Things didn’t go well for Ohio against Kentucky on Saturday. The Bobcats entered the game with their starting quarterback and leading edge rusher out with injuries. At the half, Ohio trailed 17-0 and looked lost on offense. At game end, Ohio stared down its biggest deficit of the season: a 41-6 loss.
“We have a locker room that’s disappointed,” Ohio coach Tim Albin said following the game. “Their hearts hurt when you invest as much as our guys continue to do.”
After the loss at Kentucky, Ohio wrapped up its nonconference schedule. With a game against Akron on Saturday, Ohio will start Mid-American Conference action.
“It’s a new season; we got to put the nonconference to bed,” Albin said. “We’re going to come out with some energy (against Akron) and put a smile on our face.”
Sitting at 2-2, Albin learned a lot about his team in the season's first four weeks.
Simply put, “They want to be good,” Albin said.
Ohio has played two formidable power-four opponents in Syracuse and Kentucky as well as a South Alabama team that is among the best at the mid-major level and an FCS opponent that is primed for success in their league this season in Morgan State.
At the end of it all, Ohio is 2-2 heading into the most crucial part of its season.
No one knows where Ohio would be right now if it weren’t for the slew of injuries it has faced just four weeks into the year. The Bobcats have been playing without team captains Adonis Williams Jr. and Jeremiah Wood since Week One against Syracuse which is just the start of a long list of players that have appeared on the injury report this season.
To name just a few, Roman Parodie, Parker Navarro, Shay Taylor, Michael Molnar, Reise Collier, Bradley Weaver and Kendall Bannister are all starters who have missed time at some time or another have missed time this season.
“We basically assigned new captains this week,” Albin said. “I think we had four of the six (out with injury). I have never been through that.”
Ohio has had to play with a “next man up” mentality since the second half of its Week One game. Despite all the adversity, Ohio still sits in a good position to contend in the tough MAC this season. Albin believes that the team’s ability to hang on through adversity is a testament to its ability to be coached.
“(The team) takes the coaching, and you can see it in their play,” Albin said. “The big thing in a game like this is when the fourth quarter gets tough … you want to hear (what the team) is saying, and I like what I’m hearing.”
Albin is impressed with his team's ability to avoid getting discouraged no matter what the circumstances are. Against Kentucky, the team had plenty of reasons to start feeling discouraged. The team has had reason to be discouraged through every significant injury this season. Nonetheless, Ohio stands strong as it heads into MAC play.
With Albin and his staff running things in Athens, there’s no reason to doubt that this Ohio team can make another run to the MAC Championship Game as it did in 2021.
“We look forward to getting back in Athens for Homecoming,” Albin said. “Starting league play, it’s tournament time; every game counts.”
