Ohio (1-1) is on the road this weekend as it travels down south to take on University of South Alabama (1-1) for its last away non-conference game.
In Ohio’s grueling four overtime win last weekend against Jacksonville State, it saw injuries to captain quarterback Nick Poulos, backup quarterback Matt Vezza, captain safety DJ Walker and captain running back Duncan Brune.
Three of Ohio’s four captains were injured, Walker being the only one to return to the game. With both of Ohio’s top two quarterbacks injured and no update on either of their injuries, freshman Levi Davis, who came in late in the fourth quarter to finish the game, is left as the QB1 for the time being.
Now looking at South Alabama, the Jaguars, are coming off a hard fought loss against Tulane University 28-24.
Offensively, South Alabama has been cruising. It’s been superb in the run game as through its first two games it has rushed for a whopping 423 rushing yards. This strong rushing has been led by senior running back PJ Martin with 142 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries.
So far, running game being successful has helped senior quarterback Bishop Davenport in his passing, with him throwing for 450 yards, three touchdowns and 0 interceptions through his first two games. Davenport has also been good with his legs, rushing for 73 yards already this season.
This is a big advantage for South Alabama as Ohio’s defense has struggled this season stopping the run, as in two games they’ve allowed 409 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
South Alabama’s defense’s biggest struggle has also been stopping the run. It’s run defense was good in week one against Southeastern Louisiana University. South Alabama only allowed 45 rushing yards. But last week, Tulane's starting running back rushed for 214 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. South Alabama could do nothing against him.
This is good for Ohio as it’s still struggling on getting a run game going offensively. Brune’s injury doesn’t help.
Defensively, this game will come down to which team can limit the other team's run game. Offensively, both teams will try early to get a run game going, and the team able to so will get a huge advantage.
