2016 DOLLAR GENERAL BOWL
Ohio (8-5, 6-2 MAC) vs. Troy (9-3, 6-2 Sun Belt)
Friday, December 23, 2016 • 8:00 pm ET
Mobile, Ala. • Ladd Peebles Stadium (40,646)
ESPN: Clay Matvick (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (analyst), Dr. Jerry Punch (sideline)
Watch Live
Ohio Notes; MAC Notes;
• After a 10-year hiatus from playing in a bowl game in Mobile, Ala., the Ohio football team will face Troy in the 2016 Dollar General Bowl on Dec. 23 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
• Ohio is coming off a tough loss in the 2016 Marathon MAC Championship game vs. No. 17 Western Michigan, 29-23 while Troy is coming off of a 28-24 loss at Georgia Southern in their season finale.
• Ohio is 0-1 all-time against Troy. The only meeting between the two squads was the 2010 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, which Troy won 49-21.
• This marks the seventh bowl game that Ohio has been to under head coach Frank Solich is his 12 years at the helm.
• Solich is 3-1 all-time against Troy including three wins while he was the head coach at Nebraska.
• Ohio has been bowl eligible the last eight straight seasons making appearances in seven bowls over that span. That streak leads the MAC and only 15 schools have a longer streak than Ohio.
• Ohio landed 10 players on the MAC and Phil Steele All-MAC Team including Tarell Basham as Defensive Player of the Year and Javon Hagan as Freshman of the Year.
• RS senior LB Blair Brown was named an All-American by Pro Football Focus
• RS freshman PK Louie Zervos was named a Freshman All-American by USA Today and College Insider. Zervos set an NCAA record for most field goals by a freshman kicker with 26 so far this season.
• Ohio leads the MAC and ranks 6th in the country with a rushing defense that allows just 105.8 yards per game.
• Ohio ranks 8th in the country averaging 3.31 team sacks per game.
• RS freshman kicker Louie Zervos drilled a 51-yard field goal against Buffalo which was a career-long and the longest field goal kicked in the MAC this season.
• RS freshman Javon Hagan ranks 10th in the country in forced fumbles with four so far this season.
• Head Coach Frank Solich is third in All-Time career MAC wins with 88. He will need 20 more wins to tie Ohio legend Bill Hess for No. 2 on the list.
• Head Coach Frank Solich is the fourth-longest tenured head coach in the NCAA.
• Ohio is the only program in the NCAA to have had the same head coach, offensive and defensive coordinator over the last 12 years.
Basham Reaches Record:
Senior DE Tarell Basham became the all-time sack leader in Ohio history when he recorded his 20th career sack late in the game at Kansas. Basham ranks seventh amongst active career leaders in total sacks while ranking seventh in total tackle for loss yards. Basham currently has 29.5 career sacks for Ohio and 11.5 on the season. The MAC record for sacks in a single season is 17 set by Ameer Ismail from Western Michigan in 2006. Jason Babin set the MAC career record with 38 sacks in his career at Western Michigan from 2000-03.
Smith Approaching Record:
Senior WR Sebastian Smith was the top target last season for the Bobcats, hauling in 64 catches for 770 yards with seven touchdowns. Although he missed the game at Kansas, Smith has caught 53 passes this year for 872 yards. Smith is third all-time with 161 career receptions. LaVon Brazill set the career mark at Ohio during his carer from 2007-11 with 189 career receptions. Smith needs 6 more passes to move into a tie for second on the all-time list with Donte’ Foster.
Bowl Eligibility:
With their win at Toledo, Ohio became bowl eligible for the eighth straight season which leads the Mid-American Conference. Only 15 teams have longer bowl eligible streaks than Ohio, with Florida State leading the country with 34 years of bowl eligibility.
