Rumor on Bobcatattack.com is that former University of Illinois quarterback Brad Bower will transfer to Ohio. He would sit out this coming year and have two years left. Provides some help to the passing attack and can run. He was a top 30 recruit for Illinois out of high school.
Yeah, its true. There was an article in the Athens Messenger the other day and actually ohiobobcats.com just released the <a href='http://ohiobobcats.com/sports/football/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=3555' target='_blank'>official statement</a>.
In seven games last season, Bower finished the season with 658 yards passing on 57 completions and his 119.47 rating led the team.
In high school: "Bower was a consensus all-state performer at Hinsdale Central High School. A threat on the ground as well as through the air, Bower racked up 2,866 total yards and accounted for 48 touchdowns as he led Hinsdale Central to a conference championship and a berth in the semifinal round of the state playoffs."
Sounds like a good pickup. That makes 5 Qb's. Everson, Petruziello, Febus, Jones, and Bower.
Glad to hear that this rumor was true. Big pickup for the Bobcats. Now Solich will have two experienced QB's for 2006. Will might see the current backup transfer to a smaller school. With this transfer and the recruiting class, I don't see Petrizullo(sp) staying after this season. Everson clearly was better at the spring game and is by far the starter this year.
Sounds like the bobcats will be loaded at QB in 2006 with Bower on board.
It would be great to be legit contender for the MAC East title next year.
No offense and I hope it works out, but Illinois isn't a powerhouse or anything. They were 3-8 last year and 1-11 the year before. He completed just 57% of his passes for 4 TD's and 3 INT's. Granted Illinois sucks and it could be because of that why his stats aren't great.
Anyway, I hope he works out nicely for you guys but I guess it is hard for an outsider to get excited for you given his stats and the school he came from.
Congrats to him and you. He is moving up in the football world.
rocketfootball Wrote:No offense and I hope it works out, but Illinois isn't a powerhouse or anything. They were 3-8 last year and 1-11 the year before. He completed just 57% of his passes for 4 TD's and 3 INT's. Granted Illinois sucks and it could be because of that why his stats aren't great.
Anyway, I hope he works out nicely for you guys but I guess it is hard for an outsider to get excited for you given his stats and the school he came from.
Even if he doesn't turn out to be the greatest player, it is a noteworthy thing that OHIO lured in a Big Ten quarterback. Hopefully we will see more of this for MAC teams in the future especially with more MAC-Big Ten crossover games on the horizon which should attract more attention to the MAC. And then maybe eventually some of the smarter recruits will think twice before going to crappy Big Ten teams and make the right decision and come and play in the MAC. :D
bobcatgrad Wrote:rocketfootball Wrote:No offense and I hope it works out, but Illinois isn't a powerhouse or anything. They were 3-8 last year and 1-11 the year before. He completed just 57% of his passes for 4 TD's and 3 INT's. Granted Illinois sucks and it could be because of that why his stats aren't great.
Anyway, I hope he works out nicely for you guys but I guess it is hard for an outsider to get excited for you given his stats and the school he came from.
Even if he doesn't turn out to be the greatest player, it is a noteworthy thing that OHIO lured in a Big Ten quarterback. Hopefully we will see more of this for MAC teams in the future especially with more MAC-Big Ten crossover games on the horizon which should attract more attention to the MAC. And then maybe eventually some of the smarter recruits will think twice before going to crappy Big Ten teams and make the right decision and come and play in the MAC. :D
I hear ya. I think we are already getting several guys from Big Ten schools and some are QB's. Just in the last couple of years I remember a few different guys transferring from schools like Minnesota and Indiana to Toledo and I believe it was Akron. Also, Toledo got a QB recruit (Brandon Summers) who originally verballed to Indiana and then backed off and signed with Toledo.
It could be that this sort of thing is new to Ohio because Solich is the kind of coach that can compete with the top MAC coaches and the coach before at Ohio could not.
rocketfootball Wrote:It could be that this sort of thing is new to Ohio because Solich is the kind of coach that can compete with the top MAC coaches and the coach before at Ohio could not.
We were
competitive on the recruiting trail before Solich. The fastest player in the MAC is a junior wide receiver for the Bobcats. We did beat out BG, Miami, and Toledo half the time when competing for the same players. The top schools of the MAC though have been casting their nets wider with more success than OU had.
The big difference is with Solich we can be dominate in MAC recruiting with a national recruiting budget. Higher letter of intent rate than before.
And of course we are going to pick up much better transfers with a name coach.
Kit-Cat Wrote:We did beat out BG, Miami, and Toledo half the time when competing for the same players.
WTF color is the sky in your universe, you crackhead?
Good pickup by Ohio. Another quality QB in the MAC!
Kit-Cat Wrote:rocketfootball Wrote:It could be that this sort of thing is new to Ohio because Solich is the kind of coach that can compete with the top MAC coaches and the coach before at Ohio could not.
We were competitive on the recruiting trail before Solich. The fastest player in the MAC is a junior wide receiver for the Bobcats. We did beat out BG, Miami, and Toledo half the time when competing for the same players. The top schools of the MAC though have been casting their nets wider with more success than OU had.
The big difference is with Solich we can be dominate in MAC recruiting with a national recruiting budget. Higher letter of intent rate than before.
And of course we are going to pick up much better transfers with a name coach.
First off I didn't say recruiting, I said coaching. And if you did beat out Toledo, Miami, and BG for recruits half the time (that statement shows you had your daily crack already today) then that proves my point of coaching even more. Ohio has not been competitive on the field with the top of the MAC and if your recruiting has been that good then your coaching has definitely not been on the same level as the top coaches in the MAC, which is what I said. Getting a transfer like that has more to do with your coaching staff then recruiting because you don't really recruit transfers.
Also I have seen Ohio's offense and even though you do have a couple of good players like Mayle, there is no way in hell you can tell me that the Ohio offense in the last few years has had near the same kind of talent that Toledo, Miami, and BG have had. And NIU while we are at it since I consider NIU as one of the top 4 teams in the MAC.
This is a big step for Ohio. This kid started against a couple of ranked teams. At the very least Bowler gives Ohio depth at the qb position. This hasn't been a luxury at Ohio. Also, Big Ten players know that transfering to the MAC is an option if pt becomes an issue. Just because the team at Illinois stunk, doesn't mean this kid can't play. Bower started vs Western Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and Indiana. He played well vs UCLA in the second half after the starter was knocked out. This isn't clipboard material here. He could be a weapon for Solich. That experience at Illinois will help him at Ohio. He may see Ohio as an opportunity to be the starting qb of a rising program instead of a backup of a fallen program that is behind Northwestern and NIU in the state of Illinois.