It’s already been a banner year for MAC football. The conference has tallied a pair of wins over Power Four opponents. Northern Illinois shocked the college football world by knocking off Notre Dame and Toledo took care of business last weekend at Mississippi State. Even though their peers have been successful, Ohio coach Tim Albin knows the Bobcats face a daunting task this weekend at Kentucky.

“Huge challenge on the road,” he said Monday. “An SEC school, they’re big everywhere and physical. Their defense — I don’t see a weakness. Without breaking them down, I don’t see a weakness in their defense. We’re going to have huge matchup problems.”

After opening the season with a 16-point loss at Syracuse, Ohio bounced back with consecutive wins over South Alabama and Morgan State. In their first road trip, the Bobcats jumped out to a 6-0 lead with a pair of field goals. Ohio did not execute in the red zone and they had to settle for three in the first half. This week he’s cranking in more artificial crowd noise in practice to get his team prepared for Kentucky.

“I can do better as a coach. I’ll learn from it and we’ll put in a plan that gives everybody a chance,” said Albin.

He can replicate the atmosphere at Kroger Field, but he cannot simulate Kentucky’s size in practice, particularly on the front line. Deone Walker jumped off the tape the first time Albin watched the Wildcats.

“He is a dude. He’s a first rounder. He is dynamic,” said Albin. “They’re all good, don’t get me wrong, but he is — they’re really, really good on defense, probably as good a defense as Ohio State in ’08. When we played ’em, they returned nine starters and had the No. 1 defense in the country. We’ve played some good ones. They’re going to be up there.”

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Albin Commends Stoops and Kentucky’s Response vs. Georgia

“Kentucky’s got a solid team. I know they’re disappointed with the South Carolina game. Listening to Coach Stoops, he’s a guy I like to listen to on things. He’s a straight shooter… He speaks the truth on this team and they certainly responded against Georgia coming off South Carolina. You can see it on film. I respect that as a fellow coach,” Albin said.

The physicality jumped off the tape from the Georgia game despite Kentucky’s struggles against South Carolina.

“They responded. That’s what you’re after. He’s gotta be proud of it, I would think. His coaching staff challenged them and he’s got their locker room. They went out there and delivered. They played hard. You could just see it on film. It speaks volumes to their staff. I hope our film shows that to our opponents. That’s a goal as a head coach.”

One reporter asked the Ohio head coach about some of the backlash Mark Stoops faced following the loss to South Carolina. Albin, who coached with Frank Solich for years at Nebraska and Ohio, sees Stoops as a program-builder, likening him to Bill Snyder at Kansas State.

“They’re lucky to have him. He’s a pillar there,” said Albin. “There should be a statue outside the stadium is how I see it.”

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