After missing a bowl game for the first time in five years, the Bobcats are ready for a turnaround season.
Lucas Powell said it left a bad taste in his mouth. Jovon Johnson called it a big disappointment. Quentin Poling agreed it was a let down to the legacy the players before him established.
For Powell and Johnson, both redshirt seniors, 2014 marked the first time in five years Ohio failed to make a bowl game, despite a 6-6 record — enough wins to make an appearance. For Poling, a redshirt sophomore, it was his first season playing for Ohio.
“I’m not going to be one of those guys who has five bowl rings,” Poling said. “So I guess we’re going to have to make that up with a MAC championship ring. That’s the best we can do.”
The expectation has been set.
The 2015 season for Ohio is centered on a Mid-American Conference championship. In a preseason poll, the team is tied with Akron to finish second in the East Division, behind Bowling Green.
It’s a lofty reach in comparison with the year before, but Poling said he can’t see why it should be anything less.
That sense of determination, mixed with redemption to cover the 2014 postseason blemish, was the overriding theme for the Bobcats in the summer and through early days of Fall Camp.
In an interview at MAC media day in late July, coach Frank Solich said bowl appearances were nice but quickly reaffirmed the goal was conference titles.
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“That’s the goal that’s obtainable,” Solich said. “It’s on the table and what we want and certainly what everyone else wants.”
Once Solich was at Ohio’s media day — away from the conference’s other coaches and players — it sounded more convincing.
“I like the makeup of our team,” he said in Athens. “I think we have a chance to be a very good football team. … We’re excited about this season and obviously playing a huge role in what gets done in our conference.”
A good portion of the optimism stems from an aged roster. While the Bobcats are still relatively young, they now have the playing experience some players lacked a season ago.
In 2015, 10 of the 11 offensive starters are returning, according to the program’s media guide. On defense, there are seven returning.
Even at quarterback, a spot still caught up in a position battle, there’s starting experience regardless of which starter is announced.
Between redshirt senior Derrius Vick and redshirt junior J.D. Sprague, Ohio has won with each.
Offensive coordinator/running backs coach Tim Albin said the backfield is the best in the conference, and he wouldn’t trade them for another program’s set.
Perhaps it shows even more how enthusiastic he is with the department, given he hasn’t picked a starter between the six players competing.
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While sophomore A.J. Ouellette had the bulk of carries before he was injured in 2014, senior Daz’mond Patterson said he hasn’t felt this healthy entering a season since his freshman year.
“I’m going to have a great year,” Patterson said. “Anytime I’m on the field and have the ball in my hand, or without the ball, I know I’m gonna do big things.”
The urge to do big things is a contagious feeling within the team.
@charliehatch_
gh181212@ohio.edu
