Ohio returns home for its final non-conference game of the 2026 season this weekend against FCS opponent Stonehill. Ohio Head Coach John Hauser sat down with the media to discuss the loss on the road to South Alabama and broke down the game and how his team is preparing for the Skyhawks in week four.
Starting quick Saturday
Over the past two weekends, Ohio has come out of the gates slowly, allowing its opponent to take an early advantage and put them behind the eight ball. It ended up not costing them after a resilient rally helped the Bobcats come back against Jacksonville State, but Saturday against South Alabama, they were not as fortunate, failing to come back and trailing by multiple scores most of the evening.
Ohio wants to get moving quickly, but that also comes with not underestimating an opponent from the FCS level. The Bobcats came out strong against Nebraska, and Hauser’s group wants to look to the film and mentality of his group to find that first-drive groove again.
“We've started slow the last two weeks as a team,” Hauser said. “We’ve got to start fast. We want to. We always want to start fast, on the road, home, doesn't matter. The message isn't really changing. We're going to try to figure out why we don't think we've started as fast as we did at Nebraska at times and then keep working to get that way.”
Development crucial with depleted roster
Ohio has dealt with multiple of injuries so far in 2026, and through the adversity, the depth of the roster has taken center stage. This rebuilding year has seen fresh faces, but won’t take away from the goal of Hauser and the program, which is winning.
“We just got to get them in there and see them play, and that's the fine line as a coach, right,” Hauser said. “You gotta develop depth, but you're trying to win games too. So, that's something that we talk about every week, just trying to bring the next tier of guys along to be up to the standard, right?”
Defense has to do the small things
The defense for Ohio has had its positive moments this season, but has also had its lackluster moments as well. The tackling has been the main story so far, resulting in a handful of plays breaking big.
“Offensively, their quarterback runs around, he makes plays,” Hauser said. “They throw it. They got good receivers. They can run. They can catch. And then their running game. We gave up 266 yards rushing, so we got to stop the run. That's going to be the number one thing again for this week. And then obviously tackle better.”
Quarterback situation for Ohio
Due to the injury graduate student quarterback Nick Poulos sustained against Jacksonville State in week 2, junior quarterback Matt Vezza got the start against South Alabama. Vezza played a good game, going 12/16 passing, 113 yards, two passing touchdowns and one interception. Vezza also had a good game on the ground with nine carries for 46 yards.
Despite Vezza’s start, the game appeared unattainable in the fourth quarter as the Bobcats trailed by 17 points. That led to Ohio deciding to bring in its true freshman quarterback Levi Davis, who played limited snaps the week prior.
Davis rushed into the game on fire. He finished the game going 9/15, 121 yards and two touchdowns. He did all of this while playing in less than a quarter of the game.
“I thought Levi (Davis) did an outstanding job coming in," Hauser said. “He drove us down the field a couple of times. When we got off schedule, he kept us on, whether it was running or throwing.”
With Poulos recovering, and Davis playing how he did, it makes the quarterback situation a lot more difficult for upcoming games.
“But I thought Matt (Vezza) played well too,” Hauser said. “I think just from a program standpoint, we want to see what we got and keep moving forward.”
