DETROIT - A 21-17 loss to Marshall in its fourth-ever bowl game can't overshadow the strides the Ohio football program took in 2009.
Picked by many pundits to finish in the middle of the Mid-American Conference's East Division, coach Frank Solich's Bobcats overshot expectations. They won nine games, won their division and appeared in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.
One season cannot be used as the lone yard marker in evaluating a program, but this year's squad embodies more than just one season.
The senior class will leave Ohio (9-5, 7-1 MAC) with 28 wins, the most in 40 years. It also participated in half of the school's bowls (2).
Well
I'm proud of this football team Solich said. They've accomplished a great deal.
Much of the success is credited to Solich, who is in his fifth year as the face of Ohio football. The former Nebraska coach has established the Ohio program as one of the best in the MAC with two East Division titles in four years.
This season easily could have been a disaster for Ohio.
Injuries to starters plagued the Bobcats all season, but time and again, players stepped in and kept the team on its late-season roll - until the Bobcats reached the postseason.
In the MAC Championship game against Central Michigan, Ohio's depth was tested like never before. At times, none of the Bobcats playmakers (such as wide receivers Taylor Price and LaVon Brazill) were on the field.
Ohio started too slow in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, and Marshall thundered to an early 21-0 lead that Ohio couldn't overcome.
But those two losses, albeit in big games, don't erase the gritty wins Ohio was able to pull out at the end of the season.
Following a letdown on Parents Weekend (a 20-11 loss), the Bobcats reeled off four straight wins with their season hanging in the balance.
Two of those four wins came against teams that ended up playing in bowls thiswinter (Temple and Northern Illinois). Add in an early season win at Bowling Green, and Ohio defeated three teams that made it to a bowl game.
Outstanding individual performances often made the difference, as Ohio had 12 players (a school record) named to All-MAC teams.
Wide receiver Terrence McCrae emerged as a legitimate red-zone threat. He hauled in nine touchdown passes, tying former tight end Andrew Mooney for the Ohio single-season record.
Brazill became the school's all-time leader in punt returns for touchdowns and was an All-America second-team selection.
After becoming the starter, quarterback Theo Scott threw 20 touchdown passes, setting a new school record.
Safety Patrick Tafua and linebacker Noah Keller led a defense that forced turnovers all season, as Ohio finished seventh in the nation in turnover margin.
We've done a lot of the right things to get this program moving forward Solich said. I just wish we would have been able to get this win (in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl).
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Sports
Joe Ragazzo
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