I would love to see us blow the doors off of the teams we have played and will play, but these close games give us something to look positively at.  NO other team in the MAC has won against the adversity we have faced.  In a close game, who will have the better experience for winning?

Frank's history is that during the regular season, his teams usually do better in the second half of the season.  I remember one year we ripped off seven straight wins after a lackluster start.  I think with the bye week and a few players getting back in the lineup and Frank's second half focus we have a real chance to go 12-0 in the regular season.  GO OHIO! 

Agree with OCF.

Another thing to think about, which I know has been brought up in other forums: for all the MAC teams, Ohio is THE game of the year, based on how well we did last year and the fact that we were picked to win the MAC over the summer by the media, let alone our own expectations. Many of you might not care for this comparison, but Woody Hayes and Jim Tressel would save a whole bag of tricks for the Ohio State-Michigan game, when they wouldn't run certain plays against any other opponent. I definitely feel like that is what all our MAC teams are doing to a degree, the game against Ohio is kind of their own personal bowl game, and so they spend at least twice as much time preparing for us than they would for another conference foe...

WE HAVE A WINNER!  

I would also add that I think Frank lives on the edge sometime of running up the score vs. bringing in 2nd and 3rd teamers (especially on the lines) and giving them some valuable game experience which will pay dividends down the line.  On the Roo's final drive on Saturday, the gentleman behind me, who attends nearly every practice and knows all the players personally, noted that Frank didn't put the 1st team defense in until Akron reached the 20 yard line.  His exact words were, "Yes, it's about time you put in the 1st string!"  

I hadn't really looked at it that way before, but in the first halves of seasons under Solich, Ohio is 19-23, while in the second halves (not counting MACC and bowls), Ohio is 30-11. The only years when Ohio lost more than one game in the second half of the season were 2005, 2007, and 2008, the years when Ohio did not have a winning record, and even in those years, Ohio was 9-8 combined in the second half of the year.

Why does this happen? My first thought was that it was because they non-conference games are almost all in the first half of the season. Removing non-conference games, Ohio is 6-9 in the first half of season, and 29-11 in the second half, so that's not it. The only thing I can come up with is that Ohio's one-game-at a time approach, not getting overly emotionally tied up in a single game, pays dividends in the long run, and allows them to go the distance.

After looking at it this way, I feel more confident than ever that Ohio will lose no more than one game. Now, if they can just avoid halving that one bad game....

And OCF is exactly right.  When you are in a football game and leading, you have two options:  keep in starters and try to melt the clock, or put in backups and run offense so they get the time on the field.  Our program isn't built to the point where we can give backups minimal time and they'll be ready to hit the ground running next season.  We get the right recruits, give them a year or two experience, then unleash (the kraken) on the MAC.  Will there be a day when we roll in Blue Chip recruits?  Probably not any time soon.  This is a good system.

Look at our offensive line.  Two, three, four years ago, it seemed like there were always guys dinged up or not quite at the level we needed.  Now our line is terrific.  Look at what they did to the end from Marshall last year and Penn State's defensive line.