It's natural to look at the Central Michigan roster and immediately be drawn to quarterback Cooper Rush.
That's not a knock against him or the Chippewas, Rush is clearly headed to the NFL and is currently leading a dangerous offense in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
But Central Michigan's pass defense could keep Ohio off of the scoreboard next Tuesday.
Ranked as one of the top defenses in the country, the Chippewas will give the Bobcats all they can handle next week.
Breakdown
Using this YouTube video, The Post looked at the Central Michigan defense and how Ohio will have to attack it next week.
The Central Michigan pass defense is ranked 29th in the country with 201.5 yards allowed per game. For Ohio to pierce the Central Michigan defensive secondary, it's going to take quarterback Quinton Maxwell and his targets like Sebastian Smith and Papi White to be on the same page.
The Chippewas run a defense that the Bobcats have seen all season, the 4-2-5. Designed to give teams flexibility in the slot, it adds more speed on the field by replacing an outside linebacker with a safety type, a bigger body than a corner and faster than a linebacker.
At 1:26:43, Western Michigan lined up in the pistol, Ohio's formation. With a flanker in the backfield, Central Michigan puts the two linebackers in the box up close to the line of scrimmage.
The corners are in bump and run coverage on the outside. If Sebastian Smith and Jordan Reid can get a step on the cornerbacks, it could spell trouble for the Chippewas.
Western Michigan runs a play action pass — the majority of Ohio's pass plays are play action — and the Central Michigan defense bites. The Western Michigan receivers are now one-on-one on the outsides.
With enough time to let a long pass fly, he finds his receiver who has beaten the safety, who bought the fake, in the corner for a touchdown.
Ohio will have to use its play action effectively, which starts by setting up the run game.
Judgement
The Ohio offense will have to get its running game going early. Central Michigan allows 160.4 yards on the ground per game, something Ohio should be able to exploit.
The more it can keep the Chippewas secondary out of the game, the better off the Bobcats will be.
If the Bobcats can do that, they'll find themselves booking hotels in Detroit.
