As much as Bobcat fans would like to believe the problems facing this year's football team are strictly of the off-the-field variety, they most certainly are not.
Things are cloudy in Athens these days, with the recent chaos that has consumed the athletic department, but they might be a tad sunnier had the football team brought its A-game in its pivotal Mid-American Conference showdown with Bowling Green this past Saturday.
Coming into the contest, it looked as if there was going to be a changing of the guard in the MAC East with Ohio and Kent State showing signs of progress and Bowling Green and Miami looking like they needed a year to rebuild. But it was just the same ole' same ole' on Saturday. The Falcons looked like the Falcons of old and the Bobcats looked like, well, the Bobcats of old and that led to a not-as-close-as-the-score-makes-it-seem 21-9 loss.
Monday's suspensions could not have come at a worse time for the team's shrinking confidence, but it was the already weakened offensive line that took the biggest hit.
It'll be a challenge for us
coach Frank Solich said about the suspensions of offensive linemen Paul Johnson and Tommy Stuck. It's obvious when you look at most programs generally there's not the depth there (offensive line) that normally we would like to have.
Johnson, a junior, started eight games last season and had started the team's first four games this season before his suspension. Stuck, a sophomore, started five games for the Bobcats last season at center and had rotated with J.J. Knabb at center and guard this season.
Suspensions haven't been the only problems facing the offensive line of late, as senior left tackle Matt Coppage has been dealing with a nagging shoulder injury and missed nearly two games so far this season.
It's been a hard couple of weeks Coppage said. I can't put my finger on it but we're coming back to work and we're trying to find the answer.
Until the Bobcat O-line does find the answer to its early season struggles, the struggles of quarterback Austen Everson and tailback Kalvin McRae most likely will continue as well.
Looking at the stats from Saturday's game, it'd be easy to place the blame on Everson, with his two interceptions and -8 rushing yards. But it was the constant pressure and beatings he took from the Falcons' defensive line that caused the poor day. It's a miracle he's still walking, let alone playing, this Saturday after the crushing blows he took.
Coming off a season where he averaged over 100 yards rushing per contest, McRae has been a non-factor so far this season. Excluding his 106-yard performance at Northern Illinois Sept. 9, McRae is averaging only 34 yards per game. Nothing has changed with McRae's running style ' he's shown flashes of brilliance at times this season ' but the holes just haven't been there for him.
I'm sure it's frustrating to him
Solich said of McRae's poor numbers thus far this season. Right now we're getting outnumbered at the line of scrimmage with a lot of blitzes and we haven't forced people out of doing that. We need to do that.
If the Bobcats manage to do that this weekend against Western Michigan, maybe, just for a day at least, the focus will be on what happens on the field.
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Andrew Gribble
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Center J.J. Knabb (53) and the rest of the offensive line will need to pick up the slack after losing two key linemen for an indefinite amount of time to suspension. Ohio will host Western Michigan Saturday at 12 p.m. at Peden Stadium.
