It's been nearly eight decades since the West Virginia Mountaineers last traveled to Athens, Ohio, to play football.
In WVU's last encounter with the Ohio Bobcats in the Buckeye State, the Mountaineers' coach was Dudley S. DeGroot and Bridgeport native John Murphy was the leading rusher for WVU.
The Mountaineers fell to the Bobcats, 17-7.
Times have certainly changed since 1949, with modern-day WVU established as a Power Four program as it prepares to meet Ohio for the 18th time.
The Mountaineers and Bobcats will meet for the first time since 2001 on Saturday at 4 p.m. WVU has won the last four contests against Ohio.
The Bobcats finished 2024 with an 11-3 overall record and 7-1 in the Mid-American Conference.
"There were some turnover issues that [WVU] had and [those] things tend to happen in a first game," Ohio coach Brian Smith said of his opponent's opening-week performance. "Once they settled down and were able to get things rolling, you saw what their potential is. Rich [Rodriguez] is a very good coach. They're going to play fast on offense. They're going to play with a lot of tempo. He coaches his teams hard. They're typically going to be physical. They're going to live on running the football.
"I appreciate the brand that he represents."
West Virginia finished last Saturday's contest against Robert Morris with a time of possession of 27:30, with a majority of that coming from a high-tempo offensive identity.
The Bobcats fell short in their season opener against Rutgers, 34-31. The Scarlet Knights, like WVU, enjoy channeling their inner Lightning McQueen from "Cars" -- speed.
Rutgers closed the three-point victory last week with a time of possession of 31:45, while Ohio's was at 28:15.
Smith draws similarities from WVU and Rutgers, but the first-year Ohio coach feels the Mountaineers will fly around the field much quicker.
"West Virginia's gonna play a much faster tempo than Rutgers did," Smith said. "That's more of what their culture is and who they are [and] what the coach wants to be. There's more prep in that this week in terms of how we handle tempo, getting our calls and getting lined up faster."
The Bobcats started last season with Tim Albin as coach. He left for Charlotte before Ohio's bowl game against Jacksonville State -- coincidentally where Rodriguez was.
Though Smith was interim coach for the bowl game before being officially hired, Rodriguez didn't coach the Gamecocks because he had already been hired by WVU to replace Neal Brown.
Ohio, despite losing Albin to the 49ers, retained five coordinator positions, including defensive coordinator John Hauser.
"They were the best team in the MAC [last year and] even though their head coach left, the coordinators stayed," Rodriguez said. "So, the culture, if that's the right word, is already established there because the staff returned. It's going to be a big challenge. Our guys [are] gonna learn. I told them we gotta learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable because we're gonna be in a small locker room, long bus ride there [and going] against a good team with an explosive quarterback."
That "explosive" quarterback Rodriguez referenced is Parker Navarro.
Navarro closed last season with more than 3,400 yards of offense and 31 touchdowns.
"[Navarro] is one of the best in the country. He's really good, really talented," Rodriguez said.
Ohio's defense took a significant hit this past offseason, losing its top four leading tacklers, including team-leader Blake Leake.
The Bobcats did, however, welcome back DJ Walker, who finished fifth on the Bobcats with 53 tackles, seven tackles for loss and seven pass breakups.
Ohio's defense tied for 12th in the FBS last season in scoring defense, holding opponents to 18.1 points per game.
Rodriguez still sees a physical and quick defensive unit under Hauser.
"They [are] very athletic and play really hard, which a lot of coaches say every team plays hard, but they do," Rodriguez said. "They play with a chip on their shoulder. You could tell they've got a great culture. We know they're gonna play extremely hard against us."
Peden Stadium atmosphere
Ohio announced in August that Saturday's game between the Mountaineers and Bobcats was a sellout.
Peden Stadium has a capacity of about 25,000, with the highest-attended game there coming in 2012 against New Mexico State with a crowd of 25,893.
"It should be an electric experience," Smith said. "I know we're expecting it to be the largest capacity that we've had in the stadium. It'll be unique because there will be a good group from Morgantown. It should be exciting. It's a great time for our football program, coming off a championship year to have the opportunity to play in a game like this, and that type of atmosphere at home is awesome."
That same energy is being felt by WVU players, including safety Darrian Lewis.
Lewis transferred to Morgantown after spending the last four seasons as an Ohio rival at Akron.
Lewis and the Zips didn't have much success against the Bobcats, losing all four meetings, including a 30-10 defeat last season.
"This is a game that I'm excited for," Lewis said. "I can't wait to get out there. It's a lot of personal. So don't worry about that part. It's gonna be a very good experience."
