemingly has more questions than answers post-spring.

Syracuse Game Date: Saturday, August 31

Location: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse, New York

Odds of Orange Victory: 90%

Very Early Outlook vs. Syracuse:

This is a good first test for Coach Fran – a young G5 team who will be searching for their own identity early on. Ohio went extremely underrated as a defensive powerhouse because of their conference, but they lost too many pieces to expect a repeat performance. The offense has a LOT to figure out and Bobcats fans will soon find out if Albin can recruit as well as Solich did. For the short term though, they should be outmatched by a P5 P4.

SU rocks the Dome crowd before the game even starts as Fran enters on something between a horse-drawn carriage and a Ferrari, and the noise level doesn’t go down much in a dominant Week 1 victory.