You could use a lot of words to describe the Ohio Bobcats’ defense. Ron Collins, the second-year defensive coordinator, likes the word “tough,“ while redshirt junior safety Alvin Floyd prefers “electric.”
Last season, however, the word that was often thrown around when labeling Ohio’s defense was “inconsistent.”
In five of the Bobcats’ 13 games, the defense allowed over 30 points and lost four of them. At times, Ohio showed flashes of dominance, like in a 62-24 win over Bowling Green, but in shootouts against Marshall, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan, the defense’s inability to get stops or create turnovers cost the Bobcats a win.
This season, the Bobcats’ shortened six-game schedule won’t leave room for inconsistencies. If Ohio wants to win its first Mid-American Conference title since 1968 they’ll have to hold each other accountable and do their jobs on every down.
“It’s always fundamentals and technique,” Collins said. “We’re working hard on our block destruction and ball disruption. All those things are being harped on and we need all those to get better this year for us to improve.”
Fortunately for Collins, he has plenty of experience to work with. The Bobcats are returning stars like Jared Dorsa, Austin Conrad and Kai Caesar. With their leadership, the Bobcats’ defense will be able to handle the problems that come with playing football in a pandemic.
Collins never thought for one second about sitting the season out. He loves what he does, and he’s adjusted to social distance the best he can.
“Coach Collins definitely still stands behind the defense and just watches,” Dorsa said. “I mean, Coach Collins is just Coach Collins; he’s just louder.”
Ohio has had to stay extra careful due to COVID-19 and missed out on key practice time in the spring. Ohio instead utilized its time on Zoom in virtual film meetings. The extra studying has the Bobcats feeling mentally prepared for their season opener against Central Michigan, the defending MAC-West champion, on Nov. 4.
But being mentally prepared is only half of the job. The Bobcats have been in fall camp for nearly three weeks and Collins wants to see that his players are physically ready for MAC football. Without players like Javon Hagan, Marlin Brooks and Dylan Conner, the Bobcats are going to need some guys to step up. So far that’s been no problem.
“Ben Johnson and Jeremiah Wood at the SAM (strongside) linebacker, both guys bring great speed,” Collins said. “And then to take over for Javon (Hagan) you got Alvin Floyd, who’s been doing a great job there.”
New faces like Floyd will be instrumental in the Bobcats correcting some of their problems from last year. Floyd learned a lot in his time playing behind Hagan and he’s excited to be a starter.
“Playing behind Javon Hagan, you it’s a lot to live up to but I’m planning on being the spark plug of the defense,” Floyd said. “It’s a lot coming this season and I’m excited for it too.”
One thing the defense needs this season is turnovers. The Bobcats only had five interceptions in 2019, and nobody in the secondary had more than one. Having a safety bent on bringing energy to the field could improve a secondary that finished tied for 10th in the conference in interceptions.
Mentally and physically, the Bobcats seem ready to stop opposing offenses, but the Bobcats have always had talent. What’s going to change to ensure the defense doesn’t blow a tight game again?
One of the few positives from the pandemic is the sense of unity that’s been instilled into the Bobcats. In his first season as defensive coordinator, Collins had to adjust to being the man everyone looked to. He had been on the staff for years but now it was his job to bring everyone together, something that proved difficult at times.
“Everything was new,” Collins said. “Even though I think we had great chemistry, we were missing something. I think going into this fall, I think the guys really bought into what we’re preaching and you can see a difference in the way we’re playing.”
