Teams in the Football Championship Subdivision have been on the prowl to begin the 2013 season.
Just three weeks into the season, 11 FCS teams have beaten teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, including North Dakota State upsetting Kansas State and Eastern Washington shocking formerly No. 25 Oregon State on the road during week one.
This weekend, Ohio (2-1) will host FCS member Austin Peay and attempt to avoid becoming another victim to the lower-tier football programs.
“It points to the quality of play in that level of college football,” coach Frank Solich said. “It’ll be good for our players to get a full grasp of that.”
The Governors (0-3) have struggled at the outset of the season, dropping their first three games by a combined score of 125-13 and averaging 186.7 yards per game to their opponents’ 433.7 yards.
But that doesn’t change the attitude that the Bobcats are taking to the game this week.
“(We’ll approach it) like it’s any other week, like it’s a rivalry game, like it’s Marshall or Miami,” redshirt junior wide receiver Chase Cochran said. “We take every opponent the same way. If you don’t come to play, if you don’t execute every down, you can be beat.”
Austin Peay’s schedule hasn’t been kind early on, beginning with two games on the road against Southeastern Conference teams in Tennessee and Vanderbilt, along with another road bout against Chattanooga.
And the Governors’ schedule won’t be any easier in two weeks when they host FCS-power Eastern Illinois, a team that walloped FBS school San Diego State 40-19 during week one.
Solich said due to their difficult schedule early on, it’s hard to gain a solid read on what his team will see from the Governors.
“You turn on the film and see individual plays of guys being aggressive and guys making plays,” Solich said. “But at the end of the game, because of who they’re playing and how that’s all worked, the score doesn’t fit necessarily what you’ve seen in their aggressiveness and how disciplined they are in their play.”
On film, the Bobcats have seen a team on offense that likes to spread the field with four wide receiver sets, running a good deal of screens to the wide receivers and running backs, defensive coordinator Jimmy Burrow said.
Defensively, redshirt senior quarterback Tyler Tettleton has been impressed with the linemen the Governors trotted out the first three weeks.
“They’ve got a really good front four,” Tettleton said. “They’re very physical and I think all four of them could play in the (Mid-American Conference). And they’ve played some tough opponents the first three weeks, but they’ve done a really good job against them up front.”
“Our guys up front are going to have their hands full.”
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