Something tells me Mr. Bates earned his chances. I do understand what the coaches wanted to do, run the ball, run the clock, play keep away from Troy. Mr. Bates earned his chance to see if he could make that happen. His interception was not underthrown, I thought the receiver slowed on the route. LB would have been still running with it. Next year. Stll need to be bigger stronger and faster. Still work to be done. As MonroeClassmate pointed out, this has happened to OSU at the hands of Florida, this has happened to Florida at the hands of Nebraska, this has happened to Nebraska at the hands of USC. It happens, learn from it and get better.

It's not like Bates looked good with all that practice.  At least Boo moved the ball every time he was on the field.  That was obvious from the 34 yard TD strike on the first series. 

Starting Bates over Boo was the dumbest move I seen in years from Bobcat coaches. There had to be some kind of disciplinary reason for it, otherwise we have the worst coaching staff in the history of Ohio football.

Just back from NO.  Had a nice time and will post some more later but here is what I really do not understand...

OK, the game plan was to RUN the ball with Bates at QB so Troy would have the ball less.  Well, when your first possessions end up in nothing and the other team is rattling off points in every possession, don't you realize you are in a shootout and need to adjust?  Don't you realize that at 24-7 or 31-7?  It's hard to believe sitting at that game that you would think a running QB gave us a chance to win.  Having a game plan is one thing but sticking with it when it is leading to failure is plain foolish.

As others have said and most on those board have seen, Boo gives our offense options.  In my opinion, he gave us the best chance to compete or win and for whatever reason we decided not to use himuntil the game was out of hand. 

I have also said on this board more than once that six years into a program, you should be developing some 4 year QB's.  Seems like the best QB's in Ohio are still going to any school but Ohio. 

Good night!

Very well put Slavin....has this coaching staff ever heard of bubble screens, wide receiver screens, or just a plain screen,,,maybe a slant or two...this coaching 101 when the other team is bringing the house.....this was the poorest coached game that I ever saw.....

As others have said, the game plan was to run the ball a lot. Also as noted, it wasn't happening. That was disappointing. Most teams have ran the ball quite well against Troy, but we couldn't. I don't think this was a bad game plan to try to use Bates often as a runner. I thought this would be the case, and I didn't think Troy would be able to stop it, but obviously they were quite prepared.

Frank is kind of stubborn when it comes to game plans. He's talked before about coaches not having enough patience and abandoning their game plan too soon, and then things just get worse. I think everyone pretty much is in agreement, though, that in this case, he probably stuck to the original too long when it wasn't working.

For what it's worth, I heard exactly the same criticism of Bill Hess back in the day. 

We should have a better running game next year IF:

*Harden can play all year.

*the offensive line improves and doesn't digress.

*they play Boykin.

*newcomers like transfer Blankenship and true freshman Hammonds provide some depth.

I would sure like to know if BOO's academic issue was the reason why he didn't play much in the first half.
My mind says that was the reason. There is no other explanation. After all, when he did come in for Bates due to an equipment issue in the 1st quarter, he threw that TD and the game was tied. That alone should have solidified his position.
I don't know if we will ever know what the reasoning was but it would sure answer 1 question.






GO BOBCATS

I doubt there are many coaches that know more about what is a great running back than coach Solich. He was a special one himself and coached some of the best while a position coach at Nebraska.  Probalbly want to defer to his judgement in this area.