Ohio Football Topic
Topic: Rest the Injured, Lose the Momentum
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GoCats105
11/16/2016 10:10 AM
A comment on another thread about Ohio having momentum going into the long layoff only to lose to CMU got me curious: does a long layoff really help your team that much? Or would you rather keep the momentum and stoke the fire to keep it burning by playing every week?

Obviously, there are injury concerns and you want your guys to rest, but if you're a hot team the last thing you want is a long rest period between games.

So how is Ohio doing? Well, not great. Seems like Frank teams are better when games are played every week so the teams can keep building their momentum.

In situations where Ohio has had 10 or more days off between games:

2005: (0-2)
2006: (1-1, bowl game is loss)
2007: (1-0)
2008: (0-2)
2009: (1-1, bowl game is loss)
2010: (1-2, bowl game is loss)
2011: (1-1, MAC title loss and bowl win)
2012: (1-2, bowl game is win)
2013: (1-2, bowl game is one loss)
2014: (1-1)
2015: (0-2, bowl game is one loss)

As a sociology and football nerd, this fascinates me. One would think with more time off to rest and prepare for the next opponent, you would have better chances at winning. That doesn't seem to always be the case. A lot of teams might thrive on having momentum.

I'm actually more interested to how other teams are doing with their time off. Especially MAC schools. These midweek games throw a big wrench into the equation.
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Pataskala
11/16/2016 10:18 AM
The one time I can remember where it probably cost us was '12. We were 7-0 and rolling, then got a full week off and came out flat vs Fiami. Can teams set up scrimmages with lower-division colleges during bye weeks?
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GoCats105
11/16/2016 10:26 AM
Pataskala wrote:expand_more
The one time I can remember where it probably cost us was '12. We were 7-0 and rolling, then got a full week off and came out flat vs Fiami. Can teams set up scrimmages with lower-division colleges during bye weeks?
2012 and 2010 were both big. In 2010 Ohio was 8-3, 6-1 in MAC play, on a 7 game winning streak and all they needed to do was beat Kent to go to the MAC title game. Lost 28-6 after a 10 day layoff then lost to Troy in the bowl.
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Mark Lembright '85
11/16/2016 12:27 PM
I think sometimes, not always but sometimes a lay-off is just an excuse. CMU had an 11 day lay-off themselves heading into last night's game and it didn't seem to hurt them.
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L.C.
11/16/2016 1:20 PM
When both teams have the same layoff, either short (Toledo) or long (CMU), it shouldn't matter. Of more interest are the cases where one team has a short layoff, while the other team has extra time. In that case I would think the team with the longer layoff would have the advantage. As an example, for the Miami-Ball State Game, Miami has about 10 days off while Ball State has 6.
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OUcats82
11/16/2016 1:54 PM
Mark Lembright '85 wrote:expand_more
I think sometimes, not always but sometimes a lay-off is just an excuse. CMU had an 11 day lay-off themselves heading into last night's game and it didn't seem to hurt them.
Both teams had comparable breaks between games. Frank coached teams seem to come out flat about 2/3 of the time in these situations. I had a pretty bad feeling about this game and knew Central would come out swinging after they got hammered by Miami. It wasn't as bad as some of the demolitions the team absorbed late in the '12 season but a frustrating loss just the same.

It can be a little frustrating to do some mental math and wonder how many more East titles could have been won with another 2-3 wins over his Ohio career. Any one of those could have led to a possible MAC Championship that would have been the feather in the cap Frank has been lacking for 12 years. The opportunity is still on the table this year. Have to beat Akron next week!
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Pataskala
11/17/2016 10:14 AM
L.C. wrote:expand_more
When both teams have the same layoff, either short (Toledo) or long (CMU), it shouldn't matter. Of more interest are the cases where one team has a short layoff, while the other team has extra time. In that case I would think the team with the longer layoff would have the advantage. As an example, for the Miami-Ball State Game, Miami has about 10 days off while Ball State has 6.
Or the Ohio-Akron game, where Akron has 13 days between games but Ohio just seven. I'm hoping Akron comes out rusty.
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