Rivalry games are becoming a weekly topic for coach Aaron Rodgers. That includes in-state rivalries or the "Battle of the Bell" against Marshall, which takes place Friday at Chessa Field. Rodgers will have opened the season with some sort of rivalry game for three of his first five games.
He's currently 2-0 in those games — a 2-1 win over Dayton and a 5-0 drubbing of Cleveland State, with the third to be determined Friday — so he might not be too worried.
And few would blame him after his Bobcats gifted him the largest, at least numerically, win of his Ohio tenure Sunday over Cleveland State. Ohio's offense is clicking far better than many would have guessed, especially those who had to wait until its fourth game last season to watch the team score its first goal.
That game was against Marshall, so Rodgers is looking to pick up another rivalry win after he thought his team played less than optimally last year in Huntington, West Virginia.
"Last year we went down there and spotted them three goals, they were up 3-0," Rodgers said. "Then we kind of fought back to 3-2 so they’re a very good team. We know them very well, they know us very well. We play them every spring and every fall and so it’s a great rivalry and a great game and we are looking for a very solid team coming in here."
Marshall remains the best team left of Ohio's non-conference schedule, and to get a win, the Bobcats offense will need to keep playing like it has the past few weeks.
Rodgers emphasized his team's flexibility of predominantly playing a counterattacking style while also being creative and taking risks in the opponent's defensive third when they recover the ball.
Ohio has been good on the break, racing past slower defenders and putting in crosses for taller forwards, like junior-transfer Bryce Hueber or playing quick passes between the wingers and getting shots close to goal.
What is the key to this new offensively efficient Ohio team? Rodgers thinks it's down to the team's confidence growing after they began scoring in preseason and kept it going throughout the first four games of the season.
"Confidence is contagious and everybody’s feeling like they can score a goal," Rodgers said. "It’s a mentality more than anything."
Marshall isn't the only team that the Bobcats will face this weekend, as they'll take a trip on Sunday to Pittsburgh to play Robert Morris. The Colonials are currently 0-5 with the average margin of loss at 2.4 goals, so a repeat Ohio's 3-0 win at Chessa last season might not be out of the question.
Rivalry games pose an interesting task for teams to deal with but having perhaps the most complete squad in four years may allow the Bobcats to sweep their first weekend set of games since 2013.
