I hope all Mid Ohio Valley Bobcat fans can make it to Parkersburg Country Club Tuesday night for the first Bobcat caravan of the year.  Free food, prize giveaways and beer.  The event if rom 6:00-8:00.  Go Bobcats!

   I Went to the Parkersburg Caravan had a great time talking to the athletic staff on hand, Russ E., Jim Schauss and other fans. I won a pair of Attack U comemorative glasses. I was disappointed that Solich was the only coach that was able to make it, but he did talk extensively about the team and their spring practices. He talked about the new no huddle offense and broke down the team by groups. He said that after the terrible loss to Troy in the bowl game, they thought it would be a good idea to adopt their offense to try to run more plays a game. This was because Ohio was one of the top teams in the country for Yards per Play, but were one of if not the worst in number of plays run per game. He said that there has been some meetings between the coaching staffs about it and they have been very helpful in getting this done. He also told us that Burrows was against it because of the extra time that the defense spends on the field. 
   We were told that they looked a several teams that have adopted the hurry-up offense to see how the numbers worked out, this is what they found out. After changing to the hurry-up, these teams started averaging 10 more points/game and only gave up 1 more point/game.   

Offense
 
QB   Highly praised Tyler T. and Kyle S. the ones that played in the spring game and said the coaches feel confident that either will be able to effectively run the team with more reps and game experience. Someone asked afterwards where Bates falls into the mix at. His answer was that if Brad can complete 55%+ of his passes with minimal bad mistakes (ints.) then he would be right in the mix for the starting spot he also hinted that brad is such a physical speciman that he would have to see the field somehow.
Recievers/TEs  He talked about Roback, Clark, Brazill, among others. he also said that this is definitely a strength of the offense. 
Backs  He mentioned that Donte Harden could be a feature back if he can put together a well rounded season, and said that Ryan Boykin is the only BIG back on the team at 225 lbs. the others are all in the 195 lb range.
I don't remember him saying much about the OL
Special Teams  He just talked about the kickers and long snapper, saying that all are returning and that Grant Venham(sp.) is a local walk-on player that is going to try to prove that he is worthy of a scholarship for next year since Hershey is a senior.

Defense 
D Line   Feels that this is the big question mark on team because of replacing so many starters. But also feels that due to the last few recruiting classes, the unit that is put on that is put on the field will do well as will their backups.
LBs talked about how Keller should be a top defensive player in the MAC by seasons end. 
Safety mentioned Gerald Moore as a top player in that position

bobcat695 or anyone else that was there, please feel free to correct me on any mistakes that I may have made. Also add to it for anything that I may have forgotten. 

 

Great recap, Steve, thanks.

Good that the coaches saw that we're high in points per play and, so, want to run more plays.

Not so good that we didn't figure this out until after the season.

Also, we should not run the hurry-up all of the time.  When we're comfortably ahead, milking the clock can be okay--the balance between keeping momentum and keeping the lead.

I did not get a chance to ask it because they cut me off after I asked about baseball and golf (Love's question from a distance).