Tight end Andrew Mooney has had to spend a little more time in the film room than he normally would this early in the week ' and for good reason.
Ohio has had just four days to rest and prepare for tonight's nationally televised game against Akron after it defeated Temple 23-7 Friday night.
The short work week comes at a bad time for Ohio (5-5, 3-3 Mid-American Conference). The Bobcats are coming off one of their most physically demanding games of the season, and players are going to have less time to nurse their bumps and bruises.
I think physically it's going to end up being the biggest challenge
because you can put in extra time in film study and things like that but you can't put in any extra time healing your body Mooney said.
To help alleviate some of the physical hardships, coach Frank Solich and his staff have kept the players without pads in practice while they run through their normal routine.
Solich said that he is also making sure the players aren't overwhelmed with the mental aspect of the quick turnaround.
They are doing fine on that (mental) end of it
he said. It would probably be a mistake to make wholesale changes in what we do both offensively and defensively.
While this isn't a normal week for the Bobcats, it isn't for Akron either. The Zips lost to Bowling Green 44-20 Friday night and will have the same time to prepare for the Bobcats as Ohio had to prepare for them.
Akron (3-6, 2-3 MAC) has lost their last three games, all of which have been to MAC East divisional opponents. The team that was once thought a contender in the East has struggled to win games because it hasn't been able to get anything going offensively.
The Zips rank last in the MAC in total offenses, averaging 309.1 yards per game. The team scored a meager 19.3 points per game, ranking it 11th in the conference. Akron also ranks 11th in the conference in both passing (182 yards) and rushing (127.1 yards) offense.
Making things worse for the Zips is that it is not known if their starting quarterback, Chris Jacquemain, will be available for tonight's game. He was suspended last week for violating team rules.
In Jacquemain's place, backup Carlton Jackson, who is known more for his running ability, was just 14-of-31 passing for 192 yards with a touchdown, two interceptions and a fumble against Bowling Green. Defensive lineman Jameson Hartke said that it doesn't matter who is behind center for Akron.
We're prepared for both
Hartke said. You always got to prepare and make sure you play both their styles of offense.
This game is important to the Bobcats in many ways. Buffalo's loss to Miami Saturday allowed the team to stay in the hunt for the MAC East Division title. Ohio needs a win to become bowl eligible and needs to win out if it still has hopes of defending its championship.
Well
right now we're one game at a time
but the only reason we're one game at a time is to win the East and get back to the bowl game
Mooney said. We might have done that a little bit at the beginning of the season
started looking a little bit too forward to the postseason G? we're back to focusing on one game at a time and winning the one in front of us.
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