Bobcat passing attack in yards by year:

1999 1037 yards
2000 1014 yards
2001 819 yards
2002 1049 yards

2003 1851 yards
2004 2202 yards
2005 1303 yards
2006 1806 yards
2007 2564 yards

The transition year from the option occurred in 2003 when Hackett-Mayle combined for 1,000 receiving yards out of the true WR position.

Having a go-to RB in McRae for the last 4 years has slowed the transition to a passing game. We've recruited away from the option long enough now that we are starting to sign high level MAC WR recruits.

utpotts Wrote:

Airport KC Wrote:

bobcatgrad Wrote:

Airport KC Wrote:I thought our offense last year with multiple formations was fairly diverse. At times we looked very, very good on offense and defense not usually in the same game.

Depth in a game like this for the MAC isn't really the issue it was 5-10 years ago. Solich has always tried to maintain strong depth within the two deep. Heck, he signed JUCOs this year for immediate impact.

Yeah, like I said before, very inconsistent, but that doesn't mean that our D and O didn't have some great games. Our O in particular was great at putting points on the board in certain games.

I think last year marked another stepping stone in getting the team more balanced. Our passing looked better than I can ever remember and was used to effectively put us back into contests. But, we still had to rely on Kalvin to carry us at certain times with a short pass or screen or by using our TEs that have played very well as they will continue to for this year I am sure. I think the bigger issue I see that needs to be addressed is that we need established go-to receivers. Donahue was looking good and then got injured and has since left the team and Brazill looked like he might be able to take on a role like that, but we still have yet to establish our receiving core. I think Boo with his passing ability can help us to do that this year. Hopefully one of the new freshman WRs can step up and be one of those guys this year too.

I like how he brought in the JUCOs to answer immediate defensive needs, but we had depth problems just three short years ago, hence the collapse and losing skid at the end of the season. I think now that Solich has had more time to build our program, we are finally starting to get to the point were depth is not an issue now. Even last year, we were having problems on the offensive line.

Breaking down the 2007 passing game as far as production:

WR's 1425 yards
TE's 797 yards
McRae 275 yards
RB/TB's 67 yards

With both TE's returning, our #1 WR Taylor Price, and with the 3 big guys we are bringing in at WR I feel confident about our passing game.

Now if OU had QB's that wouldn't throw 6 INT's per game, OU's offense would be up there with Toledo and CMU.

2007 PPG
CMU 34.5
Toledo 32.9
Ohio 30.5

Ohio is certainly on its way there. The INT master QB Brad Bower has graduated and that should help.

Airport KC Wrote:Breaking down the 2007 passing game as far as production:

WR's 1425 yards
TE's 797 yards
McRae 275 yards
RB/TB's 67 yards

With both TE's returning, our #1 WR Taylor Price, and with the 3 big guys we are bringing in at WR I feel confident about our passing game.

Yeah, you can see the reliance on the TE from those stats like I was talking about. Broke down the stats for Taylor Price

Gardner Webb 1-13
Louisiana Lafayette 0-0
VT 0-0
Wyoming 1-18
Kent 6-75
Buffalo 5-43
EMU 5-83
Toledo 3-69
BGSU 2-32
Temple 2-11
Akron 3-62
Miami 2-23
Overall 30-429
Average 14.3 yards per catch

Not too bad for stats at all for Mr. Price. He kind of went under the radar in terms of getting recognition, but looking at his stats (to quote the Frank) it is obvious that he has a chance to become a go-to receiver this year. So add him to the list of potentials. For me, for you to be a established receiver, I should not have to look up stats about you to find it out-- you just know.

As for the incoming WRs, we shall see. It will be interesting how many of them Frank choses to play immediately. I also wonder what the heck happened to Terrence McCrae. I had high hopes for him when he was recruited.

Airport KC Wrote:

utpotts Wrote:Now if OU had QB's that wouldn't throw 6 INT's per game, OU's offense would be up there with Toledo and CMU.

2007 PPG
CMU 34.5
Toledo 32.9
Ohio 30.5

Ohio is certainly on its way there. The INT master QB Brad Bower has graduated and that should help.

Bower was also one of the reasons why we were able to get all those passing yards. T3 couldn't pass the long ball as well as Bower, but Bower just had those field vision problems he struggled with. I don't how many fans had any faith in him that he would be able to finish the season the way he did after Toledo, but he hung in there and helped us win some games.

bobcatgrad Wrote:

Airport KC Wrote:Breaking down the 2007 passing game as far as production:

WR's 1425 yards
TE's 797 yards
McRae 275 yards
RB/TB's 67 yards

With both TE's returning, our #1 WR Taylor Price, and with the 3 big guys we are bringing in at WR I feel confident about our passing game.

Not too bad for stats at all for Mr. Price. He kind of went under the radar in terms of getting recognition, but looking at his stats (to quote the Frank) it is obvious that he has a chance to become a go-to receiver this year. So add him to the list of potentials. For me, for you to be a established receiver, I should not have to look up stats about you to find it out-- you just know.

I will agree that we really don't have a "go-to" receiver per se and its receptions by committee but I don't know if that is totally a bad thing.

We don't have a "go-to" RB next year and that I think is more worrisome plus the decline in the emphasis of the running game in Solich's offense.

Airport KC Wrote:I will agree that we really don't have a "go-to" receiver per se and its receptions by committee but I don't know if that is totally a bad thing.

We don't have a "go-to" RB next year and that I think is more worrisome plus the decline in the emphasis of the running game in Solich's offense.

Last year I was wondering about the same thing, but I think if you want to be a championship caliber team you have got to have those reliable receivers to go to when you need them. It just seemed like during the season there were times where we should have done just that and we were instead throwing it to the TE or Kalvin. I think if we can get those “go-to” receivers it will be the missing piece of the puzzle to complete things and make us really dangerous on O. No one would have an idea where the ball was going to.

Yeah, I understand what you are saying about the running game. Our last experiment with going more passing didn’t work out so well either. Given, we have more talent now, but you wonder how Frank will do if we goes to far from his roots. And dammit, I like my bruising running game.

Airport KC Wrote:Bobcat passing attack in yards by year:

1999 1037 yards
2000 1014 yards
2001 819 yards
2002 1049 yards

2003 1851 yards
2004 2202 yards
2005 1303 yards
2006 1806 yards
2007 2564 yards

Nice breakdown of the stats. And then you have got these idiot announcers/journalists we still saying all we can do is run. The ghost of the option haunts us still.

bobcatgrad Wrote:

Airport KC Wrote:Bobcat passing attack in yards by year:

1999 1037 yards
2000 1014 yards
2001 819 yards
2002 1049 yards

2003 1851 yards
2004 2202 yards
2005 1303 yards
2006 1806 yards
2007 2564 yards

Nice breakdown of the stats. And then you have got these idiot announcers/journalists we still saying all we can do is run. The ghost of the option haunts us still.

It was interesting looking back on the stats prior to 2003 the recieving yards we did pick up were exclusively on FB screens using our option backs like Brinker and Houston. We didn't even have a true Wide Receiver on the roster.

Going into 2008, Ohio only has 4 RB/TB in the program on scholarship while having 15 WR/TE + 5 QB's. How can anyone looking at the details call Ohio a triple option team with only a few RB's and no go to Running Back?

Its taken Ohio years to shake the option reputation but I think they've finally done so on the recruting side of things this year with Bussey and Jenkins. When Ohio first transistioned away from the option it had to rely on a recruit from the track team (Scott Mayle) to get things going as they were unable to sign a quality WR out of college.

Airport KC Wrote:Its taken Ohio years to shake the option reputation but I think they've finally done so on the recruting side of things this year with Bussey and Jenkins. When Ohio first transistioned away from the option it had to rely on a recruit from the track team (Scott Mayle) to get things going as they were unable to sign a quality WR out of college.

I agree. Being able to bring in receivers like we did shows that we have turned another page. The last time we played OSU was in 1999. They are going to face a more diverse attack and better conditioned team, with more talent and depth in 2008. Hopefully, we can make them boo them into the locker room at halftime like the last time. That was sweet.

Didn't Mayle sign with the football team originally because we agreed to let him play track and football? Sucks we don't have a track team anymore on the off chance we could get another player like him. I loved watching him blaze down the field.

bobcatgrad Wrote:

Airport KC Wrote:Its taken Ohio years to shake the option reputation but I think they've finally done so on the recruting side of things this year with Bussey and Jenkins. When Ohio first transistioned away from the option it had to rely on a recruit from the track team (Scott Mayle) to get things going as they were unable to sign a quality WR out of college.

I agree. Being able to bring in receivers like we did shows that we have turned another page. The last time we played OSU was in 1999. They are going to face a more diverse attack and better conditioned team, with more talent and depth in 2008. Hopefully, we can make them boo them into the locker room at halftime like the last time. That was sweet.

Didn't Mayle sign with the football team originally because we agreed to let him play track and football? Sucks we don't have a track team anymore on the off chance we could get another player like him. I loved watching him blaze down the field.

Scott Mayle was a RB in high school and recruited as an athlete in the 2002 recruiting class. Project player that was a last minute add to the recruiting class.