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Last year: Defense The team was dominated by the defense (except for the first game, where it didn't show). That was the best front seven I've seen at Ohio, without a doubt. On the other hand, the secondary was suspect at times, or it would have been a totally dominant defense. Even then they held other teams to an average of only 22.6 points a game, excellent in this day of high powered offenses. That number was bested only by 2011 (22.1), 2009 (21.3), and 2006 (18.1). Not coincidentally those four teams all won the MAC east. Defense wins championships, as they say. Offense: The offense last year had issues, not all of their own making. Neither Maxwell nor Windham were as consistent as you'd like, and Windham was hurt part of the year. The offensive line struggled early in the year, but improved as the year went on. The running back situation was a total fiasco, with AJ out for the season, Brown and Irons both injured one way or the other throughout most of the season such that it was a mystery from week to week whether there would even be one of them who could even play, and then, Bo Hardy filled in and did a great job...for about a week, until he, too, was hurt with a broken hand, if I recall. The resulting offense only averaged 26.3 points a game, under the 27.5 from 2015, and well under the 30+ years of 2011-12. This year: Defense Obviously the defensive front seven won't be as good. Brown will be a big loss, though Poling and Moore will be back. Up front, losing Basham, Laseak, Sayles, and Strobel is huge, in more ways than one. Smart, Robbins, Porter, and Aloese all played substantially last year, and are good, but they will need some players behind them to rotate in. The secondary, however, looks like it's improving. Hagan, Nelson, and Ellis are all back, and they have a lot of other players who seem to have potential, though the injuries back there are starting to be a concern, with the loss of Mayne Williams, and injuries to Morgan, Miller, Motley, etc. On the whole, I now think the defense will be slightly worse than last year, and will probably give up ~24 points a game, comparable to 2010, 2012, and 2014. Offense I'm starting to get excited about this offense. Maxwell seems to have matured a lot, and improved a lot, and he wasn't bad last year. He's a hard worker, and a leader. Rourke, behind him, seems to have the same qualities. I think QB will be a strength for this year. As RB, so long as AJ, Brown, and Ross stay healthy, they will be very good. Up front, I'm thinking that this will be the best offensive line since 2011-12. That huge line will mean running room for AJ, Brown, and Ross, and actually might help keep them healthy - when they get hit out in the open, they can deliver a hit, instead of having one delivered to them. It also means time for the QBs, which will make them look better. But, will they have people to throw to? Absolutely. TE is strong, with a healthy (unlike last year) Mangen, Morgan, plus Connor Brown, the Leurhmans, etc. At WR, I definitely like the starters Ball, Cope, and Papi White, and there are some players behind them, too, like Cherry, Marhefka, Meyer, and Odom. The offense looks like it will be really, really good. I'm predicting they will rival 2011-12 for point production, and they will average perhaps 31 points a game. If they can score early and often, and then get the starters off the field in a lot of games, that will also help prevent injuries. Overall Expectation This is going to be a team that can score a lot of points. I expect they can score with long passes, but also with long punishing drives. The defense will battle, but will give up more points than I'd like to see. If the depth matures on defense, and they can get a good rotation, the defense will keep improving as the year goes on. If they can score 30+ points against Purdue and Kansas, we'll know it's going to be a fun season. Those that like to see a lot of points are not going to be disappointed. Those, like me, that love defense, may be a big more disappointed, but with the offense scoring a lot, we'll be happy, too. This definitely should be a bowl-bound team. They most likely will win about 9 games. On the other hand, there are no games they can not win. If they get a little attitude, and a little confidence, this could become a very special Bobcat team. “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ― Epictetus Back to Top Doc Bobcat General User Member Since: 12/20/2004 Post Count: 4,246 Status: Offline     RE: As the season approaches..    Posted: 8/24/2017 2:31:46 PM  L.C. wrote: What are people excited about? What are they expecting? Last year: Defense The team was dominated by the defense (except for the first game, where it didn't show). That was the best front seven I've seen at Ohio, without a doubt. On the other hand, the secondary was suspect at times, or it would have been a totally dominant defense. Even then they held other teams to an average of only 22.6 points a game, excellent in this day of high powered offenses. That number was bested only by 2011 (22.1), 2009 (21.3), and 2006 (18.1). Not coincidentally those four teams all won the MAC east. Defense wins championships, as they say. Offense: The offense last year had issues, not all of their own making. Neither Maxwell nor Windham were as consistent as you'd like, and Windham was hurt part of the year. The offensive line struggled early in the year, but improved as the year went on. The running back situation was a total fiasco, with AJ out for the season, Brown and Irons both injured one way or the other throughout most of the season such that it was a mystery from week to week whether there would even be one of them who could even play, and then, Bo Hardy filled in and did a great job...for about a week, until he, too, was hurt with a broken hand, if I recall. The resulting offense only averaged 26.3 points a game, under the 27.5 from 2015, and well under the 30+ years of 2011-12. This year: Defense Obviously the defensive front seven won't be as good. Brown will be a big loss, though Poling and Moore will be back. Up front, losing Basham, Laseak, Sayles, and Strobel is huge, in more ways than one. Smart, Robbins, Porter, and Aloese all played substantially last year, and are good, but they will need some players behind them to rotate in. The secondary, however, looks like it's improving. Hagan, Nelson, and Ellis are all back, and they have a lot of other players who seem to have potential, though the injuries back there are starting to be a concern, with the loss of Mayne Williams, and injuries to Morgan, Miller, Motley, etc. On the whole, I now think the defense will be slightly worse than last year, and will probably give up ~24 points a game, comparable to 2010, 2012, and 2014. Offense I'm starting to get excited about this offense. Maxwell seems to have matured a lot, and improved a lot, and he wasn't bad last year. He's a hard worker, and a leader. Rourke, behind him, seems to have the same qualities. I think QB will be a strength for this year. As RB, so long as AJ, Brown, and Ross stay healthy, they will be very good. Up front, I'm thinking that this will be the best offensive line since 2011-12. That huge line will mean running room for AJ, Brown, and Ross, and actually might help keep them healthy - when they get hit out in the open, they can deliver a hit, instead of having one delivered to them. It also means time for the QBs, which will make them look better. But, will they have people to throw to? Absolutely. TE is strong, with a healthy (unlike last year) Mangen, Morgan, plus Connor Brown, the Leurhmans, etc. At WR, I definitely like the starters Ball, Cope, and Papi White, and there are some players behind them, too, like Cherry, Marhefka, Meyer, and Odom. The offense looks like it will be really, really good. I'm predicting they will rival 2011-12 for point production, and they will average perhaps 31 points a game. If they can score early and often, and then get the starters off the field in a lot of games, that will also help prevent injuries. Overall Expectation This is going to be a team that can score a lot of points. I expect they can score with long passes, but also with long punishing drives. The defense will battle, but will give up more points than I'd like to see. If the depth matures on defense, and they can get a good rotation, the defense will keep improving as the year goes on. If they can score 30+ points against Purdue and Kansas, we'll know it's going to be a fun season. Those that like to see a lot of points are not going to be disappointed. Those, like me, that love defense, may be a big more disappointed, but with the offense scoring a lot, we'll be happy, too. This definitely should be a bowl-bound team. They most likely will win about 9 games. On the other hand, there are no games they can not win. If they get a little attitude, and a little confidence, this could become a very special Bobcat team. I'm excited about all of the above plus our true freshmen. Frank has predicted 5 or 6 to be in the rotation and to provide depth. I'm thinking maybe more. It' looks like maybe 2 on the D line...1 or 2 on the O line...1 RB...1 DB and 1 or 3 WRs. Back to Top OU_Country General User Member Since: 12/6/2005 Location: On the road between Athens and Madison County Post Count: 8,351 Status: Offline     RE: As the season approaches..    Posted: 8/24/2017 2:57:46 PM  I'm expecting a little rowdier Peden crowd this year, especially after they get the Jackie O's draft line running smoothly. Back to Top Sam bobcat General User Member Since: 7/14/2015 Post Count: 633 Status: Offline     RE: As the season approaches..    Posted: 8/24/2017 3:19:41 PM  OU_Country wrote: I'm expecting a little rowdier Peden crowd this year, especially after they get the Jackie O's draft line running smoothly. I hope you're right! The crowd can make or break a game! Back to Top Robert Fox General User Member Since: 11/16/2004 Location: Knoxville, TN Post Count: 2,039 Status: Offline     RE: As the season approaches..    Posted: 8/24/2017 3:22:03 PM  I think the improved offense will take some heat off the defense. While the defense may not be quite as good on paper, they may actually have better production due to the improved offense. Back to Top Valley Cat General User Member Since: 12/28/2004 Location: Jackson Twp., OH Post Count: 1,182 Status: Offline     RE: As the season approaches..    Posted: 8/24/2017 3:40:10 PM  I love both AJ and Dorian Brown's games. A renewed emphasis on running the football gets me excited to see what the offense looks like. Back to Top OhioCatFan General User Member Since: 12/20/2004 Location: Athens, OH Post Count: 14,382 Status: Offline     RE: As the season approaches..    Posted: 8/24/2017 4:17:35 PM  Valley Cat wrote: I love both AJ and Dorian Brown's games. A renewed emphasis on running the football gets me excited to see what the offense looks like. two-back sets? The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA "It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right." Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org Back to Top C Money General User Member Since: 8/28/2010 Post Count: 3,420 Status: Offline     RE: As the season approaches..    Posted: 8/24/2017 4:49:12 PM  Defense: We'll be OK if the young players can provide depth. If they don't, the stretch run is going to be rough. Like, 2-5 or 1-6 after September rough. Offense: We will go as far as the O line pushes us. Back to Top L.C. General User Member Since: 8/31/2005 Location: United States Post Count: 10,470 Status: Offline     RE: As the season approaches..    Posted: 9/17/2017 12:06:37 PM  Revisiting my preseason expectations, the Offense appears to be what I expected. They are going to put a lot of points on the board, and may even exceed my expectation of 31 points a game (so far they are averaging >40), in which case they will set some offensive records. We'll know a lot more about them after this week, when Ohio plays EMU. EMU will likely be the best defense that Ohio has seen yet this year. The defense, however, has been somewhat worse than expected. I expected them to improve as the season progressed, and I'm still hopeful that they will, but if not, we'll find out how well Ohio can do at winning by MACtion. Last Edited: 9/17/2017 12:10:00 PM by L.C. “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ― Epictetus Back to Top Showing Replies:   1 - 9  of 9 Posts Jump to Page:   1 View Other 'Ohio Football' Topics                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               WHO'S ONLINE There are 212 Active Visitors on BobcatAttack.com 211 Guests 1 Registered User:   roger There are no other users looking at this page.

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