Ohio found itself in uncharted territory last Saturday after suffering its first Mid-American Conference loss of the season at the hands of Central Michigan.
After previously rattling off four consecutive wins, the Bobcats (4-2, 1-1 MAC) will attempt to rebound on the road against Eastern Michigan (1-5, 0-2 MAC) this Saturday and keep their MAC title hopes strong with favorable matchups for the next two weeks.
Redshirt senior wide receiver Donte Foster said the Bobcats needs to have a short memory and put the loss behind them.
“Basically we just can’t dwell upon the loss,” Foster said. “The loss is over, there’s nothing we can do about it, so we’re moving forward, we’re game planning, we’re out there practicing, preparing for Eastern Michigan and hopefully come out there with a win.”
Ohio coach Frank Solich said that although the team is dismayed with the loss, they have to continue moving forward. The Bobcats struggled with offensive consistency against Central Michigan and were stagnant most of the contest.
"I think our team is hurt,” Solich said. “They are bothered by this football game, but our program is built around moving on. That's going to happen, but we've got to win and we've got to win with a lot of consistency going down the stretch. If we win them all, in our case, we control our destiny.”
Eastern Michigan hosts Ohio following a 50-25 loss against Army, which was the Eagles’ fifth consecutive loss. Offensively, they are led by junior running back Bronson Hill, who has amassed 495 yards for an average of 4.5 yards per carry.
Solich said Eastern Michigan has an experienced offensive line, which can open up the run game.
"I think that they are a physical bunch,” Solich said. “If you look at their offensive line and they are all 300-pound guys and are very similar to what Central Michigan was in size.”
Eastern Michigan has the MAC’s third best passing defense, holding opponents to only a bit more than 200 yards per game. Senior defensive back Mychal Swain leads the team with 40 tackles this season.
“They’re a real good team,” Foster said. “They have a great secondary, they play great defense and they’re very physical, so we’re really going to have to come out there and play all four quarters. We can’t take that for granted. We’ve seen that against Central Michigan.”
Ohio redshirt senior linebacker Keith Moore said Ohio needs to make a statement early in the contest. He added that last week was a wake-up call for the squad.
“We just have to come out with energy,” Moore said. “We have to start strong, finish strong and we always play four quarters of football, but it seems to be where our best football is at the end and we need to pick that up and play four quarters of fast energetic football.”
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