Ohio (6-3 overall, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) picked up a massive MAC win to start Tuesday night MACtion against rivals Miami (5-4 overall, 4-1 MAC) in the Battle of the Bricks.
This week, the Bobcats set their sights on one of the other 4-1 teams in the conference in Western Michigan. The Broncos have been solid all year, getting big wins over Toledo and Central Michigan. Before Ohio travels north to face Western Michigan, Ohio head coach Brian Smith sat down with reporters for his weekly press conference. This is what we learned.
Offensive Line Physicality
The Battle of the Bricks was a physical game from start to finish, and as many football games are, it started in the trenches. The Ohio offensive line played 60 minutes of hard-nosed football, but it will have to get right back to work this week as it prepares for Western Michigan's defensive front.
Smith believes his group is ready for another challenge and will continue to challenge them. He knows they will make a difference throughout the night next week, but also that it doesn't just fall on those five to get the job done.
“I have a lot of faith in our offensive line,” Smith said. “When you're talking about a good front, there's so much more that goes into protecting the quarterback than the offensive line. It's Parker's ability to get the ball out on time and not hang in the pocket. It's our ability to run the ball effectively and keep us in good down and distances. It's creating opportunities within our schemes to get guys help, get extra chips, things like that.”
Another Week, Another Dual-Threat Quarterback
Last week Miami boasted dual-threat veteran quarterback Dequan Finn, and the Ohio defense kept him in check on the ground, holding him to just 11 yards on eight attempts. The defensive linemen and linebackers did a great job spying Finn and closing distance when he did escape from the pocket.
This week, Ohio will have to prepare for another mobile quarterback in Western Michigan’s Broc Lowry. The redshirt sophomore is the Broncos’ leading rusher, going for 591 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground already this season.
He is a different type of runner compared to Finn, as Western Michigan calls more designed runs for Lowry, something Ohio will need to get ready for.
“This one (there’s) more quarterback run stuff than they probably do with Dequan (Finn),” Smith said on the difference in Lowry and Finn. “(Finn’s) issues were more scrambling, our ability to keep him in the pocket, which shows up this week also, but (Western Michigan) probably does more true quarterback run game with (Lowry). He's got over 100 carries on the season. So that’s a different type of issue that we just have to prepare for.”
Building off of Miami
The allure of a Battle of Bricks win will stay with the fans for the entire rest of the season, but for Smith’s bunch, it was one night to relish in the win and then immediately into self-reflection.
The dream for a football team is to have success on all sides of the ball, and some may call this complementary football. Smith saw great success Tuesday but gave a lot of credit to the defense for its big plays that impacted the win.
“I thought there were plays made on all three sides of the ball that were critical for the victory, and I think it was highlighted by how our defense played,” Smith said. “I think their ability to stop the run early in the game, be really tough in the red zone, force field goals, have a goal line stand and then end the game with a turnover.”
The room to grow is always there, and Smith saw some in the offense, specifically the running game. The running game had its moments to shine Tuesday, but he hopes to see the group be able to put up the same output from start to finish.
“I would have loved to have run the ball better throughout the entire game,” Smith said. “We ran it effectively when it mattered and when we really needed to at the end. “There were some times earlier in the game that I thought we probably could have run the ball a little bit better.”
Progress on Special Teams
The part of the game that has been the biggest problem for Ohio all year long has been special teams, and on Tuesday against Miami, that unit finally showed up and delivered some big plays.
First was the efficiency of kicker David Dellenbach, who made every kick he attempted against the RedHawks, the first Ohio has been perfect on kicks all season.
“I was extremely happy for him,” Smith said on Dellenbach. “I thought that was huge for him to make the make the field goal, and obviously making the extra points is big too. But that was great for his confidence as a kicker.”
The other huge special teams revelation was the kickoff return touchdown from Bangura in the fourth quarter. The senior back faked a pitch to fellow back Duncan Brune, confusing the Miami return team and opening a gap in the coverage unit that Bangura exploded through for the score.
Bangura was back deep against Miami because return man Eamonn Dennis was out with an injury, and Bangura made the most of his opportunity.
“You're always trying to get your best players on the field and getting guys in a position that are going to help you win games,” Smith said. “So there's opportunities where Duncan or Tank (Pearson) may end up returning kicks because of rep counts… but we're always going to try to put our best players in positions to help us win.”
