The pomp and circumstance that accompanies Homecoming is merely white noise for the Ohio football team.
While the Bobcats (4-1, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) appreciate the raucous atmosphere the crowd will provide in Saturday’s tilt against Central Michigan (2-4, 1-1 MAC), ultimately, it’s no different than any of Ohio’s other home games.
“As a team, we have to stay focused,” said redshirt senior wide receiver Donte Foster. “Central Michigan isn’t a joke. We’re going to come out there with a lot of intensity and hopefully we can feed off our great fans.”
After dropping the season opener against Louisville, Ohio has compiled four straight wins and defeated its last two opponents in Austin Peay and Akron by a combined score of 81-3. The back-to-back blowouts signaled the first time since 1999 that the Bobcats held their opponents without a touchdown in two straight games.
Redshirt senior linebacker Keith Moore said a change in attitude and more productive practices have sparked the recent string of strong play.
“I think our practices have been a lot different than in the past,” said Moore, who returned from injury against Akron last week. “People are hustling more and we’re making a huge emphasis to run to the ball, wrap up. … People are kind of practicing harder than we’ve ever done.”
Ohio will look to reap the benefits of those efforts against Central Michigan, which has struggled to cope with the loss of starting quarterback-running back duo Cody Kater and Zurlon Tipton, which is sidelined for the season because of injuries.
But even considering the loss of Tipton, a former MAC second-team selection, the Bobcats are preparing for a Chippewa team that lives and dies with pounding defenses using their four-man running back corps.
Central Michigan will try to make Ohio load the box so it can open the field for redshirt freshman quarterback Cooper Rush with the play-action pass, redshirt senior cornerback Travis Carrie said.
Rush has had trouble getting the ball to his receivers at times this season, throwing eight interceptions and completing only 51.9 percent of his passes, which ranks him second- and third-worst mark in the MAC, respectively.
He will have to deal with an Ohio linebacking core that has been the MAC’s best in defending the run this season and also is quick enough to make an impact on the opposition’s aerial attack, Ohio coach Frank Solich said.
Solich praised redshirt sophomores Jovon Johnson and Ben Russell, who held down Ohio’s defense during Moore’s absence. Russell leads the Bobcats with 33 tackles.
“I really believed, coming in, that we were going to have linebackers that could really run,” Solich said. “They seem to have the kind of makeup that enables them to be able to pick up what has been a fairly complicated defensive system.”
ch203310@ohiou.edu
