|
MOBILE, Ala. -- Frank Solich went from a program that nearly
always goes to a bowl game to one that almost never does. The former Nebraska coach leads the Ohio Bobcats into their
first bowl game since 1968, facing Southern Miss in the GMAC Bowl
Sunday night. If the Cornhuskers greeted bowl trips with collective yawns
during a 35-year postseason streak that ended the year after
Solich's firing in 2003, Bobcats fans are nowhere near as spoiled
by success. "It's been a great deal of fun," said Solich, 13-11 in two
seasons at Ohio. "It was fun to take those Nebraska teams to bowl
games and be able to keep that streak alive. But it's obvious that
there's new excitement here, there's new energy here." Using Nebraska as a model wouldn't be realistic for Ohio (9-4),
which is 0-2 in bowl games, both in the 1960s. Southern Miss (8-5)
might be a better example. The Golden Eagles are playing in a bowl game for the fifth
consecutive year and ninth time in 10 years. "Southern Miss has a great deal of bowl exposure," said
Solich, who was 4-7 in his first year at Ohio. "They're where we
want to get to. We want our program to get to that level. "We're just going to have to line up and play our style of
football and not get too caught up in the fact that we're in a bowl
game." The Bobcats are still overshadowed by Ohio State, which plays
for a national championship against Florida on Monday night. Solich has been in that position before. His Cornhuskers lost to
Miami in the 2002 Rose Bowl with the national title on the line. The Mobile bowl game was played on the Wednesday or Thursday
before Christmas from 1999-2005, but was moved to the eve of the
championship game this year for added exposure. The Bobcats lost 31-10 to Central Michigan in the Mid American
Conference championship game to end a seven-game winning streak.
Likewise, Southern Miss fell in the Conference USA title game,
34-20 to Houston. That hardly tarnished Ohio's first winning season since 2000.
Tailback Kalvin McRae attributes much of that success to Solich,
with the Bobcats on the verge of matching their 10-win seasons from
1962 and '68. "From the first day he stepped on campus, he really instilled a
winning attitude in the program," McRae said. "Our program got
used to losing. He made us believe in ourselves and believe that we
could be a great team, could have a winning season, go to a
championship game and go to a bowl game." Golden Eagles coach Jeff Bower said he's glad his peer rebounded
from a firing. "Coaches always like to see other coaches do what Frank's
done," Bower said. "He did a heck of a job at Nebraska and loses
his job after going 9-3, then goes into Ohio and in two years has
them in a bowl game and a nine-win season. I think it's neat to see
him enjoy that kind of success." Bower said he doesn't think the disparity in bowl experience
will necessarily be an advantage to either team, especially since
Solich is a bowl veteran. Southern Miss defensive lineman Martavius
Prince expects the Bobcats to be fired up. "When you have a team that hasn't been to a bowl in 50 years
they're going be wound up, they're going be ready," Prince said.
"We're going have to overcome that." Both teams used similar formulas, particularly strong running
games. Southern Miss freshman Damion Fletcher was the nation's top
rusher among first-year college players with 1,330 yards. The
Golden Eagles went over 2,000 yards rushing as a team for the first
time since 1987. Ohio turned to McRae and the ground attack after a 2-3 start,
and he wound up earning first-team All-MAC honors with 1,215 yards
and 15 touchdowns. The Bobcats are averaging 211 yards rushing in the past eight
games, failing to reach that number only in the league title game. "We needed to get some kind of identity as an offense," McRae
said. It worked, but finally getting Ohio back in the bowl business
isn't enough for Solich. "It's been very satisfying for me because of the fact that the
program struggled so long," he said. "It's good to get it moving
in the right direction. This is just one step. We have other steps
to take, but it's a great step forward for us."
|
