After four games, Ohio’s biggest issue couldn’t be more clear: It can’t tackle.
The problem doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. Not after the Bobcats 45-25 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday afternoon at Peden Stadium, and not after the defense allowed over 480 total yards for the second consecutive week.
The Bobcats have had plenty of defenders steamrolled by ball carriers throughout their three-game losing streak, their first since 2015. Yes, Ohio has played opponents with a heavy rushing attack who could have success running the ball against most Group of 5 schools, but the Bobcats weren’t expecting to lose those games because of poor tackling ability.
That happened last week against Marshall, and it happened again Saturday. Missed tackles aren’t a statistic recorded during Ohio’s games. If it was, the Bobcats would likely be a leader among Mid-American Conference teams, who they start playing in two weeks.
After Saturday’s defeat, which gave Ohio its first 1-3 start since 2010, coach Frank Solich talked with a voice that seemed a bit more deflated than usual. He wants to find an answer about his defense’s inability to consistently bring down runners. Right now, he doesn’t have one.
“Obviously, that jumps out at you,” Solich said. “It’s got to get corrected. We’ll look at what we can do as coaches and turn them into making adjustments in terms of the schemes.”
After the Ragin’ Cajuns scored their third touchdown of the fourth quarter and extended their lead to 20 points with three minutes left, safety Javon Hagan slowly walked back toward the sideline.
The team captain continued his walk 50 yards down to an end where only a few Ohio players stood. He dropped his gloves to the turf and bent his knees. Then, he completed 20 pushups.
When he finished, he joined cornerback Marlin Brooks on the bench behind him. Hagan kept his head up as Brooks kept his head down.
Hagan said the pushups were for missed tackles. Specifically, his missed tackles. The redshirt senior had 12 tackles against the Cajuns and leads the Bobcats with 39 tackles this season, but that’s not a compliment. Those numbers could be much higher, and Hagan knows it.
The secondary has arguably struggled to bring opponents to the ground more than any other position group. They need to find a way to stop losing battles against ball carriers, or Hagan will be doing more pushups in his last season with the Bobcats.
“I take full responsibility on some of the missed tackles,” Hagan said. “I got to do a better job as a leader as far as tackling for the defense and helping my teammates out.”
For the second consecutive week, the defense’s inability to stop the opponent forced the offense to play from behind. Rourke’s three interceptions Saturday were a career-high, and two of them happened in the fourth quarter when Rourke was attempting to erase a two-possession deficit.
If the defense struggles to make tackles all season, it won’t only limit Ohio’s abilities to win key games and significantly lessen Ohio’s odds of making the MAC Championship, but it could also make Rourke’s final year with Ohio his worst.
Rourke has the talent to single-handedly win games. He’s thrived most, though, when Ohio has needed to maintain a lead, not erase a deficit.
The Bobcats won’t benefit from Rourke’s ability to run through defenses if he needs to throw 38 passes each game, which he needed to do against the Cajuns. Pair that with Ohio’s inexperience at wide receiver — which showed again with dropped passes and mistimed routes Saturday — and Rourke, who became Ohio’s all-time touchdowns leader last week, might see his final collegiate year go to waste.
“We’re going to have to get (the tackling problem) corrected, obviously, if we’re going to want to be the team that we want to be,” Solich said.
First-year defensive coordinator Ron Collins will have 14 days to figure it out. He and Solich have plenty of time to prepare their defense for Buffalo, their next opponent, over the bye week.
So, if the Bobcats defense can’t show improvement against the Bulls after two weeks of preparation and ample time to improve lousy tackling technique, when will it?
