Ohio Football Takes on Wyoming in Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl

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Athens, Ohio—The Ohio football team (9-4, 7-1 MAC) is set to travel to Tucson, Ariz. on Dec. 30 for the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl against the Wyoming Cowboys (7-5, 5-3 MWC). Kickoff is set for 4:30 ET/2:30 MST at Arizona Stadium. The game can be seen on Barstool.TV with Jake Marsh, Dave Portnoy and Big Cat on the call; Caleb Pressley and Adam “Rone” Ferrone will be on the sideline.

The Bobcats’ matchup can also be heard on the Ohio Sports Network from Learfield. Russ Eisenstein returns for his 15th season as the “Voice of the Bobcats” and will be joined by Ohio alum Rob Cornelius, who has been a part of the broadcasts for two decades.

SERIES HISTORY VS. WYOMING
The Bobcats and the Cowboys met twice in consecutive seasons, 2007 and 2008. 

The Cowboys engineered a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Ohio, 34-33, in 2007. The following year, Ohio opened their season at Wyoming. The Cowboys pulled off another fourth-quarter comeback, defeating the Bobcats 21-20.  

SCOUTING WYOMING
Wyoming enters this matchup with the Bobcats with a 7-5 overall record and 5-3 against MWC opponents. Last time out, they fell to Fresno State, 30-0. 

Wyoming recorded 191 yards of total offense passing for 104 yards and rushing for 87 yards. Wyoming held Fresno State to only 297 yards of offense over 100 yards below their season average and 100 yards below their average yards passing per game at 183 for the night.

The Cowboy defense was paced by Easton Gibbs with 12 tackles, as he went over 100 for the season becoming the 61st player in Wyoming history to record 100-plus tackles in a season. Oluwaseyi Omotosho recorded a career-high eight tackles including a sack.

The Wyoming offense was paced by quarterback Andrew Peasley passing for 104 yards on 12-of-29 passing. Running back Titus Swen rushed for 75 yards going over 1,000 for the season. He is the 12th Cowboy to rush for 1,000 yards as that has been done 16 times. Wide receiver Josh Cobbs grabbed four passes for 23 yards. John Michael Gyllenborg recorded a career high three catches for 21 yards.

Fresno State took the lead on the opening drive on a five-play, 66-yard drive ending in a four-yard run from Jordan Mims. Quarterback Jake Haener connected on a pair of passes for 33 yards on the drive to set up the score for the Bulldogs in the opening two minutes of the game.

The Bulldogs took a 14-0 lead with 2:17 left in the first quarter on a Haener touchdown pass to Nikko Remigio from six yards out. The eight-play, 41-yard drive just set up by a partially blocked punt. Haener passed for 38-yards on the drive.

Fresno State got pressure once again and blocked another Clayton Stewart punt this time for a safety to take a 16-0 lead four minutes into the second quarter. Mims would add another touchdown following the free kick and took a 23-0 lead with 8:28 remaining in the opening frame. That would be the score going into halftime, as Wyoming was held to 73 yards of total offense.

Mims would score his third touchdown of the game from two yards out for a 30-0 contest with 7:55 remaining in the third quarter. 

On the season, the Cowboys are averaging 20.8 points per game; their opponents have been averaging 23.4 points per game. 

Wyoming averages 187.8 rushing yards per game, while putting up an average of 127.8 yards per game through the air. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Ohio football program fell to the Toledo Rockets in the Mid-American Conference Championship, 17-7. 

In the air, redshirt sophomore quarterback CJ Harris finished the game 17-for-31 on 163 yards. Redshirt freshman running back Sieh Bangura led with four receptions while junior wide receiver Jacoby Jones accumulated 38 yards on three catches. 

Bangura also led the team on the ground, scoring Ohio’s only touchdown. He finished the game with 20 carries on 56 yards. 

Defensively, graduate student cornerback Zack Sanders led with 10 tackles and one tackle for loss while sixth year safety Alvin Floyd had six solo tackles and redshirt senior linebacker Bryce Houston recorded two tackles for loss. 

The Rockets struck on the first drive, taking an early 7-0 lead. With 6:47 remaining in the half, Bangura scored with a two-yard rushing touchdown. Freshman kicker Nathanial Vakos followed with a good kick, tying the game 7-7. Just before halftime, Toledo kicked a 44-yard field goal to take a 10-3 lead. 

After a scoreless third quarter, the Rockets wrapped up a 16-play, 90-yard drive with a passing touchdown, taking a 10-point lead with 10:36 left in the game. Unable to score again, the Bobcats fell at Ford Field, 17-7.

SCOUTING OHIO
Currently, the Bobcats are 9-4 overall and 7-1 in MAC play. They average 31.92 points, 138.9 rushing yards and 285.31 passing yards per game. 

Quarterback CJ Harris made his first collegiate start against Bowling Green (Nov. 22); on the season, he is 32-for-64 with one touchdown on 393 yards in the air. 

On the ground, Sieh Bangura has net 940 rushing yards with 12 touchdowns, Nolan McCormick has 303 rushing yards on 81 attempts, while Harris has three touchdowns on 116 yards.

Sam Wiglusz leads the receivers with 69 catches and 11 touchdowns on 850 yards. Jacoby Jones has five touchdowns on 732 yards while James Bostic currently has 592 yards, 32 receptions and one touchdown. 

Keye Thompson leads the defense with 96 tackles, 45 of which are solo. He has three pass breakups, five quarterback hurries, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble. Bryce Houston has 72 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and eight quarterback hurries while Alvin Floyd is just behind him with 70 tackles and five pass breakups. 

Jack Wilson has 38 punts on the season, accumulating 1410 yards and averaging 37.11 yards per punt while Jonah Wieland has recorded 621 yards on 16 punts. 

In 81 kickoffs, Tristian Vandenberg has recorded 4,880 yards and 31 touchbacks. 

Nathanial Vakos continues his strong freshman season, going 19-for-23 on field goals and 48-for-49 on PATs. So far this season, he’s scored 105 points. 

ROURKE AND WIGLUSZ NAMED TO 2022 ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® SECOND TEAM
The Ohio football team was represented by redshirt junior quarterback Kurtis Rourke and graduate student wide receiver Sam Wiglusz on the 2022 Academic All-America® football teams selected by the College Sports Communicators on Dec. 20. 

Both Rourke and Wiglusz earned spots on the 2022 Academic All-America® Second Team.

18 STUDENT-ATHLETES EARN ACADEMIC-ALL MAC HONORS
The Ohio football team placed 18 student-athletes on the 2022 Academic All-Mid-American Conference Team, as announced by the league on Dec. 19. 

The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport.

Graduate student wide receiver James Bostic, redshirt junior linebacker Caden Campolieti, redshirt senior wide receiver Philip Cole, redshirt senior offensive lineman Kurt Danneker, graduate student safety Tariq Drake, redshirt senior linebacker Bryce Houston, redshirt junior linebacker Kyle Kelly, redshirt freshman running back Nolan McCormick, redshirt freshman safety John Motton, redshirt sophomore safety Nife Oseni, redshirt senior offensive lineman Bryce Ramer, sixth year offensive lineman Brody Rodgers, redshirt freshman offensive lineman Kaden Rogers, redshirt junior quarterback Kurtis Rourke, redshirt sophomore linebacker Dylan Stevens, redshirt junior offensive lineman Parker Titsworth, redshirt junior kicker Tristian Vandenberg and sixth year punter Jonah Wieland all earned Academic All-MAC honors.

NINE STUDENT-ATHLETES EARN PHIL STEELE MAC ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
The Ohio football team was represented by nine student-athletes on the 2022 Phil Steele Mid-American All-Conference Teams. 

Redshirt junior quarterback Kurtis Rourke, graduate student wide receiver Sam Wiglusz and sixth year offensive lineman Hagen Meservy all earned First Team Offense honors while redshirt freshman running back Sieh Bangura was named to Third Team Offense. Redshirt senior Keye Thompson is representing the Bobcats on Third Team Defense while redshirt senior defensive end Jack McCrory and sixth year safety Tariq Drake earned Fourth Team Defense. Freshman kicker Nathanial Vakos and redshirt junior wide receiver Keegan Wilburn both earned Second Team Special Teams accolades.

ROURKE NAMED 2022 CORNISH TROPHY RUNNER-UP
The Ohio football team’s Kurtis Rourke was named the 2022 Cornish Trophy runner-up. 

The Mid-American Conference player of the year in 2022 was Ohio Jr. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke of Oakville, Ontario. He was fifth in the nation in passing until sustaining a knee injury in Ohio’s second to last game, finishing with 3,256 yards passing,…