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Know Your Foe: Kentucky will try to stop a potent Ohio University run game

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·3 min read

Scouting Kentucky football’s next opponent, the Ohio Bobcats:

Game details

Kentucky (1-2, 0-2 SEC) will play its fourth game of the 2024 season against the Ohio University Bobcats (2-1, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) at 12:45 p.m. EDT on Sept. 21 at Kroger Field.

The game will be telecast by the SEC Network.

Coach Tim Albin’s Bobcats defeated FCS foe Morgan State 21-6 last Saturday.

History and trends

Kentucky leads the all-time series with Ohio 4-2.

As Kentucky coach, Mark Stoops is 9-0 against teams from the Mid-American Conference.

Stoops is 19-2 as UK head man versus teams from Group of Five conferences.

Against Group of Five teams, Stoops and UK have won their last 14 games in a row with their most recent defeat coming to Southern Miss, 44-35, in the 2016 season opener.

Over the past 10 seasons including this year, Ohio is 4-9 against teams from power conferences. The Bobcats lost 38-22 at Syracuse of the ACC in their 2024 season opener.

Most recent meeting

Patrick Towles threw for 170 yards and a score and Boom Williams ran for 60 yards and a touchdown on only five carries as Kentucky beat Ohio 20-3 on Sept. 6, 2014, at the venue then known as Commonwealth Stadium.

Kentucky running back Boom Williams ran 53 yards for a touchdown in UK’s 20-3 win over Ohio University on Sept. 6, 2014.
Kentucky running back Boom Williams ran 53 yards for a touchdown in UK’s 20-3 win over Ohio University on Sept. 6, 2014.

Pride of the program

While coaching Ohio from 2005 through 2020, Frank Solich became the winningest football coach (115-82) in Mid-American Conference history.

The former Nebraska head man led Ohio to 11 bowl games, including five victories, and the MAC East title in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2016.

On Oct. 23, 2022, Ohio University officially named the playing surface at Peden Stadium “Frank Solich Field.”

In January, it was announced that Solich, 80, will be a class of 2024 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Solich, who went 58-19 in six seasons (1998 through 2003) as Nebraska head man, finished his college career with a 173-101 record.

Ohio players dumped french fries on then-Bobcats coach Frank Solich to celebrate Ohio’s 30-21 win over Nevada in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho, that followed the 2019 season.
Ohio players dumped french fries on then-Bobcats coach Frank Solich to celebrate Ohio’s 30-21 win over Nevada in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho, that followed the 2019 season.

Three things to know

1. Ohio running back Anthony Tyus III entered Week 3 as the sixth-leading rusher in the Football Bowl Subdivision. A 6-foot-1, 226-pound transfer from Northwestern, Tyus III ran for 203 yards and two touchdowns in the 38-22 loss at Syracuse in the season opener.

He came back in Week 2 and ran for 74 yards and a TD in Ohio’s 27-20 win over South Alabama in its home opener.

Tyus III went into Saturday’s game with Morgan State with 277 rushing yards. His average of 8.4 yards a carry was 11th in the FBS through two weeks.

Against Morgan State, Tyus III ran 16 times for 90 yards and scored a touchdown.

A transfer from Northwestern, Ohio running back Anthony Tyus III (2) was sixth in the FBS in rushing through two games with 277 yards.
A transfer from Northwestern, Ohio running back Anthony Tyus III (2) was sixth in the FBS in rushing through two games with 277 yards.

2. In good news for Kentucky’s shaky offensive front, Ohio’s defensive front has not been especially disruptive against FBS competition in the 2024 season. In the contests vs. Syracuse and South Alabama combined, Ohio had only two quarterback sacks and seven tackles for loss.

The Bobcats did wreak more havoc vs. FCS foe Morgan State, making 11 tackles for loss and sacking the QB twice,

3. There are two products of Kentucky high school football on the Ohio roster.

Former Bryan Station star J.T. Haskins Jr. is a true freshman safety.

Redshirt sophomore Jordon Jones, who played for Ashland Blazer, is a sophomore offensive lineman.

Bryan Station High School football seniors Jahvon Frazier, Dahvon Frazier, J.T. Haskins Jr. and Jason Hocker signed their national letters of intent for their respective colleges during a signing ceremony at the school. Haskins signed with Ohio University. The others signed with Akron.
Bryan Station High School football seniors Jahvon Frazier, Dahvon Frazier, J.T. Haskins Jr. and Jason Hocker signed their national letters of intent for their respective colleges during a signing ceremony at the school. Haskins signed with Ohio University. The others signed with Akron.

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