Imagine for just a moment you're stuck on a boat in the middle of open water. The current has always been choppy, but at this point a storm has broken and the waves might seem insurmountable.
Now imagine you're Ohio football coach Brian Knorr.
Yes, the forecast for football in Athens has certainly looked brighter than it does right now as the Central Florida Golden Knights arrive Homecoming weekend at Peden Stadium for the first time in their 25-year history.
For more than eight years, Knorr has poured his heart and soul into the Bobcats. The last several have been as head coach. During that time he has seen his best player miss most of a season because of a cyst and a field goal separate his team from a very strong Marshall opponent.
Most recently, he witnessed Northern Illinois wide receiver P.J. Fleck make a diving fourth-down touchdown catch - a reception no mortal player has a right to make - to stave off an upset.
Surely Knorr hears all about the criticism from fans, though he probably takes enough self-inflicted flack as it is. He has had to wake up every morning this week to the realization that Ohio teams have gone a collective 6-22 under his command.
Still somehow this coach finds a way to remain upbeat and confident in the team that his life has revolved around for the better part of a decade.
This week Knorr opted to close practices temporarily, as Ohio attempted to focus solely on Central Florida.
In the opinion of this writer, and likely to the dismay of some journalists, I think Knorr made the right decision.
Sometimes there's only so much a player can say after practice, especially when wins have been hard to come by after a challenging early-season schedule. The rest of his thoughts have to be carried with him onto the field.
Knorr wasn't trying to alienate the media but rather unify his team in its task at hand, and there's something to be said for that.
The other day I got a call from a friend in Florida. He said the weather there is gorgeous. It's always 75 degrees and sunny in the Sunshine State this time of year.
But this weekend the weather there won't matter. The Golden Knights leave Orlando and Disney World en route to Athens and Bobcat World.
Besides, weather can be deceiving. The Golden Knights come to Athens confronting many of the same problems plaguing the Bobcats - a slow start, youth and an injury at the quarterback position. In fact, thunderstorms actually closed one of Central Florida's practices earlier this week.
It just goes to show that the forecast can be cloudy anywhere.
Here's to hoping Knorr and the Bobcats can find a way to put last Saturday's missed opportunity behind them. What could have been a turning point last weekend now must become one. It's time to set a new course for the rest of the season.
-Bixenstine is a junior journalism major. Send him an e-mail at matthew.bixenstine@ohiou.edu.
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Matt Bixenstine
