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When Ohio’s accomplished seniors finish this season, they want to be able to look back and say they would not change a thing about their time with the Bobcats.

“This is an excellent group of seniors as I look at what they have accomplished, but they have a couple other things that they want to get accomplished,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “They’re talking about being remembered and no regrets. That’s the motto they are going with this year.”

Ohio’s seniors have contributed to a 27-13 record the last three years, a Mid-American Conference East Division championship in 2011, three bowl games and the program’s first two postseason victories in its history.

Still, the Bobcats have not been crowned MAC champions in football since 1968.

“I think that’s the biggest prize of them all,” Ohio senior quarterback Tyler Tettleton said. “… Winning your conference beats anything other than a national championship. That’s the one thing we want to accomplish and that’s the reason we made our motto what it is this year.”

The Bobcats seemed destined to end their drought of more than 40 years in 2011 when they reached the MAC Championship Game, took a 20-3 lead at halftime but fell to Northern Illinois, 23-20, on a field goal as time expired.

As if being on the losing end of such a game is not hard enough as it is, offensive lineman Jon Lechner, now a senior, had to watch things unravel from the sidelines after he tore his medial collateral ligament in the second quarter.

“I’m very motivated,” Lechner said. “I want to go out with a bang. We’ve been MAC East champions, which is great; we’ve been bowl champions, which is great. I want that MAC championship. We almost had it and it slipped out and it really sucked to see that on crutches on the sideline – to watch it slip away. We’re going to do everything we can to get back there.”

Lechner came back from his injury to play all 13 games in 2012, although he said he played through pain. It was a better situation than many of Ohio’s players faced last year; Nearly 20 players had their seasons ended early because of injury, more missed games and countless others, like Lechner, played despite not being 100 percent.

Although the injuries began piling up from the get-go – the Bobcats had lost both their starting cornerbacks only a few plays into their opener – they managed to start the season with a nationally-televised 24-14 victory against Penn State and went on to win the next six games to find a place in the national rankings at 7-0.

Ohio hit the road to face rival Miami in what most expected to be a sure bet for the team’s fifth straight victory in the Battle for the Bricks. The RedHawks took a 20-7 lead, though, and after the Bobcats rallied, they went ahead, 23-20, with less than two minutes remaining. Tettleton led Ohio inside the 10-yard-line, but without any timeouts and nine seconds remaining, he was sacked and time expired.

Although the Bobcats bounced back to beat Eastern Michigan in their next game, they closed the season with three straight losses as their depth was tested more and more each week with a schedule that included four games in 19 days.

“That was something unreal having that many injuries as we had last year,” senior defensive end Ty Branz said. “One injury is tough to overcome, but when you put up numbers like that, that’s just insane.”

The positive was many of Ohio’s younger players gained valuable playing time. Then, with plenty of time to rest and heal, the Bobcats closed out their season how they began it – with an impressive effort in a 45-14 blowout victory against Louisiana-Monroe in the Independence Bowl.

“We couldn’t have had a better ending with that game,” Tettleton said. “I’m so glad we could get that done, especially going into this year having that momentum. If what would have happened down the stretch and then we would have lost that bowl game, it would have been kind of devastating and made it not as good of an offseason. That allowed us to have more momentum going into this year.”

For the second year in a row, Ohio will have a chance to make a national impact with a season-opening road game on ESPN. Rather than facing a program in disarray, the Bobcats this year take on a top-10 team in Louisville.

“They have a tremendous football team – maybe the best that we have played in my time here and we’ve played some pretty good football teams,” Solich said.

But Solich said he has a team that expects to win every game they play, and although there are some question marks, the team seems to have the makings of something special once again if everything comes together. He added he feels good about the team’s leadership, especially from its captains Tettleton, running back Beau Blankenship, wide receiver Donte Foster, cornerback Travis Carrie and linebacker Keith Moore.

The offense, which returns eight starters, begins with Norman North (Okla.) High School teammates Tettleton and Blankenship, who helped the Bobcats average 31.7 points per game a year ago.

“I think we have a chance to be an explosive team on the offensive side,” Solich said. “We have a lot of playmakers.”

Tettleton threw for 2,844 yards on 62.1 passing with 18 touchdowns and only four interceptions. He missed one game with an injury and did not seem at full health the rest of the year, rushing for just 244 yards after he gained 658 yards on the ground as a sophomore. His 2011 campaign also saw him throw for 3,302 yards and 28 touchdowns with 10 interceptions.

In his first year as a starter, Blankenship rushed for a school record 1,604 yards and 15 touchdowns, which was one shy of tying the single-season mark. He rushed for 269 yards on a school-record 43 carries against UMass and proved to be a workhorse all season long.

“If I need to come out or I need a breather, we have a bunch of great backs who can go in and get stuff done, but I enjoy carrying it like that,” Blankenship said.

He is backed up by senior Ryan Boykin, a power runner who averaged 6.0 yards per carry and totaled 445 yards on the ground in seven games. He has more than 1,000 yards rushing in his Bobcats career. Speedy Daz’mond Patterson offers a change of pace. He rushed for 195 yards as a sophomore and was the team’s leading kick returner.

Foster is expected to be Ohio’s go-to receiver for a second straight season after gaining 659 yards and eight touchdowns on 59 receptions in 2012. He did this despite a thumb injury.

After Foster, senior Mario Dovell, junior Chase Cochran and senior Matt Waters are expected to see the most time on the field, although the team is deep at the position. Dovell started in last year’s opener but was injured and missed the rest of the season. Cochran had 22 catches for 377 yards and four scores, including a breakout 162-yard performance in the Independence Bowl. Waters finished with 14 catches for 225 yards on the year.

“We have a ton of receivers that are able to make plays,” Foster said. “… Hopefully they get out there and show them what they’ve got.”

Junior Landon Smith missed most of last season with a broken ankle, while Sebastian Smith missed his freshman season with a broken leg. He delayed his enrollment and is a true freshman this year. Redshirt freshman Jordan Reid is another receiver expected to be in the mix.

Tight end probably is the biggest question mark offensively for Ohio. Senior Troy Hill (14 receptions for 169 yards) is the only returning player at the position that that lost both Derek Roback and Tyler Knight to career-ending injuries and four-year starter Jordan Thompson to graduation.

“I feel like I’ve got a bigger role now,” Hill said. “They expect more from me, especially playing for a while. They know I know the system well and I’ve got to set an example.”

Transfer tight ends Anthony Talbert from North Carolina State and Alex Asher from North Carolina are eligible to play immediately as graduate students and provide much-needed depth. Talbert played in every game the last three years for the Wolfpack. True freshmen Troy Mangen and Mason Morgan could be forced into immediate action because of season-ending injuries to redshirt freshmen Davon Henry and John Tanner.

Ohio lost two players on its offensive line, guard Eric Herman and center Skyler Allen, who got time with NFL teams, but the coaching staff gave extensive playing time to backups who performed well when given the chance.

Lechner is the most experienced and versatile, having played at both guard and tackle in the past, and he is expected to fill a left guard spot this year. Senior left tackle John Prior and junior Ryan McGrath both are returning starters, while sophomore Lucas Powell checks in at center and Sam Johnson at right guard.

“We have four seniors on the line,” Lechner said. “I think all of us really try to lead by example to try to help the team out. We have a big loss with Skyler and Herman, but we’ve got a couple guys who can be just as good hopefully. We have faith in them.”

Sophomore Mike McQueen, redshirt freshman Nick Gibbons and sophomore center Mike Lucas are the line’s top backups, along with junior Mark Smith, who currently is sidelined with a hand injury.

Ohio’s defensive line was ravished by graduation, losing all four starters, though due to injuries, tackle Antwan Crutcher and end Nic Barber started a combined 10 games.

Crutcher, a junior, will start this year, most likely alongside sophomore Brandon Purdum in the middle. Crutcher had 40 tackles a year ago, while Purdum had 10 tackles in limited time. Backups for the middle of the line include junior college transfer Cameron McLeod, junior Tony Davis and sophomore Andrew Bennett.

As seniors, Barber and Branz might start, but junior Kendric Smith and freshman Tarell Basham could see as much or more playing time at the end positions. Branz tied for the team lead last year in sacks with just three.

“Losing four seniors who started is always tough to do as a team and we’ve got a pretty big challenge ahead of us, but I think we can be a good unit and not be a weak link like some people might think we might be,” Branz said.

Moore, last year’s leading tackler with 98, is the only returning starter at linebacker and not to the same position. He will move from the middle to the weak side, where he began his career. Sophomore Ben Russell will take over the middle starting spot, while junior A.J. Grady is the lead candidate to take the strong side starting spot.

Junior Brandon Atwell, sophomore Jovon Johnson and redshirt freshman Blair Brown are the top backups at linebacker.

The secondary no doubt should be the leading unit of the defense with eight players who have started sometime in their career on the roster this year. It is led by Carrie, a sixth-year player who is coming off a shoulder injury that kept him out all of last year. He has played in 37 career games with 100 tackles and five interceptions since his freshman year in 2008.

Jamil Shaw lasted only a handful of plays before an injury ended his junior season and he is battling sophomore Ian Wells, who took over for him, for a starting role this year. Sophomore Devin Bass started one game a year ago and moved up this year’s depth chart with the suspension of junior Larenzo Fisher, who started 10 games last year.

The Bobcats have flexibility at safety with junior Josh Kristoff, who could start at either spot. Xavier Hughes has missed time each of the last two years because of injuries, but if healthy, is the favorite to start at strong safety. If not, Kristoff will play there and junior Thad Ingol will start at free safety. Junior nickel back Nathan Carpenter and sophomore Aaron Macer will provide depth at safety.

“Our secondary should be a strength with the experience we have,” Kristoff said. “We should be able to lock some teams down.”

Sophomore Grant Venham will be in his second year as Ohio’s punter, but with the graduation of Matt Weller, the MAC Special Teams Player of the Year, kicker is still a question mark as game day approaches.

“Losing Weller is a big loss,” Solich said. “He was tremendous in our program throughout the course of his time here starting out as a freshman. A guy like that is not an easy guy to replace.”

Sophomore Josiah Yazdani has recovered from an injury last year and is being challenged for kicking duties by redshirt freshman Matt Amicone and sophomore Matt Green, a transfer from Oklahoma State.

“All in all, we have a chance to be pretty good overall on both sides of the ball,” Solich said.

Ohio opens its season at 3:30 p.m. Sunday against Louisville at Papa John’s Stadium.