2010 Ohio Bobcats Football Preview

2009 Results: 9-5, Lost Little Caesar’s Bowl vs. Marshall

Head Coach: Frank Solich (6th year, 32-31 @ Ohio, 90-50 Overall)

Home Venue: Peden Stadium (24,000), Athens, Ohio

The 2009 season was a very successful campaign for the Ohio Bobcats. Their late season victory against Temple improved their conference mark to 7-1 and gave them the tiebreaker to win the MAC East. This was the team’s 2nd trip to the MAC Championship under Coach Frank Solich. Unfortunately, it ended the same way that the first one did, with a loss to Central Michigan. To make matters worse, Ohio bombed in their bowl game against a makeshift Marshall team and that resulted in consecutive losses to close the year. Can the Bobcats recapture the magic of their 9-3 regular season and repeat as MAC East Champions?

OFFENSE

The Bobcats weren’t particularly effective offensively last season, scoring less than 25 points per game while barely gaining 300 yards per contest! That they actually earned their way to a 7-1 conference record with such an ineffective offense was an accomplishment and it will be very interesting to see if they can improve upon that production this season because I have trouble imagining them winning the East without a better attack.

The passing game was no better than average last season and it will be in for a large scale overhaul this year. The top two returning receivers will be seniors LaVon Brazill (35 catches, 702 yards, 6 TDs, 2 nd Team All-MAC in ‘09) and Terrence McCrae (35 tackles, 545 yards, 9 TDs) and I think that they will prove to be one of the strongest tandems in the conference this season. The big question is whether senior Boo Jackson or junior Iowa State transfer Phil Bates will start under center this fall. I’m inclined to lean towards Bates, who has much greater upside as a passer, and I think that this will be an improved aerial game this season.

Where I am concerned is with the ground game, as the Bobcats don’t return a single runner who surpassed 260 yards last fall. In fact, junior Kenny Ashley, a JUCO transfer, appeared to be the team’s best runner in the spring and I think he’ll end up being the starter. Considering that last season’s leading runner only managed 621 yards, I think that the Ohio running game should be much more productive this year, especially with a decent line blocking for them.

Overall, I think that the Ohio offense will certainly account for more yards this season. Their running game should be much more effective after finishing 10 th in the league in 2009 and their passing attack looks like it could be a bright spot. I also think that Bates has the potential to be one of the league’s better quarterbacks this fall (he was solid at Iowa State in limited action) and the always-dangerous Brazill is a playmaker both as a receiver and as a kick returner, having taken three kicks to the house in 2009. This offense should exceed last year’s production.

DEFENSE

Where Ohio should excel this season is on defense. Last fall, the Bobcats finished 2nd in the MAC in scoring defense, allowing only 21.3 points per game. This was the 3rd consecutive year that OU allowed fewer points than the previous season and that trend appears likely to continue this fall as they return six starters.

The strength of this defense will be on the D-Line, where all four starters are returning seniors. This line was extremely productive as Dak Notestine (65 tackles, 6.5 sacks) Ernie Hodge (48 tackles), Marcellis Williamson (46 tackles, 1.5 sacks) and Stafford Gatling (45 tackles, 2 sacks) made more stops than any other front line in the conference! This group will be the rock that the rest of the defense builds upon.

The run defense looks even better when senior linebacker Noah Keller (155 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT) is factored into the equation. He was a 1st Team All-MAC selection last season and should have another huge campaign. While he is the only returning starter, the two junior OLB replacements played extensively last year and I think that they should easily step in and form one of the league’s strongest sets of ‘backers.

The only part of the defense that caught my attention in a negative way was the secondary. While sophomore safety Gerald Moore (68 tackles, 6 INT) played extremely well last year, he is the only returning starter. However, upon further inspection I saw that the unit isn’t as inexperienced as I thought. Senior corner Julian Posey (29 tackles, 2 INT) has started a dozen games in his career and classmate Stephen Jackson (24 tackles, 1 INT) has started even more! So with that much experience around their young playmaking safety, I expect him to continue his ballhawking ways. I also think that a strong pass rush from the front seven should help this unit gel quickly and I’m confident that Ohio will defend well through the air.

Overall, the Bobcats are going to be very stout up front this season with their entire starting D-Line returning and the conference’s 2nd leading tackler at middle linebacker. Furthermore, the back end appears to be far more solid than a cursory inspection of the number of returning starters would indicate. I think that Ohio has a legitimate claim to the title of best defense in the conference.

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SCHEDULE

The non-conference schedule is extremely simple for the Bobcats as their only BCS conference opponent is Ohio State. Aside from that, they host lowly Wofford and Sun Belt minnow Louisiana while traveling to nemesis Marshall. In league play, they draw Eastern Michigan and Toledo from the West while playing everyone in the East. That’s a great draw as EMU is almost certainly a win. Overall, the Bobcats have six home games and a very light slate in 2010.

OUTLOOK

If I were a Bobcat fan, I would be very optimistic about my team’s chances in 2009. Last year’s nine win campaign came without a very strong offense and the potential to improve in all facets of the attack is impressive. Furthermore, Ohio looks to be very strong on defense, led by a powerful front wall and a good corps of linebackers. I also have confidence in their pass defense to play well this season and if that happens then they’ll have a very good year.

There is no doubt that this team is a contender in the MAC East Division. With a good schedule draw, I think that they and Temple will be neck and neck for much of the season atop the standings. However, the Owls have home field advantage for their clash in November and it is a night game to boot. That leads me to believe that Temple will take the head to head showdown and return the favor to Ohio from last season to win the East. Even with a loss to Temple, I think that the Bobcats have a great shot at matching last season’s nine wins and they are my choice to finish 2nd in the MAC East Division.

PREDICTED RESULT: 8-4 (6-2 MAC)