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In advance of the Ohio University football team's bowl game Saturday evening in Boise, Ohio Athletics Media Relations issued a release with the following pertinent (and in some cases, self-serving) facts:
First and 10
• Ohio will make its third straight bowl appearance as it faces Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Saturday, beginning at 5:30 p.m. (EST) inside Bronco Stadium. The game will be aired on ESPN.
• The Bobcats are in search of their first-ever bowl victory.
• Ohio owns a 3-2 record all-time against teams from the Western Athletic Conference.
• Ohio has racked up over 500 yards or more of total offense in three of its last six weeks.
• The Bobcats have the most wins among Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly 1-A) teams in the state of Ohio.
• Ohio owns a 9-4 record on the year. The Bobcats have won nine games in six different seasons. Three of those nine-win seasons have come during the Solich era.
• The Bobcats have won 45 games since 2006, which is the most by any Mid-American Conference school during that period.
• In Ohio's four losses, the Bobcats have lost by an average of just 4.7 points per game.
• The Bobcats rank fourth in the MAC in both total offense (452.4) and total defense (355.2).
What to watch for…
• A win over Utah State would give the Bobcats' first-ever bowl victory.
• A win over the Aggies would give the Bobcats their fourth win in their last five game. The win would also be Ohio's best finish to a season since 2000 when it won four of its last five games.
• A win over Utah State would give Ohio its 10th win on the year and would mark the first time since 1968 in which the Bobcats have won 10 games in a season.
• A win over Utah State would give head coach Frank Solich his 50th career win at Ohio.
• Senior running back/kick returner Donte Harden is just 67 all-purpose yards shy of becoming the school's all-time single-season leader.
• Harden is also just 61 yards shy of 1,000 yards rushing for the year. Only seven players in school history have rushed for 1,000 yards in a single season.
• Junior kicker Matt Weller is just four points shy of becoming the school's all-time single-season leader.
Utah State series history…
• Ohio and Utah State will meet for the second time in school history on Saturday in the 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Utah State claimed the only meeting between the two teams back on Sept. 17, 1994, winning 5-0 in Peden Stadium.
• The Aggies have had some tough competition this season, and have acquitted themselves well. Among teams going to bowls this season, Utah State lost to Auburn 42-38 on Sept. 3, got beat by BYU 27-24 on Sept. 30, crushed Wyoming 63-19 on Oct. 8, and beat Nevada, 21-17, Nov. 26.
