After it was all said and done there were several thoughts that came to mind about today's game.

1) The point spread did not take into account our injury situation. We all had a higher expectation because of this.
2) UMASS played better than their stats and previous history showed.
3) Great teams "KNOW HOW TO WIN".
4) Our 2nd & 3rd team players are better today then they were 4-5 years ago.
5) Solich is a genius...he stated before this game how tuff it is to win in this conference and to win on the road in this conference. This game demonstrated to our players just how difficult it can be even against a win less opponent. He will preach this fact all year long and continue to use this game as a motivational factor for the team to stay humble, work hard,  prepare well, and play 4 quarters of football.



GO BOBCATS

It's not just the redshirting, though that's a part of it. Its also recruiting. Knorr recruited a lot of really good players, but a lot of players that never really contributed. Under Solich almost every player they have recruited has contributed, except those that had injury issues. It's also player development. Player learn fundamentals early on, and continue to improve, getting better each year. Finally, it's also motivation and community. In order to improve, and to play hard, the players have be motivated and want to work in the off season, and want to play hard in games, and they do. All these parts fit together to make the Ohio program successful.

My final thoughts are this - Ohio is not better than the other MAC teams on overall talent level. Where they are better is in terms of depth, and in terms of motivation and work and conditioning. When they come out playing their best, games are going to go the way of NMSU - playing even early on, and gradually wearing the other team down. When they are not at their best, they will fall behind early, and have to wear them down, and then take the lead later. In every game this year Ohio has been dominant in the 2d quarter, and, unless they already had a big lead (NMSU, Norfolk State), they have been dominant in the 4th. I expect that pattern to continue.

It's a hard road when you are wearing the eyepatch. We knew that going into the season. The Bobcats have survived 5 weeks, and they need to survive 5 more. The odds still strongly favor ending in the ditch. There are no games left that the Bobcats can not win, and none they can not lose.The Bobcats know how to win, and the will to win, so they have a very good shot.

Go Bobcats!

In the Knorr days we reverted to a recruiting style of "maybe they'll get bigger" or  "maybe they'll get faster" which equals no depth whatsoever.

Sure....a 6'5"-250 pound offensive tackle with good feet looks good as a freshman but not as a 6'5"-255 senior.  You can't recruit on potential or maybe they'll grow or maybe they'll get faster.  With injuries and other unforeseen circumstances you need kids who can play their first or second year.  If you redshirt them of course that's the ticket....but you need to play true freshman sometimes and sometimes they are better than guys you have on the field.

Really  GOOD deep depth is better than depth that sucks.

I was surprised at how good their skill position players were.  I think we saw a freshman QB start to "get it."    I'm sure a lot of people are thinking that we stunk up the joint but I thought it had more to do with UMass than it had to do with us.  I thought the defense came out flat and played with complacency most of the game but I also came away a lot more impressed with UMass than I expected to be.