Nathan Rourke smiled and nodded his head.
He passed for 209 yards, rushed for 77 and had four total touchdowns Wednesday night. The Bobcats finished with over 400 rushing yards for the second time this season. The defense forced four turnovers. Plus, Ohio had just throttled Buffalo, 52-17, at Peden Stadium to avenge the Bobcats’ loss last week.
The smile and nod, however, wasn’t because of the win or video game stats. It was the response to a simple question in the postgame press conference.
“Are you rooting for Bowling Green next week?”
“Yes I am,” Rourke responded when prodded.
The entire team will be rooting for Bowling Green if it hopes to reach and possibly win the Mid-American Conference Championship. The Bobcats need the Falcons to beat the Bulls next week.
But after Wednesday night’s game, Ohio found out there’d be another piece to the puzzle. Miami beat Northern Illinois, 13-7. If Miami beats Ball State on Tuesday and Buffalo loses to Bowling Green, the RedHawks win the MAC East.
Not only will Ohio be Falcon fans this week, it will be Cardinal fans, too.
This all also hinges on the Bobcats beating Akron next Friday.
“I've known from day one with this team if we're playing well, we can beat people in all three areas,” coach Frank Solich said. “Now, we're patting ourselves on the back a little bit and we've got Akron coming up. That's a very physical football team, very well coached and we're onto the next one. I do know that our team will play hard every time they step onto the football field.”
A lot needs to happens for the Bobcats to even make it to Detroit. For the second straight season, their destiny is out their hands. Both seasons featured a heartbreaking loss. Last season was Akron, this season Miami.
Throughout social media Wednesday night, Ohio fans and alumni kept repeating the simple phrase: “how did we lose to Miami?”
On Wednesday, Ohio destroyed the MAC Champion favorite in late November at Peden Stadium for the second consecutive season. Last season was a trouncing of Toledo, this season a rout of Buffalo.
Neither wins were competitive, but both showed off Ohio’s strength: Running the ball down opponent’s throats. Last season, the Bobcats rushed for 393 yards against Toledo, Wednesday night they went for 437 yards.
The wins also showcased stingy defense and holding the league’s best quarterbacks in check. Last season was Logan Woodside, this season Tyree Jackson.
“Everybody has a tough go of it in the MAC when you get into late November, it's just how it's going to be,” Solich said.
In the preseason, the Bobcats were the media and coaches pick to win the MAC. But a slow start in nonconference trickled into conference play. A late win at Kent State was the precursor to the Bobcats’ loss at Northern Illinois the following week.
Ohio stayed perfect after the NIU loss until last week at Miami.
It’s a position that this program didn’t think it would be in right now, but playing 10 games in nine and a half weeks will do that. This season marked the 50th anniversary since the Bobcats last won the MAC Championship in 1968.
After every practice this season Ohio broke its huddle by saying “MAC champs.”
It was a saying many thought was true until the loss at Miami. Things have changed. This week the Bobcats didn’t break practice with the same cheer.
After Wednesday’s game, Solich might want to call Bowling Green interim coach Carl Pelini and wish him good luck next week. He also might want to call Mike Neu at Ball State.
If those two can’t lead their teams to wins, the Bobcats will not be the team to end the streak, but instead stretch it.
Another season without success in Detroit, another season with big wins that don’t mean much.
