19 Oct
10-19 Bobcat Football Notes
- More quick hitters for Ohio football fans:
- Opponents have scored first against Ohio in five of seven games thus far. Not good, but the ‘Cats have bounced back more often than not (See: Redhawks, Miami).
- Kent State has won three of the last four games at Peden Stadium.
- The two common opponents for the ‘Cats and Golden Flashes are Miami and Bowling Green. The ‘Cats are +21 and +7, respectively, while KSU is +17 and -1 against the Redhawks and Falcons (both home games).
- Injury Report: DT Carl Jones (ankle), LB Errik Ejike (knee) are doubtful. CB Billy Santos-Gonzales is out for the year and will have knee surgery in the near future. RB Chris Garrett (ankle) should be available, coach Solich said today, while RB Vince Davidson (uknown) is questionable. RG Eric Herman’s status on an ankle injury is unknown.
- Re: Steven Jackson. The rule, according to Solich and media relations director Jason Corriher, is that a player cannot participate in more than four of the first six contests of a season to qualify for a medical redshirt. So FS Steven Jackson (hip) is eligible to receive another year. Jackson did not play versus Cal Poly and Tennessee. Solich says the surgery will take a while to heal and Jackson will even miss spring ball.
- DE Brandon Weaver (foot) and DB Travis Carrie will redshirt this season. Weaver played last season with the nagging injury and did not tell coaches at the time, Solich said.
- There are 12 Bobcats who have started all seven games on offense or defense this season. Can you name them? The answer is at the bottom of this blog entry.
- For the third time this year (Matt Weller, Melvin Payne) the Bobcats have the MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week after Chad Clemens earned the honors today with a blocked punt Saturday versus Miami.
- Punter Matt Schulte will be eligible to play this week, but Coach Solich said both Schulte and Paul Hershey will probably see time booting it away versus Kent State. Furthermore, with that ever-so-popular grin on his face, Solich did not rule out seeing even three punters (Matt Weller) against KSU. Who knows…
- Solich also did not rule out returning to a dual-punt return set this week or at any time in the near future, though he was pleased with LaVon Brazill’s ability to field punts against Miami. The problem with going back to two men back deep at this point is merely personnel. WR Riley Dunlop—who I’m convinced has never dropped a football in his life—was the only serviceable returner back there with Brazill. Santos-Gonzalez would have gotten a look, but now he is done for the year as previously mentioned. Ryan Clark is another option, Solich said.
- Solich thinks Kent State poses the biggest special teams challenge of the year for the ‘Cats on Saturday. KSU’s leads the MAC in net punting and is second in punt returns.
- Bobcats center David White (who may be playing at a 1st team All-MAC level this year) will be going up against former Chardon H.S. teammate and current KSU defensive lineman Kevin Hogan this Saturday.
- The Bobcats lead the nation with 23 forced turnovers.
- The Bobcats have not lost the turnover battle in eight straight games dating back to last year.
- Kent State’s red zone offense is dead last in the nation, and at 22% on third downs, that figure is second worst in all of college football.
- The opposition has rushed for at least one touchdown in six of seven games. Only Cal Poly, ironically enough, did not score on the ground against the Green and White.
- The ‘Cats have not lost a game when leading at half (4-0) or after three quarters (4-0) this season.
- Ohio’s combined point totals in all four quarters have been higher than its opponent. More simply, the ‘Cats are +3 in the first quarter, +11 in quarter number two, +8 in the third frame, and +18 in the last period.
- For the first time all season, the ‘Cats played in a game in which neither team made a field goal.
- Solich was asked during his weekly press conference today about a few interesting topics that are worth watching on OhioBobcats.com or reading about throughout the week I’m sure through various media outlets. For example, I asked coach about the difficulties of preparing for some many first-year starting quarterbacks this season, and he noted it is tough to game plan since there is little film, a la KSU QB Spencer Keith this week.
- Near the end of today’s press conference I asked Frank about his thoughts on the tragedy at UConn with the stabbing death of Jasper Howard. He went on to talk about how he tells his players after games and practices to be smart when out on campus and to make sure to steer clear of any potentially harmful situations.
- Don’t forget to stop by “The Frank Solich Show” tonight at 7 p.m. at Donato’s on East State Street. You can listen live on Power 105.5-FM WXTQ in Southeast Ohio.
- Speaking of radio shows, “The Sears Sports Fan” has been busy the last few weeks. Brian Boesch and new co-host Bryan Levin, who calls Ohio University hockey games as well, have been chock full of Bobcat football and high school football coverage. Boesch interviews the play-by-play voice for each of Ohio’s opponents on Fridays.
- What a downer week around the area on the prep gridiron scene. Alexander loses to Evan Shaw’s Meigs Marauders, all but ending playoff hopes for the Spartans. Athens still cannot claim the Doc Kroner trophy with a 14-13 loss to Nelsonville-York. The Bulldogs needed to go 10-0 to have a shot at the Division II playoffs. N-Y has a chance to get to the post-season, but Dave Boston Jr.’s club (7-1) may need to win out, and a trip to Ironton this Friday won’t be easy. Ironton coach Bob Lutz is one win away from the Ohio state record.
- I’m told Solich was in attendance for the Athens-Nelsonville-York game last Friday night. Bobcat WRs coach Dwayne Dixon and D-line coach Pete Germano both have sons who contribute to the varsity team.
- 12 Bobcats who have started all seven games: WR Taylor Price, LT Chris Rodgers, C David White, TE Jordan Thompson, DE Dak Notestine, DT Ernie Hodge, NG Marcellis Williamson, LBs Lee Renfro and Noah Keller, CBs Thad Turner and Idris Lawrence and SS Patrick Tafua.
- More to come, including some Bobcat basketball pre-season news and notes.