Some Ohio defenders haven't seen it since high school. Others have only played against it sparingly. But they all have to respect it.
Kent State will debut the triple option against Ohio on Saturday afternoon. It's not a traditional triple option out of an under center look, but rather out of a shotgun or pistol formation.
The Bobcats will have to defend against all other types option plays, but the triple option has the most potential to hurt the defense.
"Anytime you involve the option as a part of your offense, it takes a lot of discipline, a lot of work, a lot of formation recognition," defensive coordinator Jimmy Burrow said. "It’s tough. We don’t see it a lot, then all of a sudden here comes a team that does some triple option and some regular option.”
Kent State, faced with having lost starting quarterback Nick Holley, became a heavy run team after his loss. Ohio will get a front row seat to that new-look offense at Peden Stadium at 2 p.m.
“We already know with them not throwing the ball as much, we’ve got to have really good gap integrity," defensive end Trent Smart said. "They put a lot of stress on defensive ends, because they do a lot of reading. Quarterback reads the ends a lot.”
The triple option is designed to find an error in the end zone. The three options, a quarterback keeper, running back dive or pitch to the running back, have to be accounted for on each and every play. If not, it could be deadly for the Ohio defense.
Granted, Kent State doesn't run that every play. But the triple option, and the option in general, are a big enough part of the team's offense that Ohio had to game plan against it this week.
“We just have to do our job," safety Javon Hagan said. "Us as safeties, we have to stay on the pitch man, or if we have the quarterback, we go to the quarterback’s hip. In order to stop the option we have to be disciplined.”
Fortunately for the Bobcats, the Golden Flashes don't really run the option — or anything — well.
Kent State ranks 128th out of 130 teams in yards per game, 125th in passing yards and 130th in points per game. In other words, Kent State's offense is possibly the worst offense in college football.
That still won't stop the Ohio coaches from taking Kent State (2-5, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) seriously, however. One misstep or missed assignment could put the Bobcats on a slippery slope downward.
“We expect every MAC game to go to the last possession, our guys have to understand that," Burrow said. "It doesn’t matter what the records are of each team. We went down to the last possession last year.”
Kent State is coming off a 17-14 win over MAC East opponent Miami.
“Last year Kent State came out and did a lot of four-by-one, some stuff that we weren’t expecting," linebacker Evan Croutch said. "Their offense week-by-week seems like it changes a little bit. We’ve got to be ready for anything with Kent.”
The Bobcats defense will get some returners back on the defensive line, notably Kevin Robbins, who will be expected to help shutdown the Golden Flashes offense.
Extra pressure will be put on the front seven to slow down Kent State quarterback George Bollas and his running attack and create favorable situations for Ohio against a team that has trouble throwing the ball.
"We'll go into this game like we do every game, which is to stop the run first," coach Frank Solich said. "That's going to take a lot because they run the ball very well. If you let them get that rolling, off of that comes the play action passes, and that's where you're going to get really hurt."
Ohio won't talk about any struggles that Kent State has had, though. In fact, you wouldn't even know that the Golden Flashes have had trouble putting points on the board.
“We already know Kent State is going to come in here thinking that they can beat us. We’ve got to prepare ourselves for a battle," Smart said. "Four quarters of straight, hard-nosed football.”
