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Ohio makes rare bowl appearance vs. Southern Miss

Jan 7, 2007 - 6:56 PM Ohio (9-4) at Southern Miss (8-5) 8:00 pm EST GMAC Bowl

MOBILE, Alabama (Ticker) -- Ohio hopes its first bowl appearance in nearly 40 years is a successful one.

The Bobcats take on Southern Mississippi in the GMAC Bowl in a matchup of teams that lost their conference championship games.

Ohio (9-4) went 7-1 in the Mid-American Conference to win the East Division before falling to Central Michigan, 31-10, in the league title game on November 30.

The Bobcats, who are in their second season under former Nebraska coach Frank Solich, has not played in the postseason since losing to Richmond, 49-42, in the 1968 Tangerine Bowl. They lost their only other bowl game, a 15-14 setback to West Texas State in the 1962 Sun Bowl.

Ohio is 8-0 this season when Kalvin McRae rushes for 100 yards, but 1-4 when he is held below the century mark.

Southern Miss (9-5) was 6-2 in Conference USA action, winning the East Division before losing to Houston, 34-20, in the league championship on December 1.

Led by freshman Damion Fletcher, who led Conference USA in rushing at 112.7 yards per game, the Golden Eagles are making their ninth bowl appearance in 10 seasons. They posted a 31-19 win over Arkansas State in the 2005 New Orleans Bowl, which was held in Lafayette, Louisiana, because of Hurricane Katrina.

The teams will be meeting for the first time.