Listening to his post game and reading selected quotes in Arkley tweets, I get the vibe that he's having fun.

Frank Solich having fun may be the most far fetched concept I'd have ever considered 6 years ago.

It may also be the most dangerous to our opposition.

It appeared on TV last night that Solich was more animated on the sideline. I don't know if that's accurate or not, but he appeared to be a little more riled, a little more fired up early in the contest. After Green missed the FG, Solich met him as he came off the field and offered some words, and they didn't look all that friendly. To be fair, I have no idea what he said, but the whole scene was uncharacteristic of Solich. He's usually the most stoic guy in the house. Last night, he looked a little more aggressive. Anyone else notice the same thing?

Robert. Coach Solich is the best type of coach.  First there will be instruction of technique, how to do it correctly.  Second there will be drilling of that technique, that it becomes natural. The athlete needs to bring the discipline to perform the taught and practiced technique in a game.  You see coach get miffed when hard work (player & coaches) is not met with discipline (player) in the game to equal the desired excellent result.

This seems like a strange question to me. Solich has always had an intensity about him. He does seem to be having more fun the last few years, and seems more relaxed at times than in years past, but maybe his intensity was back to old levels last night.

As regards the talent level, I agree that Ohio has more talent than in years past. As someone that follows recruiting, there was a huge jump in recruiting quality in 2011-now. Those kids are mostly redshirt Sophomores or less now. The team this year has a mix of Seniors with some very good young players. As those Sophomores and Freshmen gain experience, this team will continue to improve. Next year may be a step down as a big class of very good Seniors graduates, or not, depending on how fast the younger players mature, but then 2015-2017 will be some very good years.

As for how Solich is in the locker room, only guys who played for him can say for sure, but I doubt he is an "F-bomb" or "grab the facemask" type. The man he learned from was known to day "dadgumit" only when he was really, really unhappy, and never anything worse. Look Solich in the eyes and you see a deep intensity there. You can tell when he's not happy. I think he accomplishes more with that look than he would with f-bombs.

As far as talking about the overall level of talent, I think Solich is talking about more than the starters. I think he's talking about the young guys coming up behind the starters.  I am not saying this will be his best team. It might be, but it's too early to tell. I'd say his best teams so far were 2006, 2009, and 2011. What I think he means is that there is more raw talent here, though it is very young. Its the cluster of players from Freshmen to Redshirt Sophomores, the group that will be powering the team in the years ahead.

I tried to get some comparative data, and I went back to try to see who started each year as Freshmen or Sophomores. I can't guarantee accuracy, but here is my best effort:
:
2005 - (6) Matt Miller, McRea, Ward, Koenig, Sykes, Cohen
2006 - (6) Eynon, Morsillo, Parson, Mitchell, Hodge, Hartke
2007 - (4) Morsillo, Price, Posey, Reilly
2008 - (4) Brazill, Keller, Curt Meyers, Oxley/Hodge (same position)
2009 -(1) Weller
2010 - (6) Herman, Jordon Thompson, Riley Dunlop, Gerald Moore, Weller, Carrie
2011 - (2) Tettleton, Hughes
2012 - (5) Fisher, Wells, Kristoff, Carpenter, Venham
2013 - (11) McQueen, Powell, Lucas, Watson, Wells, Bass, Russell, Johnson, Laseak, Purdum, Venham

Note that there is a lot of talent here. All five players that have been drafted are on this list, and many of the others signed free agent deals. Notice also that in the early years there were a lot of young people starting due to need - there wasn't much depth. Then it tapered off as the team depth improved. Now, suddenly this year there are an astounding number of young players starting. Last year and this year the number was higher than it would otherwise have been due to injury. Last year Fisher, Wells, and Kristoff were supposed to be backups. This year McQueen, Lucas, Watson, and Bass were. Yet, even without those four there would be seven Freshman or Sophomore starters this year.

There is clearly a lot of young talent here. The future looks very bright.

Regarding the ability of the guys replacing the ones injured, note what Tettleton had to say in post-game comments:

Stole this from the Photo Gallery off of Ohiobobcats.com. Sweet shot of Frank. Check out the little confident smirk he is wearing.

Good blog. Here's another piece worth repeating: 

Most will argue that Marshall has the better team. That if not for some mistakes, some turnovers, then it would have won the game.

Most will argue the Herd has better athletes — on the whole — has more team speed, more pro prospects. And they would be right in that regard.

But if the goal of any team is to be a greater sum that the collection of its parts, then it's no contest. Being a team requires more than a bunch of guys with good 40 times. Cohesion, toughness, discipline, trust. Those are the things good teams have, and create within.

And just like the previous two years, Ohio proved it was the better team again on Saturday night.

Bo almost  used up all the world's supply of f-bombs. No one else can use them. They're endangered.