I find it interesting how many fans on here are quick to insult another MAC school and won't look at the big picture. More publicity for OHIO or any MAC school, ESPECIALLY IN COLUMBUS, is only going to benefit the conference as a whole.

As for the attendance figures, OHIO averaged almost 20,000/game in 2001 which was my last year in school and Knorr's first year with OHIO. Coming off of a 7-4 season returning something like 15 starters (I am taking an educated guess at the number here) with a new coach and a newly-designed stadium there was much buzz around OHIO football. That quickly faded after Knorr led the Bobcats to a 1-10 season.

Basically, if you give the OHIO fans a reason to believe they will show up. Argue it all you want, but the next couple of football seasons will prove just that.

If Ohio can beat either Northwestern or Pittsburgh they should really fire up the fan base for the MAC season. The Kentucky game produced a big crowd for the Marshall game. The team played well, but blew the game in the final minute. Solich should be able to regain the momentum that was lost when Knorr got too conservative at the end of the Marshall game. This season will be measured more for publicity than pure wins and losses. Playing 2 ranked teams non-conference plus Northwestern should get us plenty of clips on Sportscenter and gameday. A national tv game will sell the MAC and Ohio. Some guy in Los Angeles wouldn't know the difference between Ohio and any other MAC school. With some exposure, Ohio will be known to a much larger audience. That will help recruiting for Ohio in all sports and academics.

RocketWolverine Wrote:

Kit-Cat Wrote:Ohio head football coach Frank Solich was a guest on The Big Show with Kirk Herbstreit on 1460 The Fan WBNS Sports Radio Thursday afternoon. An archived audio file is availabe by clicking on the link at the top of this page.

Solich was hired as Ohio’s 28th head football coach on Dec. 16, 2004, following a four-week search to replace Brian Knorr.


<a href='http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/football/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=3205' target='_blank'>http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/football...RELEASE_ID=3205</a>

Is this Care-O-Meter broken? (It's registering less than zero)

Hey Zippy, when Charlie Frye was on "Outside The Lines" I watched intently as they announced he was the MVP of the Senior Bowl (or whatever game it was). Those of us that "get it" realize that the MAC as a whole will only benefit from added media coverage (that's why I wanna see Frye go high in the draft). Of all of the big cities in Ohio, Columbus is the one city where the MAC gets almost no mention. Sure, the Ohio A & M/Columbus Dispatch has an ocassional article on a MAC school or player, but Columbus is a HUGE media market that we could all benefit from getting exposure from.

I'll tell you what. You keep not caring about the conference as a whole and the other teams in the MAC and I'll keep rooting for my Bobcats first and the rest of our MAC teams a close second. I happen to "get it;" maybe you will too someday.

IbleedOhiogreen,

in my classroom (I'm a teacher), I have a pennant from every MAC school except CFU, they never counted, hanging up. Even Marshall, but it has an Orange and Brown "X" across it! I "get it", I pull for all MAC schools, except Marshall, to win ALL non conference games. I pull for all MAC teams to beat Marshall though. I root of course for BGSU first, then EMU, then it depends....., but NEVER Marshall.

I've finally figures out OU's "balanced offense" for next season, after some careful thought and analysis. Run half the time, punt the other half! It's ingenious really!

FalconFan1999 Wrote:I've finally figures out OU's "balanced offense" for next season, after some careful thought and analysis. Run half the time, punt the other half! It's ingenious really!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Unfortunately, that probably isn't far from the mark. Not that Solich isn't likely to turn them around, but that first season might be a bit rough.

Quote:I root of course for BGSU first, then EMU, then it depends....., but NEVER Marshall.

You've got it all wrong!?!

Somebody needs a hug. :angel:

Quote:I've finally figures out OU's "balanced offense" for next season, after some careful thought and analysis. Run half the time, punt the other half! It's ingenious really!

Excellent.

I root for MAC schools every non-conference game in football and basketball and try to track the "big games" where the MAC could make some headlines. I also root for Pennington, Leftwich, Rothlisberger (a little, I'm a Browns fan in NE Ohio...), and any other former MAC star in the pros b/c of the publicity it brings the conference.

If Ohio is going to pass 25-30 times a game in 2005, they better hope that QB recruit they got is ready to play right away because the QB's you had last season were awful passers and your offensive line was the worst I have seen in the MAC in a couple of years.

Ohio completed just 45% of their passes against Toledo last season, and everyone knows that pass defense at Toledo was horrible. Toledo also recorded 4 sacks against that Bobcat offensive line, while averaging just 1.7 sacks per game in their other 12 games.

rocketfootball Wrote:If Ohio is going to pass 25-30 times a game in 2005, they better hope that QB recruit they got is ready to play right away because the QB's you had last season were awful passers and your offensive line was the worst I have seen in the MAC in a couple of years.

Ohio completed just 45% of their passes against Toledo last season, and everyone knows that pass defense at Toledo was horrible. Toledo also recorded 4 sacks against that Bobcat offensive line, while averaging just 1.7 sacks per game in their other 12 games.

I would argue that the offensive line was the reason Ohio's quarterbacks were awful passers last year...it's hard to be accurate when you're running for your life. :eek:

Interestingly, Ohio's two best games for passing were Pitt (202 yds, 22-51-2) and Kentucky (218 yed, 10-18-0). Yes, the completion percentages weren't that great, but there were an awful lot of good passes that were dropped by the receivers.

NMBobcat Wrote:

rocketfootball Wrote:If Ohio is going to pass 25-30 times a game in 2005, they better hope that QB recruit they got is ready to play right away because the QB's you had last season were awful passers and your offensive line was the worst I have seen in the MAC in a couple of years.

Ohio completed just 45% of their passes against Toledo last season, and everyone knows that pass defense at Toledo was horrible.&nbsp; Toledo also recorded 4 sacks against that Bobcat offensive line, while averaging just 1.7 sacks per game in their other 12 games.

I would argue that the offensive line was the reason Ohio's quarterbacks were awful passers last year...it's hard to be accurate when you're running for your life. :eek:

Interestingly, Ohio's two best games for passing were Pitt (202 yds, 22-51-2) and Kentucky (218 yed, 10-18-0). Yes, the completion percentages weren't that great, but there were an awful lot of good passes that were dropped by the receivers.

So then unless you have a whole new offensive line unit and WR unit coming in, it doesn't really matter who the QB is?

You're in worse shape than I thought.

rocketfootball Wrote:If Ohio is going to pass 25-30 times a game in 2005, they better hope that QB recruit they got is ready to play right away because the QB's you had last season were awful passers and your offensive line was the worst I have seen in the MAC in a couple of years.

Ohio completed just 45% of their passes against Toledo last season, and everyone knows that pass defense at Toledo was horrible. Toledo also recorded 4 sacks against that Bobcat offensive line, while averaging just 1.7 sacks per game in their other 12 games.

RF:

I watched most of the OU-Toledo game on TV (when you live near Philly, you take any MAC action you can!) and I felt like I was watching the turning point in OU's season. The Snobcats played a hard first half and then completely fell apart in the second half.

They came into that game after playing Marshall tough right to the end and, before that, two wins. So they were 3-3 coming in and were poised to make some noise.

Then they came out after halftime and totally disintegrated. The offense couldn't do anything; you know that Toledo is always going to score points, but Bruce Almighty just torched OU in the second half.

The rest, as they say, is history, because BG and Kent both crushed them before they beat UCF.

Watching the last two quarters of that game, I'd say that the OU offense looked as bad as I've seen in a while, and I saw Western Michigan live last year. Ugh.

BGSUalum1987 Wrote:

rocketfootball Wrote:If Ohio is going to pass 25-30 times a game in 2005, they better hope that QB recruit they got is ready to play right away because the QB's you had last season were awful passers and your offensive line was the worst I have seen in the MAC in a couple of years.

Ohio completed just 45% of their passes against Toledo last season, and everyone knows that pass defense at Toledo was horrible.&nbsp; Toledo also recorded 4 sacks against that Bobcat offensive line, while averaging just 1.7 sacks per game in their other 12 games.

RF:

I watched most of the OU-Toledo game on TV (when you live near Philly, you take any MAC action you can!) and I felt like I was watching the turning point in OU's season. The Snobcats played a hard first half and then completely fell apart in the second half.

They came into that game after playing Marshall tough right to the end and, before that, two wins. So they were 3-3 coming in and were poised to make some noise.

Then they came out after halftime and totally disintegrated. The offense couldn't do anything; you know that Toledo is always going to score points, but Bruce Almighty just torched OU in the second half.

The rest, as they say, is history, because BG and Kent both crushed them before they beat UCF.

Watching the last two quarters of that game, I'd say that the OU offense looked as bad as I've seen in a while, and I saw Western Michigan live last year. Ugh.

I didn't see any of OU's other games, so I can only go by how they played against Toledo. Even in the first half their offense was terrible. Their defense kept them in the game in the first half as did some mistakes by Toledo's offense.

Solich could be the answer to OU football, but I can't expect a lot out of their offense next year. Maybe 2 or 3 years down the road, but not now.

rocketfootball Wrote:

NMBobcat Wrote:

rocketfootball Wrote:If Ohio is going to pass 25-30 times a game in 2005, they better hope that QB recruit they got is ready to play right away because the QB's you had last season were awful passers and your offensive line was the worst I have seen in the MAC in a couple of years.

Ohio completed just 45% of their passes against Toledo last season, and everyone knows that pass defense at Toledo was horrible.  Toledo also recorded 4 sacks against that Bobcat offensive line, while averaging just 1.7 sacks per game in their other 12 games.

I would argue that the offensive line was the reason Ohio's quarterbacks were awful passers last year...it's hard to be accurate when you're running for your life. :eek:

Interestingly, Ohio's two best games for passing were Pitt (202 yds, 22-51-2) and Kentucky (218 yed, 10-18-0). Yes, the completion percentages weren't that great, but there were an awful lot of good passes that were dropped by the receivers.

So then unless you have a whole new offensive line unit and WR unit coming in, it doesn't really matter who the QB is?

You're in worse shape than I thought.

We'll see...I have a hunch that there will be some true freshmen (and possibly redshirts) playing on the offensive line this fall.

NMBobcat Wrote:

rocketfootball Wrote:

NMBobcat Wrote:

rocketfootball Wrote:If Ohio is going to pass 25-30 times a game in 2005, they better hope that QB recruit they got is ready to play right away because the QB's you had last season were awful passers and your offensive line was the worst I have seen in the MAC in a couple of years.

Ohio completed just 45% of their passes against Toledo last season, and everyone knows that pass defense at Toledo was horrible.  Toledo also recorded 4 sacks against that Bobcat offensive line, while averaging just 1.7 sacks per game in their other 12 games.

I would argue that the offensive line was the reason Ohio's quarterbacks were awful passers last year...it's hard to be accurate when you're running for your life. :eek:

Interestingly, Ohio's two best games for passing were Pitt (202 yds, 22-51-2) and Kentucky (218 yed, 10-18-0). Yes, the completion percentages weren't that great, but there were an awful lot of good passes that were dropped by the receivers.

So then unless you have a whole new offensive line unit and WR unit coming in, it doesn't really matter who the QB is?

You're in worse shape than I thought.

We'll see...I have a hunch that there will be some true freshmen (and possibly redshirts) playing on the offensive line this fall.

Not many freshman will make that big of an impact.

I fully expect Ohio to be a force to be reckoned with by the time Solich gets his players in and experienced.

Expecting a miracle run next year will only set you up for disappointment. A third place East finish would be a good season.

BGSUalum1987 Wrote:I watched most of the OU-Toledo game on TV (when you live near Philly, you take any MAC action you can!) and I felt like I was watching the turning point in OU's season. The Snobcats played a hard first half and then completely fell apart in the second half.
Then they came out after halftime and totally disintegrated. The offense couldn't do anything; you know that Toledo is always going to score points, but Bruce Almighty just torched OU in the second half.

Yes....OU fell apart in the second half......but after watching the rest of the Rockets' season...pretty much everybody fell apart in the second half against us......some more than others.....*cough* *cough* .....*BG!!* .......*cough* *cough* :D

FtLauderdaleRocket Wrote:

BGSUalum1987 Wrote:I watched most of the OU-Toledo game on TV (when you live near Philly, you take any MAC action you can!) and I felt like I was watching the turning point in OU's season. The Snobcats played a hard first half and then completely fell apart in the second half.
Then they came out after halftime and totally disintegrated. The offense couldn't do anything; you know that Toledo is always going to score points, but Bruce Almighty just torched OU in the second half.

Yes....OU fell apart in the second half......but after watching the rest of the Rockets' season...pretty much everybody fell apart in the second half against us......some more than others.....*cough* *cough* .....*BG!!* .......*cough* *cough* :D

Can't believe it took someone that long to hit that softball. Geesh, you guys are getting slow.

The big difference between our second-half meltdown and OU's second-half meltdown is that we went on to win our next game - the GMAC Bowl against Memphis. OU began to slowly swirl a bowl of its own.

Not saying that playing freshman will immediately turn things around on the offensive line, but rather that Solich will be willing to use a bit of his capital to get some experience there for future years. I'm not sure he has much choice.