Ohio is on a bye week and will get time to gear up for the last three weeks of the season, where they will hope to finish with a non-losing record
Heading into the final three games of the season, the Bobcats have to face a test they aren’t used to dealing with.
There is a possibility Ohio (4-5, 2-3 Mid-American Conference) will finish the season with a losing record and become ineligible for a bowl game this year.
Ohio has capable athletes to win and avoid a losing season, but coach Frank Solich and his team hope to gain confidence after the bye week.
"We have enough athletes to win, there is no question about that,” Solich said Thursday at his weekly news conference. "They know the potential that's there, they know what they can do to correct things that aren't going well, they're working at setting about to get those things accomplished and I just like the spirit of this football team even though we are where we are record wise."
Quarterback
After a week of getting healthy and situated with the offense, redshirt junior Derrius Vick will start at quarterback moving forward.
His 246 yards and a touchdown against Western Michigan after missing a month with an injury have earned him a chance to lead the team again like he did the first four weeks.
Solich did say at his news conference that Vick will need to continue to progress or else you could see him pulled in exchange for redshirt sophomore JD Sprague, like what happened during three of the first four games.
Sprague will also be healthy for the game against Buffalo Wednesday after going down with an injury during the first half last Saturday.
"He has to continue to show that he's at 100 percent and performing very, very well,” Solich said. “JD (Sprague) was able to move around and throw the ball some yesterday. So, we think he'll be also healthy and ready to go."
Getting rest
A bye week means a week to get rest and heal some injuries for the Bobcats, although they will be back in action during next week to start the mid-week MACtion that fans have come to know well.
Solich will use the time off to get healthier as a team, he has planned two light practices throughout after a week of hard work.
They will just have to be careful when they get back to full practices later this week.
"When you get back to practicing, you've got to be careful that you don't try to get too much done in a given week that you are right back where you were before you got the time off,” Solich said. “Then we'll come back with two Thursday-type practices, which are no-padded practices. I think it will give guys a chance to heal up.”
Injury/positional notes
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Freshman running back AJ Ouellette didn’t practice Wednesday and his status for the Buffalo game will be assessed later on this week, or even early next week.
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Junior running back Daz Patterson will continue to return kicks and punts after his mistake last Saturday.
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