Caleb Troop

-  Ohio evened its record against the “Huskies” to 1-1 at Peden Stadium this year after the 23-16 loss to a UConn Huskies team.

-  Ohio is now 25-6 when leading at halftime under Frank Solich, including a 6-0 mark this year.  Ohio and NIU were tied at 14-14 during Saturday’s game.

-  Going into Saturday’s NIU game, Ohio had committed a turnover in the red zone in four of the last five games.  That did not happen versus the Huskies, though.

-  According to the Temple News, Owls coach Al Golden sang Zombie Nation for his team at halftime Saturday versus Kent State because “they weren’t having any fun.”

-  Temple freshman running back Bernard Pierce injured his shoulder early vs. KSU.  His status against Ohio is unknown.

-  A.J. Strum has just been phenomenal since being inserted at left guard in game number five versus Bowling Green.  Leading up to the Northern Illinois contest in 342 snaps, he has yet to allow a sack, with just one quarterback pressure.

-  More o-lineman talk:  right tackle Joe Flading had eight pancake blocks against Buffalo, the second most by an Ohio offensive lineman in a single game this year (David White, 8.5 vs. Cal Poly).

-  Ohio scored two touchdowns and one field goal in three red zone chances Saturday—better, not great, but better.

-  Safety Patrick Tafua is playing hurt with that nagging shoulder injury, but boy is he gutting it out.  Tafua had 11 tackles and a few monster hits Saturday.

-  L.J. Flintall reminded me of Josh Abrams on specials teams—four tackles on kick and punt coverage.  Heck of a game.

-  A representative from the New York Giants and the Little Caesars Pizza Pizza Bowl were both expected to be in attendance Saturday.

-  In case you missed it, The Post Sports Editor Joe Ragazzo was a guest on The Jim Schaus Show last Thursday.

-  Ohio University President Dr. Roderick McDavis gave Ohio head coach Frank Solich quite the hearty congratulations on the field following the ‘Cats 38-31 win.

-  On first down attempts, Ohio ran it 11 times and threw it 14 times.  On those 11 rushes, the ‘Cats averaged 4 yards per attempt.

-  As mentioned during the radio broadcast, Saturday’s crowd was not the biggest, but definitely the best of the year.  It again proves the point that winning football makes students want to stay past the Marching 110 performance at halftime.  Kudos to the ‘Cats faithful.

-  A few quick thoughts from Ohio Basketball’s first three games:

-  Anyone else wonder how Ivo Baltic was available so late in the recruiting process?

-  Baltic loves to work the baselines and his wingspan rivals that of Devaughn Washington.  Baltic may have the best post moves on the team—definitely better than Washington.

-  D.J. Cooper (See: Hitchens, Humpty).

-  I don’t see where Asown Sayles fits in to the rotation with this unit.  From the looks of it, Sayles is a hard worker on both ends of the floor, but he just cannot finish and does not have a true position.

-  On another note….Just a heads up: “The Sears SportsFan” this coming Friday will be a special two hour show talking all Bobcats-Owls.  We’ll have a two hour show to recap one of the biggest games in recent Bobcat football memory.

-  More to come.

Filed under: 2009 Bobcat Blog, November 2009 Blog Notes |