Ohio (4-3 overall, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) is coming off a big win on Homecoming over MAC foe Northern Illinois. The Bobcats showed out for the big weekend, defeating the Huskies by a score of 48-21.
That win was a needed rebound from the loss against Ball State, bringing Ohio back to a positive record in the MAC and setting them up with momentum going into the heart of conference play.
Ohio will travel on the road to face Eastern Michigan this Saturday, but before that, head coach Brian Smith sat down with reporters for his weekly press conference, here is what we learned.
Linebacker Injuries and Depth
Ohio has dealt with injuries on both sides of the ball, but the linebacking core is an area of the team that has been hit with a lot of injuries specifically. The first one to go down was redshirt junior linebacker Jack Fries, who went down with what appeared to be a lower-body injury in week two against West Virginia.
He has not played in a game since, but Smith’s comments make it seem like he could be back on the field soon.
“Jack was practicing at the end of last week,” Smith said. “I’m pretty positive in his progression, so (I’m) very positive that we will be seeing him in action soon.”
Senior backer Cameron Hollobaugh did not finish the game against Northern Illinois, and it is unclear what his injury and playing status are.
“We will see how this week goes,” Smith said on Hollobaugh.
One positive in the linebacking room, despite the injuries, has been true freshman linebacker Charlie Christopher. He stepped up in a big way for Ohio, tying for the team lead in tackles with six against the Huskies.
“He’s a Bobcat, he’s a tough, hard-nosed kid,” Smith said of Christopher. “I think he’s better in space than you might think he’s going to be, I think he’s shown he can tackle in space. He’s a smart kid, he plays hard.”
Looking ahead to Eastern Michigan
The Eagles are another opponent that has played above their record in 2025. The two-win team struggled in non-conference play, winning only one game, but in MAC play, they have beaten the Bobcats' previous opponent in Northern Illinois and gone down to the wire with a fiery Buffalo team.
They have been falling short due to their defense and the worst run-stopping in the country. Ohio, coming off a game with 333 yards on the ground, will look to stay within itself and pound the rock again for an advantage on the road.
“I think running the football is something that we try to really hang our hat on and be very efficient at and take pride in,” Smith said. "So I think regardless of what a team's stats are going into the game, that is something that we will always try to emphasize.”
Parker Navarro’s Improvements as a passer
Most of the hype around Ohio coming into this year was based on graduate student quarterback Parker Navarro returning to the team, and he has proven that hype so far. Smith has mentioned in past pressers that he challenged Navarro to improve as a passer, and he has done that so far this season.
“He has grown a lot as a quarterback, and that was where we wanted a lot of his growth to be is (becoming) a better pocket passer … and I think he’s done that,” Smith said. “Where I thought he could have been better in that game was an area that he's typically been really good at, which was extending plays with his feet.”
Navarro was on time with his throws all day, executing at a high level without lighting up the stat sheet. He was accurate and creative, hitting his receivers in the right spots to keep drives going. He has already thrown for 1471 yards and nine touchdowns this year, and he should keep it rolling as the offense improves.
Cleaning up special teams and penalties
Big wins can typically cover up moments of poor execution throughout a game, and on Saturday for Ohio, it did not walk out of Peden Stadium having played a perfect 60 minutes. Leading from wire to wire and by as many as four scores, the Bobcats brought home a big bounce back win, but also tallied a season high 13 penalties.
“Two holds that were both not great, and there are fundamental issues that we're addressing, and want to get those fixed,” Smith said. “There's some that are my fault, there's one or two where the plays coming in a little bit late, and we're doing things where there's audibles and there's motions and there's stuff happening at the line of scrimmage, and I'm not giving them enough time to get the plays in correctly and get them off.”
Penalties are a part of the game, and even the best teams will have a handful every time they take the field. For Ohio, the penalties were in all three phases of the game but started on special teams, a group that has struggled throughout the year on execution and will have to go back to work again this week before traveling to the road atmosphere in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
“We're continuing to look at what we're doing, who's on these teams, and we're evaluating how to make those units better,” Smith said. “It's not one thing that we're trying to fix. There's a lot of aspects to that. Sometimes it's the kick location that's an issue, sometimes it's the hang that you're not getting enough of… so there's a lot of parts of that that we're really trying to improve and get better at, and unfortunately it's been a work in progress.”
