OU Freshman Kicker Nathanial Vakos (90) getting ready to make the extra point against Miami (OH) on Nov. 8th, 2022 in Oxford, Ohio. Photo by Chloe Eggleston

MAC title aspirations

Published August 24, 2023

Football: Ohio enters 2023 with big aspirations following monumental year

By Robert Keegan III | Sports Editor

Following a 2022 season that saw Ohio making it all the way to the Mid-American Conference championship game and an Arizona Bowl victory, the team is still hungry for more entering 2023.

The Bobcats exceeded expectations last year, finishing the year as runner-up in the MAC and victors of the east division. Entering last year, the team was picked to finish only fourth out of six teams in the East.

This year, it is a much different story for Ohio. By a pretty decent margin, Ohio is projected to make a return to the MAC championship game and finish first in the East division, per the head coaches preseason poll.

“We have a lot more answers going into this fall camp than we did last year,” Head Coach Tim Albin said. “Not everybody is at ease but we are more comfortable with where we are at.”

Whether Ohio lives up to this expectation or not has yet to be seen, but entering week zero against San Diego State, there’s no reason to think that the team will be taking a step back.

Ohio is returning a decent number of starters from the team last season. With those starters, a majority of the team's leaders on both sides of the ball are returning as well.

“We returned so many guys, I saw so many of the same faces that I saw (on day one of camp), they looked fast and very excited to be out there,” Albin said following the first day of training camp back in July.

Among Ohio’s returning players are MAC Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year Kurtis Rourke, MAC Freshman of the Year Sieh Bangura and of course, MAC Coach of the Year Tim Albin

The way in which Ohio’s schedule is laid out for the upcoming year is a bit different than in years past. To start out, Ohio will play a week zero game for the first time since Albin took over as head coach. A week zero game means that the team will enjoy two bye weeks during the season while the other MAC teams will only have one.

Ohio ended its season with a bowl game victory last year, and the impact created because of it can’t be overstated. However, with that momentum, the Bobcats also enter with a fire lit from beneath them after a disappointing loss in the MAC title game.

A successful follow-up to last year’s impressive season can mean only one thing – a 2023 MAC title

It’s been a while since Ohio entered a season with this much potential, and the team is not looking to waste it. The Bobcats have not won a MAC title since 1968; this team is hungry to change that.

AUTHOR: ROBERT KEEGAN III
EDITOR: ROBERT KEEGAN III
COPY EDITOR: ADDIE HEDGES
ILLUSTRATION: CHLOE EGGLESTON
WEB DEVELOPMENT: TAVIER LESLIE