The Weis Guy
Repeat or deceit?
Bobcat season opener Saturday night at Peden Stadium
By Michael Weisman, Senior Sports Writer
August 30, 2007 | 8:20 p.m.
Unfortunately, the second annual Speakeasy Bobcat Football Preview will not be available this year. However this problem pales in comparison to that of the Bobcat’s passing attack or the ones the Ohio Athletic Department is facing –– the latter of which is why there won’t be a complete preview for the 2007 Bobcats.
Beyond the obvious lack of funding and recent sports cuts facing the Ohio Athletic Department, Rob Andrey, who was hired in 2006 as the Associate Athletics Director for Business and Internal Operations and was supposed to solve the budget issue, was reported to have used thousands of athletic department dollars for personal use.
Exit Andrey.
And to add to the snowball, the athletic department has been mentioned as associating with college loan companies to receive kickbacks if athletes or students sign up with a particular company. Luckily for the athletic department, football season debuted Thursday night and the Bobcats take the field Saturday.
In years past, this wouldn’t be that exciting, but coming off of a MAC East Championship and their first bowl birth since 1967, expectations and publicity are positive.
Austen Everson, the great trio of linebackers, and the rest of the ’06 seniors aren’t the only ones not returning to the Bobcats for the upcoming season. In addition to Andrey exiting the athletic department circus, Brian Gunning, former Director of Media Relations who handled football a season ago, tightroped his way out the door. All the negative press must have made his job tougher than Michael Vick’s PR people when talking to members of PETA. Gunning decided to swap a bobcat for a black knight and join Army’s Athletic Department.
Enter Jason Corriher, Gunning’s replacement.
Corriher joined the circus in July and I’m sure is still adjusting to the culture shock that is Athens, Ohio and settling into his office. Since I worked in athletic media relations this summer for that Red and White school in Oxford (I’m from there, I didn’t want to stay there any longer, that’s why I’m here––I know you were asking that question in your head), I understand it can be tough to jump into football season with only a month before kickoff as Miami also hired a new media relations director just a month ago.
So with all these issues and football season days away now, my email and phone call to setup interviews got lost like Ohio State’s offense in the 2007 National Championship game. And here I sit, with no inspiring quotes or positive comments from anyone on or affiliated with a 2007 Bobcat squad picked to repeat as MAC East Champions by the conference media.
With the college football season beginning tonight, I must say my summer of sports boredom has officially ended. As exciting as it was to watch David Beckham sit the bench for 70+ minutes in his “debut,” it just didn’t satisfy my need for football.
I did manage to occupy my summer by reading up on the Bobcats and followed them throughout the spring season, so I have a good idea of what to expect come Saturday. I have managed to solve my predicament, and the Bobcats level of success depends on their ability to solve their problem I mentioned at the beginning.
The Bobcats pass attack ranked dead last in the MAC and 115th nationally with Everson at the helm (there’s only 119 teams in Division 1-A). The 129 yards per game through the air the team averaged last season makes Ohio’s ability to pass worse than Ricky Williams’ ability to pass on a joint.
Brad Bower, who transferred from Illinois two years ago, was said to be a better passer than Everson, but in the MAC Championship game that proved to be slightly off. Bower is listed as the starting quarterback, despite missing much of spring practice with a foot injury.
Junior college transfer and former California University recruit (he transfered after red-shirting his freshman year as a Golden Bear, Theo Scott showed his skills in the spring game, scrambling for a 40+-yard run and completing shorter passes over the middle. Scott’s ability to scramble would be huge boost for the Bobcats’ offense if Solich hands over the reigns.
The Bobcats return five starters on offense, with Chido Nwokocha the lone wide receiver. However, the receivers should be better than last year, as Justin Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinal Larry’s brother, saw considerable time a year ago and punt return sensation Chris Garrett will also step into a wide receiving role.
Ohio will also need to get the ball to their tight end for short, easy completions, but replacing Rudy Sylvan will be no easy task as he was possibly the best receiver on the team last year.
Three offensive lineman who cleared the way for Kalvin McRae’s second-consecutive 1,000 yard season return, as well as Paul Johnson who missed half of 2006 after doing his best Pacman Jones imitation––on a much lower scale. After rushing for 1,252 yards as a junior, McRae needs 1,009 yards to become Ohio’s all-time leading rusher.
What better way than to do it in front of empty Peden Stadium stands against rival Miami in the regular season finale on Nov. 24 because finals will have been finished at OU for four days?
The defense was the heart of the Bobcats’ magical run last year and they return five players, none of which are the trio of linebackers headlined by Matt Muncy that were the ring leaders. With Jameson Hartke and Landon Cohen still on the defensive line, getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks shouldn’t be hard, which will help an inexperienced secondary.
In 2006, the Ohio secondary allowed only 172.3 yards per game, 18th in the nation. Mark Parson will be the top cover corner, while Todd Koenig steps in at safety after seeing considerable time a year ago. The new trio of kids on the block (Taj Henley, Jordan Meyers, and Michael Brown) have the biggest hole to fill at linebacker. All three saw some time last season but Brown was injured for a good part of 2006. If they can step up to the challenge and fill the void left by Muncy and company, the Bobcat defense will again be the strength of the team.
With Garrett returning punts and kicks and Michael Braunstein using his final year of eligibility to kick while attending grad school after graduating from the University of Washington, special teams should be fine.
I expect the Bobcats to finish 8-4 or 9-3, with the Bobcats having as a good a chance at beating Virginia Tech as Tim Donaghy does of being invited to Amare Staudamire’s birthday party.
The other losses could come from Wyoming, Toledo, Kent State or Miami, but three of those games are in Athens. If the Bobcats can establish any resemblance of a passing game, which will help open lanes for McRae as well, and fill the void at linebacker, Athens may be treated to back-to-back East Championships.
The final game Nov. 24 against Miami could decide the East, but again no one will see it for reasons I said earlier. Ohio did this a season ago as well, when they played host to Akron on a Wednesday night during finals week, in which they clinched the East and OU students were so sober they didn’t even burn any couches. Saturday’s season opener against Gardner-Webb will show if the Bobcats are able to solve their problems, but it may take years for the athletic department to solve theirs.