Quentin Poling had to stop by the coach’s office Monday morning. He couldn’t wait any longer.
“It’s game week,” the middle linebacker said, popping his head into coach Frank Solich’s office.
For the first time since mid December, game week is upon the Ohio football team.
As comes with the start of the season, Solich had his weekly Monday press conference discussing news and notes about the team and its upcoming opponent.
Solich said there was no update on injuries as of Monday, but he would have an update later in the week regarding the status of injured players.
He also fielded a lot of questions regarding Texas State’s offense, which has publicly set a team goal to average 90 plays per game––which would likely lead the NCAA.
“If they keep the same personnel out there, obviously their formations aren’t going to be too varied,” Solich said. “It’s my opinion, it’s not how many plays you run, it’s how good they are. How good you operate those plays, how functional they are, is what makes you good on the football field.”
It will be tough, however, for Solich to create a game plan for Texas State, as its new coach, Everett Withers, is taking over after two seasons at James Madison.
“You look at where he was at previously,” Solich said. “James Madison did a great job there, so we’ve studied a lot of film from that end of it. You study a lot of Texas State film, just to look at personnel. It is a little bit of a guessing game any time a new coach comes in. I’m sure there’ll be a few surprises we’ll have to adjust to.”
A part of stopping that defense will be senior defensive end Tarell Basham, who is one sack away from setting the all-time Ohio program record.
“He’s a very talented athlete, he’s gotten bigger and stronger through his time here,” Solich said. “That increased size, and he’s kept every bit of that speed, that is going to show and he’ll have a great year.”
On the Ohio side of things, redshirt senior quarterback Greg Windham will make his first collegiate start. Solich, however, doesn’t expect Windham to be rattled by nerves.
“You want to see great composure from him," the coach said. "He should be a confident football player. He played in eight games last season, so it’s not like he’s starting fresh."
