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Ohio Football Topic
Topic: 2020 MAC EAST PREVIEW
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Turney13
2/28/2020 12:37 PM
Surprising how glowing it is...

Ohio is a projected underdog only once all season (by 1.9 points at Boston College). Granted, there are plenty of relative toss-ups, but the Bobcats could be favored in every conference game, and they get their closest contender, Buffalo, at home.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/28747267...
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Bobcat1996
2/28/2020 2:45 PM
The only thing for certain is that Akron won't win the MAC EAST. BG won't be the East favorite either, but I see them as better than Akron. Any of the other four schools could win it. Kent has a very ambitious non league schedule, but they will be a huge challenge for the Bobcats in November.
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OhioBobcat
3/1/2020 9:02 PM
For the better part of the last decade or so Ohio has finished at or near the top of the East, so why wouldn't they be picked there again.
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OUcats82
3/2/2020 9:24 AM
Hopefully not being atop the perch will take some pressure off and give them more of a chip on their shoulders.

Replacing the elder Rourke will be a challenge no doubt, but hopefully the returning core of players will be hungry to right the ship.

Offense may lean more on the running game early and it will have a very strong stable of backs. I'd but Allison, Tuggle and Ross up against any other group of backs in the MAC. Passing game may need time to get into form with a new QB1 under center or wherever else he is lined up.

The biggest thing that will need to happen is the defense to improve significantly as they were the weak link last year-especially in crunch time.

Cannot lose 3 MAC games at home. Those were so painful to stomach last season. Losing at home after scoring 36 against NIU and 34 against WMU is unacceptable. That should be more than enough points to win the game.

I honestly think it will come down to Buffalo, Miami and Ohio in the East. Need to end this losing steak to the Chickens.

Also, I think that the writer did a great job capturing the essence of the Ohio Football experience in terms of success and near misses over the years. Reflects my thoughts very well.
Last Edited: 3/2/2020 12:13:01 PM by OUcats82
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GoCats105
3/2/2020 4:25 PM
I love Connelly's work. His previews are usually pretty spot on, although I'm sure we'll see less G5 content now that he moved over to ESPN.

But this part of the preview blew me away:

"On average, they could have expected about 1.6 conference championships in that time, and there was only about a 15% chance they would win none."

Well you can never say Ohio football isn't unique.
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Deciduous Forest Cat
3/2/2020 8:28 PM
Whatever SP+ is, it really should put down the crackpipe. Any metric that says we were the best team in the MAC in 2019 is not to be trusted. We lost at home three times.
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71 BOBCAT
3/3/2020 8:18 AM
Usually the QB position dictates how good a team is projected to perform, as we were projected very high last year due to Nathan.
This year we just do not have any idea who is our QB, much less how good he will be.
I am encouraged by all our returners in key positions on both sides of the ball.
If our QB is able to register a completion % over 65% we will have a great year. The completion factor was a weakness for Nathan but he was able to offset it by his scrambling ability.
Hopefully all the QB's in camp will have a good spring practice.




GO BOBCATS
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GoCats105
3/3/2020 9:11 AM
Deciduous Forest Cat wrote:expand_more
Whatever SP+ is, it really should put down the crackpipe. Any metric that says we were the best team in the MAC in 2019 is not to be trusted. We lost at home three times.
His metrics also take into account "post game win expectancy" which I imagine was pretty high for those three losses. And it's not like Ohio was blown out. Each loss was by three points. A play here or there in any of those games and Ohio could be anywhere between a 7 win team (which they were) or a 10 win team.
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UpSan Bobcat
3/3/2020 11:42 AM
GoCats105 wrote:expand_more
Whatever SP+ is, it really should put down the crackpipe. Any metric that says we were the best team in the MAC in 2019 is not to be trusted. We lost at home three times.
His metrics also take into account "post game win expectancy" which I imagine was pretty high for those three losses. And it's not like Ohio was blown out. Each loss was by three points. A play here or there in any of those games and Ohio could be anywhere between a 7 win team (which they were) or a 10 win team.
Right, by all other metrics that usually predict success, Ohio should have won more games last year and should have won the MAC. The last two years actually. Close losses to the wrong teams cost the Bobcats. And they typically were in games that Ohio actually outperformed its opponent except for one or two key plays.
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OUcats82
3/6/2020 11:49 AM
UpSan Bobcat wrote:expand_more
Whatever SP+ is, it really should put down the crackpipe. Any metric that says we were the best team in the MAC in 2019 is not to be trusted. We lost at home three times.
His metrics also take into account "post game win expectancy" which I imagine was pretty high for those three losses. And it's not like Ohio was blown out. Each loss was by three points. A play here or there in any of those games and Ohio could be anywhere between a 7 win team (which they were) or a 10 win team.
Right, by all other metrics that usually predict success, Ohio should have won more games last year and should have won the MAC. The last two years actually. Close losses to the wrong teams cost the Bobcats. And they typically were in games that Ohio actually outperformed its opponent except for one or two key plays.
Which has been a consistent theme for them many years running. Tough pill to swallow.
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