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

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