Frank Solich said matter-of-factly to expect changes following Ohio’s 43-40 loss to Toledo Saturday. What those changes will be, however, will remain a mystery until the Bobcats take the field against Bowling Green this week.
“You’ll see some changes,” Solich said, declining to elaborate further when asked about the turnover and special teams problems against Toledo.
The Bobcats coughed up the ball seven times against the Rockets — four interceptions and three fumbles, two of which came on punt returns — and Solich was more adamant than ever that Ohio must correct its turnover troubles. In the past four games, the Bobcats have given up 15 turnovers, while forcing none from their opponents.
“Turnovers is something that’s just been frustrating,” Solich said. “When you give a team back the ball eight times, if you count the (blocked) punt where they ended up getting it again, you don’t see teams winning. You don’t see teams even being in a ballgame with that number of turnovers.”
Starting quarterback Brad Bower threw all of Ohio’s four interceptions and struggled against the Rockets just a week after he recorded three touchdowns and seemed to cement his role as starter against Eastern Michigan. Bower’s touchdown-to-interception ratio now stands at 7-to-10, but Solich did not give any hints as to whether he would start backup Theo Scott against Bowling Green this coming weekend.
Bower “threw the ball a few times just where it shouldn’t have been thrown, in terms of the coverage and the ability of them to break on the ball,” Solich said.
Scott continued to show improvement with his 7-of-13, 126-yard and one-touchdown performance, Solich said, after he took over Ohio’s offense late in the third quarter against the Rockets. In addition to quickening his pace from the huddle to the line of scrimmage, Solich added that he likes Scott’s ability to handle oncoming pressure.
“He will sit back in the pocket when things are buzzing around him and not get panicky,” Solich said. “He does have good vision on the field, and when a guy is running loose, he has the ability to find them, whether that’s your first choice or not. He’s doing a lot of good things — he’ll continue to improve in some areas, of course, but his decision-making process has been pretty good.”
Tale of two halves
Ohio’s defense had one of its best showings in the first half against Toledo, allowing the Rockets to only gain 96 yards and two field goals. But the second half was a different story, as Toledo piled on 37 points and 377 yards, leaving the Bobcats searching for consistency once again.
There were “an inordinate number of snaps in the second half that our defense was on the field, and that was probably a combination of things,” Solich said. “One, we could do things better defensively. We can also do things better, special teams-wise, as far as field position and not turning the ball over and putting our defense in a bind.”
Toledo had an average starting field position of their own 41-yard line in the second half, and they possessed the ball for 20:23, more than double Ohio’s 9:37. The Bobcats scored 26 second-half points of their own, but the efficiency with which they moved downfield, combined with continued turnovers, resulted in a fatigued defense.
“You’re obviously going to have the wear-down effect if you’re out there as long as they were in the second half,” Solich said. “I don’t want to say score slower but we can’t have a number of turnovers from the offensive side of it, where we’re putting our defense in that position. It’s just not good football to do that.”
Not quite a pipe dream
Because a team’s divisional record is the main factor in determining who reaches the Mid-American Conference Championship Game this season, Ohio may still have a chance to defend its 2006 MAC East Division title despite losing to MAC West opponent Toledo Saturday. But any of those equations require that the Bobcats win out in their four remaining games, which are all against East Division foes — teams that Ohio is 0-2 against so far this season.
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