Or, perhaps Doc is channeling Lou Holtz, the master of making his Notre Dame opponent seem like the 1985 Chicago Bears.

LC, what do you really expect him to say to the press, but all these good things? Do you really believe everything he says in these Q & A sessions. I don't know what he really thinks about Ohio's football team, but this stuff is just what every football coach says about the opponent for public consumption.

Honestly, I expect him to say about what every other coach said, which is, not very much. Mostly you hear the usual platitudes, such as "oh, they are a solid team and we'll have to play well" and "we're definitely not overlooking them", and then they talk about their own team. That's all you ever get. I can't think of another time when I've ever seen another coach comment in such detail before, such as talking about how the team had adjusted to not having a lot of healthy tight ends, or on how the defense had changed from a pure Cover 2 defense to mixing in quarters.

To be honest, his comments raise my impression of him as a coach, because he obviously has hit very accurately on the differences between this Ohio team and the teams of the recent past:
1. This team has different, but still athletic QB's.
2. The personnel mix is different, using about 4 different running backs and 9 wide receivers, but only one tight end (so far).
3. The play selection is different because of the personnel difference.
4. It has some very different defensive schemes than in the past, that are much more aggressive. We heard the players call it "attack and react" rather than "read and react" in past years. He calls it "quarters press".

To me, other than the inexperience on offense, and the experience on defense, and the tremendous attitude of this team, these four things are the biggest difference in this team from past teams, and the ones that would most easily stand out on film, especially to someone who is very familiar with the last few Bobcat teams.

+1

This is nothing more than "Coach Speak". And if they roll us, it makes them look great. If they loose a close one, well hey, I told you guys they were good.

I'm not convinced that this "coachspeak" at all in the Holtz sense (thank God!). Tettleton was an absolute terror when he was healthy and had his head in the game. I would suggest that the Marshall game a year ago was probably TT's high water mark. Had Halliday seen us in week 6 or 7, for example, I'm sure that wouldn't be the lead in this article.

As for the assessment of the offense, I agree that Frank and Tim Albin are the masters of playing to the personnel. My complaint is only that they seem to get too comfortable in that mode at the expense of a wrinkle or two.

Maybe it's too much praise relative to the current Bobcats, but I agree with LC that it's a notch above the usual game week crap we get. (Read a few Dispatch articles about Kent, if you want to see that stuff.)

Thanks for the translation, I didn't quite get all of that like you did.

We went "plain vanilla" against KSU and UK. Frank's saving that double-reverse halfback pass to Cochran for Marshall. We always have a special secret playbook for this game! ;-)

It's tough to win just throwing the ball. If they can get the run going, it will slow down the pass rushers, and force the dbs to respect the run, which will make passing the ball much easier.

Can they get the run going? Yes, I think so. Really, the problems I see are that the offensive line is young, and that there is a shortage of tight ends. I think both situations will improve as the year goes on.