Ohio and Central Florida meet on opposite sides of the ball Saturday but on even ground.
Going into the Bobcats' Homecoming game at Peden Stadium, the two teams bear striking similarities.
Both enter their third Mid-American Conference game of the season nearly blind. The Bobcats (1-4 overall, 0-2 MAC) and Golden Knights (2-3, 1-1 MAC) have suffered injuries at quarterback recently, and neither team knows what to expect from the opposing offense.
Ohio's starting quarterback Fred Ray went down with a shoulder injury in last week's game at Northern Illinois. Central Florida quarterback Ryan Schneider injured his shoulder two weeks ago at Kent State and backup Jon Rivera was in last week's lineup against Buffalo. Both teams' quarterbacks are questionable for Saturday.
We don't know which (quarterback) is playing
so we don't know which one to prepare for Ohio cornerback Chip Cox said. One of them runs better than the other and the other one throws better than the other
so we've been preparing for the run and the throw.
Schneider provides a serious threat in the air, ranking third in the nation in passing. He has torched opponents for 1,183 yards in just four games this season. Rivera adds a running dimension that is unconventional for Central Florida quarterbacks. Under his lead last week, the team rushed for 295 yards, more than three times the previous season-high of 92 yards rushing. Rivera threw for only 59 yards.
Central Florida coach Mike Kruczek said no matter which Ohio quarterback starts, the offense will be difficult to judge.
Any time you play a 50-front football team that does what they do
it causes you problems
Kruczek said. They are slanting an angle
bringing people off the edge
whamming people inside - you never get the same look twice hardly. It's kind of a shot in the dark when you make a call.
Ohio faces a tough defense, including strong safety Atari Bigby and linebacker Antoine Poe. Bigby has recorded 37 solo tackles, and Poe has nine tackles for loss.
Our kids remember last year down there
Ohio coach Brian Knorr said. It was the most physical game of the year...We had a lot of guys go out that game. It's not too long ago - they'll remember how hard these guys hit.
Both teams' have been hit hard with turnovers this season. The Golden Knights have lost 10 of 14 fumbles and thrown seven interceptions. The Bobcats have turned the ball over 10 times on 16 fumbles and three times with interceptions.
Ohio enters the game coming off an overtime loss at No. 16 Northern Illinois last week. Cox said last week's near upset gave the Bobcats some confidence and charged them up for this week's game.
We proved to ourselves and to everyone else that we can compete with the highest level of this conference
he said. Now that we have actually accomplished being able to play
we need to push it over the limit and actually do it and actually play to the level that we are able to play at and get some wins.
The Bobcats have lost four in a row and are looking for their first conference win of the season.
We have to be able to turn the tide and have success
