Will Evans sunk his hand in the turf and his shoulder pads raised as he took a deep breath. There was a sense of stillness in the warm, muggy August air that matched Evans in his pre-snap stance.
The stillness shifted to controlled chaos in a matter of seconds, however, once the ball was snapped and Evans shot out of his stance. As he chased quarterback Nathan Rourke out of the pocket, all the defensive players on the sideline cheered in unison.
Moments later, the same sequence happened, only it was from the other defensive end. This time, it was Amos Ogun-Semore’s turn to reach the backfield.
The Ohio defensive staff hopes to see similar sequences this season from its potentially star-studded pair on the edges. It’s a sight the pair trained for in the weight room and crafted in all of August during Ohio’s fall camp.
Evans, a redshirt junior and captain for Ohio, has spent the last two seasons on a steady incline that he hopes to accelerate this season. Last season, he accounted for 29 total tackles and finished third among defensive linemen with two sacks.
Ogun-Semore was slightly ahead of him last year. The redshirt sophomore started for 12 of Ohio’s 13 games and had 34 total tacks paired with 2.5 sacks, just a step above Evans.
With such talent and experience back on the edges for the Bobcats, defensive ends coach Pete Germano’s expectations of the duo are rooted in their production from a year ago.
“I expect those guys to make plays, not to just be out there and play three games and have a tackle or two,” Germano said. “(I think) we’re going to really have one of those years where you can’t leave our guys off (those lists).”
Those lists Germano referred to were for All-Mid-American Conference players. He’s felt like his ends haven’t gotten their fair share of postseason accolades, but with the experience and depth returning to the edges, it’s Ohio’s for the taking.
The Bobcats haven’t had an All-MAC defensive lineman since defensive end Tarell Basham earned first-team All-MAC honors after the 2016 season. But Germano isn’t worried about the lack of attention, nor are Evans and Ogun-Semore. Their main focus is on crafting last season’s success into this year’s foundation.
Evans and Ogun-Semore have their similarities, which make them a lethal threat to opposing quarterbacks. They both have long arms, which allows them to create different pass rush moves from a solid base. They see the game at a slower pace, which allows them to play faster and react to their reads quicker. The biggest similarity they share, however, is experience.
They combined for 23 starts a year ago and headline a deep room of defensive ends that all saw time on the field and, from Germano’s perspective, helped improve everyone in Ohio’s defensive end group.
The differences will make the duo shine for Ohio. Ogun-Semore holds the physical advantage — he’s 6 feet, 4 inches tall and 241 pounds. Evans is two inches shorter and a pound heavier but provides an additional gear of speed that will give opponents fits throughout the season.
While breakout seasons are ahead of the two, they’re just the top of what’s considered as one of the deepest units on the whole defense.
Ohio can use its reserves in Austin Conrad, Sam McKnight and Chukwudi Chukwu in any given situation just as easily as it could use its starters. Germano said the depth is a “good problem to have” because if someone isn’t doing well or gets injured, he wouldn’t feel nervous about calling the next guy up.
But no one expects the guys who have been penciled in as the starters to perform poorly. Evans and Ogun-Semore showed flashes of their potential during the fall camp scrimmages. They trained to be better physically than they were last season, and the only thing left for them to do is perhaps the easiest thing.
Wait for the stillness to pass, and to create chaos.
