New Orleans Bowl 2010: 10 Things to Know About Ohio University

The school that I call home nine months out of the year waited until my arrival to play its best football since the 1960s, and for that I can only thank them.

The Ohio University Bobcats are prepping for a trip to New Orleans for what will be their third bowl game in four years and second in a row when they face Troy in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.

Some will scoff at this game as a game between two also-rans in two conferences not worth watching.

Not so fast, my friends. These two teams may get beaten around by the big boys at the beginning of seasons, but when they get into conference play, they dominate.

These two teams have such contrasting styles of play that this will without a doubt be an interesting game, as the Bobcats are a run first offense with a stout defense and the Trojans are a pass first offense with a less than stout defense.

Let's take a look at the team that I am most familiar with as I point out 10 things about the Ohio University Bobcats.

The Ohio University Bobcats have never won a postseason bowl game. Hell, they hadn't even been to one since 1968 until 2007.

They have been in four games in previous years, all with the same result: a loss and a long bus (or plane) ride home.

Their first bowl game came in 1962 in the Sun Bowl against West Texas State, in which they lost in a nail-biter 15-14.

1968 was their second sight of postseason action with the Tangerine Bowl, a shootout that they lost to Richmond 49-42.

They then went nearly 40 seasons without a bowl appearance, gaining a ticket to the GMAC Bowl in 2007, their most lopsided bowl loss, losing 28-7.

Finally, last season, as MAC champion runners-up, they went to the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, losing to regional rival Marshall 21-17.

Needless to say, they are itching for a bowl victory.

Whenever you toss around the name Frank Solich, you always seem to get the "that name sounds familiar, but I can't quite place it" look.

You may remember him as the former Nebraska head coach who was fired by Nebraska after the 2003 season despite winning the Big 12 North from 1999-2001 and winning the Fiesta Bowl in 1999.

Solich then took the year off before signing into relative obscurity with the Ohio Bobcats of small-town Athens, Ohio.

Solich's first season saw a 4-7 record, a number the people in Athens were used to seeing, but then he reeled off a 9-5 season, sending the team to its first bowl game since 1968, permanently endearing himself to the fans.

He has gone 39-35 in his six seasons at Ohio, to go along with two MAC East titles and now three bowl game invitations.

The best thing that Ohio has going for it is its defense that is, at times, dominating.

They are a careful bunch, collecting only 24 sacks this season but doing so in order to keep plays in front of them and limit the opposing teams to small pickups.

Their 217 passing yards allowed per game is good enough for fifth in the MAC, and their 115 rush yards allowed are good enough for second in the MAC.

They have a talented secondary that has nabbed 17 interceptions this season and very rarely gives up the big play, to go along with a big, burly front seven that has recovered eight fumbles this season.

They have a pass rush that can put pressure on the quarterback with only a three- or four-man rush and linebackers who are both quick and powerful.

If they are to win on the 18th against Troy, it will without a doubt be due to their talent on the defensive side of the ball.

Ohio has a very tricky offense that at times can get rather wild and run out of control in games from time to time.

They have an ugly number of turnovers at 30 giveaways this season, giving them a negative turnover ratio and driving the coach mad.

A big chunk of those turnovers is due to quarterback Boo Jackson, who has thrown 16 interceptions this season against only 15 touchdown passes.

Jackson can go out on one series and look like a brilliant quarterback that should be on a big name school and then look like a backup on the next.

Boo Jackson may throw too many interceptions, but he is what you would call effectively wild.

He has quite a good completion percentage at 60 percent, and being a terrific scrambler, he has only been sacked 17 times this season.

Jackson is also a smart runner who can pick up the first down at any time and has the most rushing touchdowns on the team this season with seven.

He has a pretty big arm, giving him the ability to throw the ball downfield, and has strength in his running that can get him through a tough line and force his way through for one or two important yards to grab a first down.

The Bobcats boast a dual-quarterback system, but by no means is there a controversy over the quarterback spot in Athens.

Boo Jackson is the primary passing quarterback, and if Phil Bates is in the game, he is most likely running the ball.

He is the best runner on the team, and with only 73 rushes this season, his 503 rushing yards are very impressive.

That amounts to seven yards per carry, a monumental number, and he has a longest run this season of 62 yards.

But just when you think you've got him penned down, he pulls a fast one and throws the ball.

With only nine completions this season, he isn't exactly a threat passing, but he is pretty good at throwing the ball, with 178 yards on those nine passes with a long of 47 yards.

In games he wants to win, Frank Solich will pull out all the stops.

At Nebraska he is remembered for his incredibly gutsy "Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass" in which Eric Crouch handed the ball off, slowly drifting toward the sideline, while the running back pitched the ball to a split end while Crouch began a full-out sprint upfield, completing a 63-yard touchdown and giving them a victory over No. 2 Oklahoma.

He brought that type of play calling to Ohio, where he will no doubt end up calling some sort of tricky play during the course of the game.

Solich will also go for two if he feels that his team will benefit from the two points and has a chance to score those points.

Don't be surprised if Solich pulls out all the stops in order to gain the first bowl win in school history.

The Bobcats are quite good at spreading around the few passing yards that they earn each game, with four players catching at least 20 passes this season.

However, once they get down close to scoring they rely too heavily on Terrence McCrae.

McCrae is great at catching any pass thrown at him and leads the team in receptions this season to go along with his 15 yards per catch.

Unfortunately for the team, they have very few reliable receivers when down near the end zone, evidenced by the nine receiving touchdowns by McCrae this season.

If Troy is able to shut down McCrae in the red zone, there is no question that Ohio will have trouble scoring through the air.

There is no question that Ohio has an offense that is highly dependent on its run game. The thing that makes that so effective, though, is that they have many players who can effectively run the ball.

There are eight Bobcats with rushing touchdowns this season, and five of those eight have multiple touchdowns this season.

Vince Davidson and Donte Harden are their featured backs who have combined for nine touchdowns this season. Davidson averages 3.9 yards per carry, while Harden is at 4.9 but has been bothered by injuries this season.

They also have the dual-threat quarterbacks in Boo Jackson and Phil Bates who open up a second dimension to the running game and have combined for 10 touchdowns this season.

Ohio is also always happy to pull off an end-around or a double reverse to get its receivers into the mix, opening up yet another dimension to its run game.

Ohio isn't a football team that sees its bowl opportunity come along very often, even though this will be its third in the past four seasons.

The people of the town and the students of the university are aware that the last time the team played in a bowl game before the arrival of Frank Solich was in 1968, and they had never won one in the school's history.

The Bobcats that make up this team would go down as the only team in Ohio history to win a postseason game, permanently endearing them to the people with a connection to the university.

Most of the players on the team were extremely close a season ago and don't want to go through another postseason disappointment.