Caleb Troop

-  Quick hits, stats, thoughts, and more on Ohio football:

-  One big question mark on ‘D’ this week will be what Ohio decides to do if linebacker Errik Ejjike cannot go with his knee injury.  When Ejjike went down in the second half at BG, the ‘Cats went almost exclusively nickel with Shannon Ballard (5 tackles) as the fifth defensive back.  That was acceptable against a pass-heavy Falcons team.  But the question is, would that work an entire game against UA?

-  Two of Ohio’s past ’09 opponents—Uconn and North Texas—were off this week.  Akron will be coming off a bye to face Ohio this Saturday as well.

-  Former Ohio safety Mike Mitchell had one tackle in a loss to Houston Sunday.  Former Bobcats defensive tackle Landon Cohen notched a couple tackles, one that went for a loss.  Western Michigan product Luis Delmas has 21 tackles in four games as a safety for the Lions.

-  Is it always that windy in Bowling Green?  Sheesh.  No thanks.

-  Buffalo (1-4) coach Turner Gill may be beginning to regret not jumping ship to a BCS program this off season.  The Bulls have two rushing touchdowns.

-  It’s the second of three straight homecoming games for Ohio this Saturday against the Zips.  October 17th the ‘Cats welcome Miami (OH) for homecoming at Peden Stadium, and last week Bowling Green celebrated its homecoming.

-  Speaking of the defense, how about the feel good story of Dak Notstine, a former walk-on who is now tied atop the MAC with four sacks?

-  For the third straight game the offensive line did not allow a sack.  A.J. Strum too every snap at left guard.  Eric Herman had seven pancakes playing right guard.  Joe Flading (36) got a majority of the reps at right tackle over Cole Bunner (17), thus continuing a back and forth trend between players.

-  Theo Scott has thrown three interceptions in 127 pass attempts this year.

-  The Bobcats have produced a non-offensive touchdown in four of five games.  LaVon Brazill’s punt return against BG, Chris Garrett’s kick return against UT, Errik Ejjike’s pick six in a win over Cal Poly, and Kenny Jackson’s interception versus North Texas.  Ohio had six non-offensive touchdowns in 2008.

-  By the way, if Ohio goes on to become a bowl team, the play of the year may be that Kenny Jackson pick on his third play of the game in quarter three at UNT.

-  Akron is last in the MAC in total offense, and on the flip side has just two sacks in four games.

-  Weird but encouraging stat for Bobcat fans:  UA is 0-6 on fourth down conversions.

-  Redhawks quarterback Zac Dysert was sacked 10 times in Miami’s loss to Cincinnati.

-  LaVon Brazill will need to continue to produce—and hold on to the football—as Taylor Price sees more and more double teams the rest of the season.  Brazill has become the Adam Dunn or Mark Reynolds of the Bobcats—it’s kind of all or nothing.

-  Linebacker Noah Keller is tied atop the league leader board with Toledo junior Archie Donald at 57 tackles.

-  I would still like to see Freshman WR Gary Fortune get a few more touches worked in with the offense.

-  It will be interesting to see what Bowling Green does the rest of the month.  The Falcons play three of their next four away from home, with trips to Kent State and Ball State the next two weeks before welcoming Central Michigan on the 24th.  BGSU heads to Buffalo to start the month of November.

-  One player no one is talking about but they should be:  Redshirt freshman DT Neal Huynh, who has subbed in constantly for Ernie Hodge and Marcellis Williamson on the interior.

-  Ohio again went with a lot of four man D-line fronts that featured three ends against BG.  DE Stafford Gatling saw maybe the most playing time since he’s been at Ohio on Saturday, and the ‘Cats moved Kris Luchsinger inside to tackle a few plays on passing down.

-  It is good to see DT Jeff King return to the field—he could be needed at Akron if freshman Carl Jones cannot go with the ankle sprain.

-  Remember, on the play before Matt Weller’s 42-yard field goal with 12:01 to play in the fourth quarter, BG coach Dave Clawson declined an Ohio holding call.  Had he taken the penalty, the ‘Cats would have had third and 17 at BG’s 35 yard line.  The Weller field goal gave Ohio a 37-23 lead.

-  Ohio has had more rushing than pass attempts in four of five games this season.  Frank Solich and the ‘Cats ran the ball 18 of 24 times on first down last week as well.  In 2008, Ohio passed more times than it threw in six of 12 games (2 games it was an even 50-50, and four games Ohio ran more than it passed).

-  More to come.

Filed under: 2009 Bobcat Blog, October '09 Blog Notes |