Matt Waters joked that during his visit to Iowa Western Community College he didn’t know he would be playing football with the superhero Thor — a moniker he applied to Ty Branz, who sticks out because of his long blond locks of hair.
What Waters also didn’t calculate was that the duo would later be teammates at Ohio as well.
Waters, a wide receiver, and Branz, a defensive end, decided to attend junior college after a lack of Division I offers coming out of high school. Both were then recruited to come to Ohio while in Iowa by Ohio defensive coordinator Jimmy Burrow. While they did not plan on coming to Ohio together, the duo fit the Bobcat's needs at the time.
“We needed a defensive end and we needed a wide receiver,” Burrow said. “So those two guys were perfect fits for us.”
In their limited time as Bobcats, Branz and Waters have made their marks on both sides of the ball, respectively, during their two years with the program.
Last season, Branz appeared in all of Ohio’s 13 games and finished the season with 25 tackles and three sacks. He has already recorded nine total tackles for this season.
Meanwhile, Waters has become a reliable receiver and is quietly on pace to surpass his 2012-13 totals of 14 catches and 225 yards.
Through four games this year, he is Ohio’s third-leading receiver with 15 catches for 190 yards.
The players, both redshirt seniors, admitted they were avid Nebraska fans growing up and that coach Frank Solich’s ties to the university
helped draw them to Ohio. Branz is from York, Neb. and Waters hails from Council Bluffs, Iowa, a suburb of Omaha.
“I was a Nebraska fan growing up, so obviously coach Solich was definitely a name I heard about a lot growing up,” Waters said. “I knew he coached out here, b
ut it hadn’t really registered… it clicked and I was like, ‘Oh shoot I could get a chance to maybe play for, to me, a legend.’ ”
Branz said knowing Waters throughout their transfer process made the transition to Ohio simpler.
“They (Ohio) were looking at both of us and we
went on the visit together,” Branz said. “We were like, ‘That would be pretty cool if we went here too and have somebody to rely on.’… It’s made the change a lot easier having somebody I knew.”
Burrow said Branz has familiarized himself with the defense more this season than in his fir
st year with Ohio, and that he has settled into his defensive end role.
“He’s tough,” Burrow said. “He’s really improved his pass rushing ability, and that’s his strength, and we try to utilize that as much as we can in passing downs and third down situations.”
Branz said the biggest adjustment for him between junior college and Division I football has been the increased speed and strength of players
Ohio faces.
“In junior college you’re playing with 18 (and) 19-year-olds,” Branz said. “They’re not full-grown men yet. You come here and now I’m playing against full-grown tackles that are real big boys, and that was a real eye-awakening for me.”
Waters said that making the jump from junior college to Division I football is not unusual for play
ers in the Midwest.
“I think there’s a lot of kids that get overlooked in the Midwest just because they come from really small schools.” Waters said. “I think that just speaks to that no matter where you look, there’s talent everywhere, and it’s always nice to see people that didn’t get very much attention in high school to still end up making it to the level that they wanted to.”
mk277809@ohiou.edu
@brandon_kors
