Going on the road is supposed to be uncomfortable, but Ohio has no complaints.
Just ask safety Patrick Tafua about playing on the road, and he will tell you they're used to it.
It's just another 100 yards
Tafua said. It's still a football field where we can play.
Including a 19-7 victory over Akron Saturday, Ohio played three road games in a row, and four of six to start the season. The Bobcats went 3-1 on the road.
On the recent three-game road trip, the Bobcats won their last two against Bowling Green and Akron, and they were able to play it close at Tennessee.
It's hard doing a lot of traveling especially during school linebacker Melvin Payne said. Coach (Solich) just tells us to stay focused. That's the main thing. So
that's what we've been trying to do as a team.
The actual travel involved hasn't been as smooth.
On the way back from North Texas, the plane was fogged out of Parkersburg and was forced to land in Pittsburgh, where they stayed long enough for breakfast.
After the Tennessee game, the Bobcats didn't return until 3:30 a.m.
With games within the state of Ohio the last two weekends, the Bobcats still returned to Athens late. Ohio returned after midnight on both trips.
That has a way to beat a lot of teams down
Solich said. But this team has been very good at not letting anything take them out of preparing well and trying to carry on over to executing well on game day.
We take a lot of pride in being able to go on the road and not let anything detract from us getting ready to play good football.
Special Teams miscues
Wide receivers Riley Dunlop and LaVon Brazill nearly collided again while trying to field a punt.
The two narrowly missed each other
but they also missed the ball. The punt bounced off Dunlop's leg and was recovered by the Zips' Brian Wagner at the Ohio 30 yard line.
Akron went on to score its only touchdown of the game after starting with a short field.
This marks the third time this season the Bobcats have had issues on the punt return
but this was the first one that Ohio lost.
Despite these problems
Solich defended the use of two returners.
It's a matter of field position, he said. One returner's just not going to get to a lot of the balls.
Solich cited the increased use of the rugby-style kick as part of the reason Ohio wants to have more than one returner on the field.
Solich said the issue with Saturday's punt was both Dunlop and Brazill could have fielded it.
Usually, that doesn't happen, Solich said. That was kicked right in the middle of them, and the calls weren't made quick enough.
Depth keeps injuries' impact down
The Bobcats lost another player during Saturday's victory.
Starting defensive end Kris Luchsinger went down late in the first quarter and had to be carted off the field.
Solich said after the game Luchsinger is out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
The Bobcats also lost third receiver Riley Dunlop for a couple weeks. Dunlop's right arm was in a sling toward the end of the game.
It's just the nature of the sport, Solich said. Athletes are just too big, too fast, too powerful anymore and the collisions are so dynamic that something's got to give on occasion.
The defense is already jumbled because of injuries to starters such as linebacker Erik Ejike.
Both the players and the coaching staff attribute depth to the reason Ohio has overcome injuries.
We know that the coaches have set up properly the depth of our defense, Tafua said
concerning the injuries on the defense. We know that anyone can step up into the gaps and fill and play
That's what's great right now. We know that any of the guys we have can step up and play as if they were never gone.
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