Well, it could’ve been worse.
Ohio knew it had its hands full when it looked at its nonconference schedule for this season. All of the teams it played were good teams a year ago with a combined record of 29-23. Three of the Bobcats nonconference opponents made the postseason last year, too.
So, when Ohio took the field against its nonconference opponents, it should’ve been fairly even and competitive. At times, it was. The Bobcats did enough to win over FCS Rhode Island, they hung tight against Pitt, they lost a close shootout at Marshall and it looked discombobulated against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Through four weeks, Ohio (1-3) is a team that is searching for answers to a multitude of questions, and they all lead up to one singular question.
What is the identity of this team?
In recent seasons, the Bobcats had made it clear what they were going to do on the field. They’d pound the ground game and utilize the play action once the box was even more loaded than it was to start the game.
Defensively, the front seven consistently could hold its own, and the secondary made plays when it needed to.
And now? There’s not enough separation among Ohio’s three running backs for one to be a bonafide starter, though its running backs also have dealt with injuries early on.
While it returns experience—seven starters from a year ago—the defense hasn’t caught on in the early portion of the season. It’s allowed, on average, 464 yards per game and 29.5 points, which is actually better than it was at this time a year ago.
Perhaps it’s too early to be overly critical. Four games might not be enough time to really gauge how well a team will do in a season. It’s only a third of the year in the books. Nonconference play doesn’t really matter since you don’t win a title for it, right?
Wrong.
Nonconference is the part of the year where you find out what works and what doesn’t. It’s not as important as conference play, but the cliche “every game counts” couldn’t be truer.
In Ohio’s case, after three consecutive losses—the first time that’s happened since 2015—the bye week couldn’t have shown up at a better time than now in Week 5.
A year ago, the schedule gave Ohio a Week 2 bye, and even though it was more experienced a year ago, 11 straight games took its toll.
That’s why the bye in Week 5 is one of the best things to come out of the first month of the season for the Bobcats. With their youth and an injury report that has only grown over the past three weeks, the rest isn’t just needed — it’s vital.
“This break will obviously be of a big help,” coach Frank Solich said following the 45-25 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 21.
With as much bad as there has been, the good will come eventually: even if it’s the little things, like young players such as Shane Hooks and Jerome Buckner starting to find their way, or bigger things like Cam Odom returning from injury and the depth of the defensive ends finally showcasing.
Ohio’s challenge in the bye week are these things: get healthy, fix the simple problems, form an identity.
If it can do those three things without having to worry about a game plan, it’ll get off on the right foot when it prepares for Buffalo next week.
Rest assured, the Bobcats will most likely be fine. The last time they started at 1-3, they finished with a winning record and made it to a bowl game.
Sure, there’s plenty of reason to have concerns. But as long as Solich is at the helm, Rourke is in the backfield and that experience on the defensive end comes through, the Bobcats will be OK.
In terms of right now, however, Ohio needs to use this bye week to its advantage. Otherwise, the problems will only continue to grow.
