By AL JONES
From a statistical viewpoint, Ohio's offense could struggle against the Southern Miss defense in Sunday's GMAC Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
From a defensive perspective, the Bobcats will challenge the Golden Eagles despite being a six-point underdog.
The Bobcats, coached by Frank Solich, won nine games against four setbacks this season, including a loss to Central Michigan in the Mid-America Conference Championship Game.
Along the way, Ohio beat Illinois and lost to Rutgers behind an offense that averages less than 290 total yards and a defense that surrenders more than 300.
The Bobcats will make their first bowl appearance since 1968 and this season marked the first time the senior class has won more than four games in a year.
The MAC, however, is unbeaten in five GMAC Bowl games.
"They may not look like it, but they're pretty good," Southern Miss senior center Robby D'Angelo said. "Really good on defense. The middle linebacker (Matt Muncy) is as good as they come."
Muncy is second on the team in tackles with 81, including 15 tackles for loss.
The Bobcat defense led the MAC in scoring defense at 17.3 points per game, ranked third in rushing defense (131.3), passing defense (173.2) and total defense (304.3).
The defensive front is anchored by a pair of second-team All-MAC players in Jameson Hartke (42 tackles) and Landon Cohen (39 tackles).
Southern Miss counters with freshman running back Damion Fletcher with 1,330 yards and nine touchdowns along with tight end Shawn Nelson with a team-high 506 receiving yards.
"I know they're really good on defense," Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said. "From looking at the stats and everything, they play solid defense. They're not giving up a lot of points; that looks to be their strength on paper. They're giving up at least 300 yards a game, which is really good."
The Bobcats offense is led by senior quarterback Austen Everson, who averages 98.4 passing yards per game and running back Kalvin McRae, who leads the team in rushing (93.5 yards) and receiving (21.5 yards). McRae scored 15 touchdowns this season and rushed for at least 100 yards per outing during a seven-game winning streak snapped by Central Michigan.
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