Sports
Ohio Football: ‘Cats 2020 Schedule Brings a Challenge
By: Taylor Jedrzejek
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ATHENS, Ohio — For the first time since 2017, the Bobcats will take the field without arguably the best quarterback that the Ohio football program has ever seen, Nathan Rourke, on the team.
Who takes his place, whether it be Nathan’s younger brother Kurtis or redshirt junior Drew Keszei, is still to be decided, but the Bobcats’ schedule is not.
The Mid-American Conference released its slate of conference games on Wednesday afternoon, revealing how the Bobcats’ journey through the MAC will play out starting in early October.
Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, the schedule makers did them no favors in 2020. Nearly all of the marquee conference games on the Bobcats’ schedule will be played on the road, starting with their conference opener when they travel to Toledo to face the Rockets. The Bobcats are just 2-18 all-time in the Glass Bowl.
Ohio will also make the trip over to Oxford in October to take on the reigning conference champion RedHawks, looking to get revenge on a Miami team that spoiled their hopes at a MAC Championship game appearance in 2019.
The Bobcats will also make the long trip up north to Mt. Pleasant to face Central Michigan for the first time since 2017. Despite all of the success that Ohio has enjoyed in the Frank Solich era, the ‘Cats have mustered out just one win in nine tries against the Chippewas since 2005.
Rounding out the tough slate of road MAC games is a trip up to Northeast Ohio to face off against Kent State. There was no team in the MAC in 2019 that ended the season on more of a roll than the Golden Flashes who rolled off four straight wins, including a 51-41 win in the Frisco Bowl, the first bowl win in the program’s history.
As for the games set to be played in Peden Stadium this coming fall, there is perhaps none bigger than the one on September 19 when Marshall comes to Athens with the victory bell in hand. The Herds’ 33-31 victory in 2019 was their first in the “Battle of the Bell” since 2014, but the ‘Cats will no doubt want to return that bell to the halls of Peden Stadium.
In MAC play, the Bobcats will play host to a pair of Mid-Week MACtion games, including an important matchup against Buffalo on November 18. The Bulls have struggled in games in Peden over the past decade, not having won in Athens since 2008.
Over the course of the season, the ‘Cats will also play host to Eastern Michigan, who won in their last trip to Southeastern Ohio in 2016, as well as MAC East rivals Akron and Bowling Green.
The three remaining games on the Bobcats’ 2020 slate are all non-conference games. They will open the season with a game against FCS North Carolina Central before traveling to Massachusetts to take on ACC foe Boston College.
Ohio and Boston College have not met on the football field in nearly half a century, but the one matchup between them, in 1966, was won by the Bobcats.
The ‘Cats final non-conference game also comes on the road when they travel to San Marcos, Texas to take on the Bobcats of Texas State looking to avenge their shocking triple-overtime loss in 2016. Fun fact: this will also be the only time in 2020 that two schools nicknamed the Bobcats will play a football game against one another.
There is still much that will be learned about the Bobcats over the coming months about how they will transition out of the Nathan Rourke era, but with Frank Solich at the helm, it’s hard to believe they will fall too far.
2020 Ohio Bobcats Football Schedule (Home Games in Bold)
9/5 – NC Central
9/12 – Boston College
9/19 – Marshall
9/26 – Texas State
10/3 – Toledo
10/10 – Eastern Michigan
10/17 – Miami
10/24 – Bowling Green
11/4 (WED) – Central Michigan
11/11 (WED) – Kent State
11/18 (WED) – Buffalo
11/27 (FRI) – Akron
12/5 – MAC Championship Game, Detriot, MI