Last season, Ohio entered the Battle of the Bricks undefeated, with its seven wins earning the No. 23 ranking in the AP poll.
But Bowl Championship Series dreams went to die at Yager Stadium in Oxford, as the Bobcats couldn’t overcome a late field goal from Miami freshman kicker Kaleb Patterson in a 23-20 defeat against the RedHawks.
For some Ohio players (5-2, 2-1 Mid-American Conference), this weekend’s contest will be about avenging last season’s loss that eventually sent the Bobcat season into a tailspin, as they dropped three of their last four regular season games after the Miami loss.
“They took away our dream,” redshirt junior wide receiver Chase Cochran said. “We were top-25, No. 23 at the time, and they knocked us out of that. It kind of went downhill from there, so we owe them one.
“This is our house and no one is going to knock us around.”
Coach Frank Solich is trying to guide his team away from that attitude, as he wants his players to treat it like any other contest.
“It’s a whole new year, a whole new lineup for both teams; circumstances are certainly different,” Solich said. “Every game is a game where you must stir up your best to execute well and play well and give it your best shot. So I personally don’t go back and try to dig up the past and try to use that. There’s enough incentive for us to play well without digging up the past.”
This season, the situation certainly is a bit different, as Miami (0-7, 0-3 MAC) enters the contest against Ohio as one of the worst teams in the country, statistically.
The RedHawks rank 122nd, or second-worst, in the Football Bowl Subdivision in terms of total offense, gaining only 226 yards per game. To put that in perspective, Ohio is ranked 67th, averaging 413 yards of offense in each contest.
Things don’t get much better moving to the defensive side of the ball for Miami, as the defense also ranks in the bottom of the FBS, allowing 469 yards per game. Only 12 teams average more yards allowed per contest.
These struggles and a lack of success over the past two-plus seasons also resulted in the midseason firing of coach Don Treadwell, after a loss against Central Michigan dropped the RedHawks to 0-5.
With interim coach Mike Bath at the helm and the prospect of having to defend two quarterbacks from either passing-proficient senior Austin Boucher or running-threat freshman Austin Gearing, Ohio redshirt senior cornerback Travis Carrie said the defense will need to be ready for anything.
“They definitely have two good quarterbacks,” Carrie said. “You kind of have to be on your toes with everything and the guys have to be really focused on what we’re doing.”
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