OHIO Football
Buffalo bullies Bobcats
By Zack Lloyd, Staff Writer
October 13, 2007 | 10:43 a.m.
The Ohio football team has fallen on hard times. After three consecutive losses, the Bobcats traveled to Buffalo last weekend hoping to reverse their fortunes and gain their first Mid-American Conference victory.
They’ll have to try again next week as Ohio was manhandled by the unheralded Buffalo Bulls 31-10, last Saturday at University of Buffalo Stadium. After winning their first two games of the season, the Bobcats have lost four consecutive games, including two straight MAC contests.
After the Bobcats’ success last season, culminating in a MAC Championship game appearance, a four game losing streak is both surprising and uncharacteristic for this Ohio team.
The Bobcats had not lost four consecutive games since 2004, consequently the season before Frank Solich was hired as the new football coach. For a coach with such an impressive résumé, Solich struggled to recall the last time he had been part of a program that had been on the losing end four times in a row.
“Maybe my first year of high school coaching,” Solich said. “Maybe my first year at Southeast high school also. No time in my career as a college coach. It is new territory but we keep preaching about not looking in the past, learning from it and moving on. I guess I’m still doing that as a coach. I’m preparing for this next ballgame.”
While Coach Solich looks ahead to this weekend’s homecoming game against Eastern Michigan, Saturday’s loss at Buffalo may not be an easy one to forget for the Bobcat players.
Since 2002, the Buffalo Bulls football team has posted a very unimpressive record of 9-51. However, one of those nine victories came last weekend against the defending MAC East Champions, the Ohio Bobcats.
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Ohio was overmatched by the Bulls on both the offensive and defensive lines. While the supposedly potent Ohio rushing attack yielded just 90 yards on 29 carries, Buffalo was exploiting the Bobcat defense on their way to 251 rushing yards.
The perennial MAC basement dweller took care of the ball and didn’t commit any turnovers. Meanwhile the over-hyped Bobcat offense stalled frequently and turned the ball over twice. It appeared the tables had been turned in this game, where the Bulls were the force to be reckoned with, and Ohio was the conference laughingstock.
“It’s a combination of problems,” Solich said. “We’re in a little bit of a downward spiral and it’s obvious we have to pull ourselves out of it. There are several things that need to change when you look at us statistically. It’s certainly a disappointing game for all of us and it’s a setback for all of us, but I do believe that the players will respond very well.”
In Ohio’s defense they have suffered a number of injuries throughout the season particularly on the offensive line, which has severely limited the running game. However, that hardly excuses a loss to one of the most unsuccessful football programs of the last decade.
In the midst of all the losing, a quarterback controversy has developed. When the Bobcats struggled against Kent State and Buffalo, Coach Solich looked to sophomore phenomena Theo Scott to relieve senior quarterback Brad Bower and kick start the Ohio offense.
In the last two games, Scott has gone 28-48, passing for 254 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Bower, on the other hand, has gone 17-33, passing for 203 yards with 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
Scott’s production over the past two games has raised many questions about whether or not the reins to the team should be turned over to the promising sophomore. Coach Solich remained mum on the quarterback situation going into this weekend’s bout with Eastern Michigan.
“No, there will be no announcement today,” Solich said. “It may not be there tomorrow, the next day, or the next day. We’ll have to see.”
With two conference losses already, the Bobcats have had to reassess their preseason goal of reclaiming their MAC East crown.
“We decided as a team after the Kent State game to make sure we refocus on what we’re all about,” Solich said. “To take it one game at a time, play the very best we can play and then go on to the next one. Whether we mathematically have a chance or not now, I don’t know, I don’t care. The only thing I really care about is getting this team prepared to play its very best next week.”
The Bobcats will try to end their four game skid and capture their first conference win Saturday at 12 pm during the Homecoming Game at Peden Stadium.