Ohio held its annual media day Friday, where coaches and captains were made available to the media.
All the talk was Mid-American Conference championship-centric. Now five days later, here are five other important takeaways as the Bobcats approach their 2018 season opener.
1. The offensive line loves its running back
Joe Lowery doesn’t think there’s anyone better in the MAC to block for; A.J. Ouellette is his guy. He’s smart when he carries the ball, he doesn’t put the ball on the ground often and he’s going to run hard.
After running for 1,000 yards last season, Ouellette leads a backfield with multiple returners. Lowery says Ouellette is his kind of guy because he’ll run through a block and run through his offensive linemen if he needs to.
Anything to pick up a couple more yards.
“He’s got the speed to take off, he’s something special.”
2. Coaches will continue to talk about two quarterbacks in some way
When coach Frank Solich handed the microphone over to offensive coordinator Tim Albin, he made sure to mention backup Quinton Maxwell soon after mentioning Nathan Rourke.
It’s not that Rourke isn’t capable of running the offense. Solich just knows how treacherous a season can be in college football, and the two quarterbacks will have to exchange snaps at times.
"I don't think anybody in the league that's got two quarterbacks like we got” Albin said. “We’ve got 20 or 22 starts at quarterback between Nathan and Quinton. They're both going to play. Nathan is our starter and he's coming off shoulder surgery. He and Quinton have set the bar."
Rourke will still be the guy they lean on in close game situations.
3. Ohio won’t blink talking about its special teams
It’s hard to questions the Bobcats’ specialists, a trio that returns for year No. 3 together. Louie Zervos has good leg strength for a placekicker, Michael Farkas can do anything he’s asked when punting and long-snapper Jake Hale rarely makes a mistake.
But, special teams coordinator Brian Haines wants to make sure the 2018 season takes some gambles on special teams. Whether it’s punt blocks or a kickoff return for a touchdown.
“I mean we blocked two punts last year and we got two safeties,” Haines said. “There’s a lot of things that go with the flow of the game. To answer your question, yes, there are things that go into it."
4. The Bobcats are happy their 10th coach is on the defensive line
Entering his senior season, defensive tackle Kent Berger is aware that one of the weakest aspects of the Bobcats this season will be the front seven. So when he was told in the spring that, per the new NCAA rule, Ohio would add a 10th coach to coach the defensive line, he was ecstatic.
For his entire college career, he had one position coach who had to focus on the defensive ends and defensive tackles. This fall, Tre’Mayne Scott has worked strictly with the defensive tackles and Pete Germano has worked with the defensive ends.
For a position group that has the most eyes on them in camp, Berger claims it’s been helpful to get more one-on-one experience. Not just for him, but especially for the younger players.
5. The defensive line doesn’t lack depth, it lacks experience
As coach Jimmy Burrow put it, you really want the experience in your defense to start up front. If you can shut down the running game, you can force opponents to force the football.
But this season, the experience is going to be in the back. The front seven may have depth to it, but has very little experience.
"We always say the defense starts up front, so I guess if you're gonna make a choice you'd say like to have four all-conference guys coming back up front,” Burrow said. “We're lucky to have two seasoned veterans that can make calls and checks and create some stability in the back-end."
