It would've been some upset.
As Ohio entered the redzone against No. 15 Tennessee, touchdowns, and points, towards likely biggest win in program history were continually just 20 yards away.
And then the Bobcats stalled. Then again. And again.
Ohio entered the redzone three times in the first half against Tennessee and came away with just nine points, courtesy of Louie Zervos.
“We score two touchdowns down there, we’re up eight or 10 points –– at Tennessee," offensive coordinator Tim Albin said. "I think that puts pressure on Tennessee. That makes the offensive coordinator call a different game, defensive coordinator (cringe). We had a chance to put heat on them, and we didn’t do it. We played so well, we just didn’t get touchdowns to put pressure on Tennessee.”
The Bobcats went four-for-four in the redzone against the Volunteers, but only came away with 16 points, leaving 12 possible points on the field in the red zone. The Bobcats lost 28-19.
“We have to find a way to put more touchdowns on the board and kick less field goals," coach Frank Solich said Monday. "That comes from us as coaches in our approach to things, and that has to come somewhat from players in terms of getting things done in short yardage and especially in the red zone.”
Ohio's redzone problems weren't just limited to Tennessee, however, these problems have persisted all season.
Ohio got into the redzone seven times against Kansas and had to settle for four field goals. It was slightly better against Texas State, as Ohio was in the redzone a staggering eight times, but had to kick three field goals as opposed to four touchdowns.
The team currently ranks 12th in the country in redzone scores including field goals, averaging just over five scores per game from that area. A fairly impressive stat, until touchdowns are brought into the equation.
Of the 17 red zone scores for the Bobcats this season, 10 have been field goals and seven have been touchdowns. Overall, that puts Ohio ranked 60th in touchdowns and 122nd in redzone touchdowns.
“I’ll be the first to tell you. We had third and a long two down there, and I had a poor call," Albin said. "I ran right at a Tennessee, SEC defense. We ran one of our best running plays right at them, and they stuffed us. My play-calling down there a couple times ... not good. I think that Tennessee had some things to do with that, but Tennessee didn’t have anything to do with Texas State –– and those stats are in there.”
The Bobcats ran redzone drills early in practice this week, attempting to right the ship before Mid-American Conference play starts next weekend.
However, that includes cutting down on mental errors, Albin said.
“We had an illegal formation, twice," he said. "That cannot happen. You’re at Tennessee. You can’t go 2nd and 15 at Tennessee. That’s tough sledding. Just from the simple things that we can do, if we can clean that up, that’s gonna improve our chances. I can call some different things to put our guys in better opportunities, and I have to do that.”
Ohio is well aware of the redzone problem, determined to have it not derail the Bobcats' offense in the future.
"I am asking our coaches to look at it from a standpoint of what we are doing in the red zone, what are we doing play wise, (asking) are our schemes what they need to be," Solich said. "Is our play calling what it needs to be on both sides of the ball? I am asking them to dig into this and obviously have some better results.”
As seen by past weeks, redzone scoring can influence a game simply by trading three points for seven.
Who knows, Ohio might even be 4-0 right now.
