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Ohio Football Topic
Topic: Take a moment and reflect ....
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UpSan Bobcat
12/4/2019 9:42 PM
colobobcat66 wrote:expand_more
I like the comparison of APSU and Ohio but I think the big difference between the two schools is that APSU is much more of a football school than Ohio will ever be. Their fanbase and alumni overall are much more into football than Ohio's. Consequently their school is willing to devote more resources than Ohio. Not making any sort of judgment, just pointing out the emphasis each school places on football.

And I'm not so sure the facilities are similar or equal. APSU's football stadium is newer, and looks fantastic! It's sweet! And they're building an endzone addition with loges. I'm not sure there's really much of a comparison with Peden.
The stadium App State has in Boone is phenomenal. They have what could have be done to Peden had they had a master plan rather then piece mealing things here.

They are more of a football school and town, but how much of that is simply due to a winning tradition?

Lastly, and these in my opinion are key: 1) Boone is a bigger town with more going on that Athens has in general, though it is more remote than Athens. That has to help recruiting, along with facilities and winning. They probably have more money from sponsors that Ohio has, if I were to guess. 2) They are, by my estimate, in their immediate region the biggest show in town in terms of sports. Especially with football.

Boone’s population is under 20000 so not so sure about local help there.
Was in Boone last month and have been vacationing in that area for over 15 years. Population figures are misleading. The city of Athens has less than 8,000 permanment residents. The local high school has less than 800 students. Athens is a very small town so small that many businesses have trouble staying in business between May and August. Boone has industry - we have a hospital and Walmart. Bottom line Boone is way bigger than Athens.
So the census bureau counts the students in Athens, but not in Boone. Hate to say it, but that makes no sense.
Judging the sizes of college towns is difficult, no doubt. Ohio University is a bigger university than Appalachian State, so the census population count for Athens probably is inflated more but I don't know by how much. And the census lists Athens as more to begin with. I've never been to Boone but I'd doubt based on this info that it is way bigger, if at all, than Athens. Interesting thing I found is that Athens' population is pretty similar to what it was in 1970. Boone's has more than doubled in that time, so if that trend continues, it certainly will become bigger than Athens.
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OhioCatFan
12/5/2019 12:25 AM
UpSan Bobcat wrote:expand_more
I like the comparison of APSU and Ohio but I think the big difference between the two schools is that APSU is much more of a football school than Ohio will ever be. Their fanbase and alumni overall are much more into football than Ohio's. Consequently their school is willing to devote more resources than Ohio. Not making any sort of judgment, just pointing out the emphasis each school places on football.

And I'm not so sure the facilities are similar or equal. APSU's football stadium is newer, and looks fantastic! It's sweet! And they're building an endzone addition with loges. I'm not sure there's really much of a comparison with Peden.
The stadium App State has in Boone is phenomenal. They have what could have be done to Peden had they had a master plan rather then piece mealing things here.

They are more of a football school and town, but how much of that is simply due to a winning tradition?

Lastly, and these in my opinion are key: 1) Boone is a bigger town with more going on that Athens has in general, though it is more remote than Athens. That has to help recruiting, along with facilities and winning. They probably have more money from sponsors that Ohio has, if I were to guess. 2) They are, by my estimate, in their immediate region the biggest show in town in terms of sports. Especially with football.

Boone’s population is under 20000 so not so sure about local help there.
Was in Boone last month and have been vacationing in that area for over 15 years. Population figures are misleading. The city of Athens has less than 8,000 permanment residents. The local high school has less than 800 students. Athens is a very small town so small that many businesses have trouble staying in business between May and August. Boone has industry - we have a hospital and Walmart. Bottom line Boone is way bigger than Athens.
So the census bureau counts the students in Athens, but not in Boone. Hate to say it, but that makes no sense.
Judging the sizes of college towns is difficult, no doubt. Ohio University is a bigger university than Appalachian State, so the census population count for Athens probably is inflated more but I don't know by how much. And the census lists Athens as more to begin with. I've never been to Boone but I'd doubt based on this info that it is way bigger, if at all, than Athens. Interesting thing I found is that Athens' population is pretty similar to what it was in 1970. Boone's has more than doubled in that time, so if that trend continues, it certainly will become bigger than Athens.
My son worked for the census bureau in a previous census. I can tell you form his experience that the students here are not counted accurately. There are a number of reasons for this, which I don't have the time now to go into, but it's probably a problem in other college towns as well. The most current estimate of the population for Athens County is just under 66, 000, but it's probably more like 76,000, if all OU and HC students were counted accurately.

1960 46,998 2.5%
1970 54,889 16.8%
1980 56,399 2.8%
1990 59,549 5.6%
2000 62,223 4.5%
2010 64,757 4.1%
Est. 2018 65,818 1.6%
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TWT
12/5/2019 4:19 AM
OU_Country wrote:expand_more
I like the comparison of APSU and Ohio but I think the big difference between the two schools is that APSU is much more of a football school than Ohio will ever be. Their fanbase and alumni overall are much more into football than Ohio's. Consequently their school is willing to devote more resources than Ohio. Not making any sort of judgment, just pointing out the emphasis each school places on football.

And I'm not so sure the facilities are similar or equal. APSU's football stadium is newer, and looks fantastic! It's sweet! And they're building an endzone addition with loges. I'm not sure there's really much of a comparison with Peden.
The stadium App State has in Boone is phenomenal. They have what could have be done to Peden had they had a master plan rather then piece mealing things here.

They are more of a football school and town, but how much of that is simply due to a winning tradition?

Lastly, and these in my opinion are key: 1) Boone is a bigger town with more going on that Athens has in general, though it is more remote than Athens. That has to help recruiting, along with facilities and winning. They probably have more money from sponsors that Ohio has, if I were to guess. 2) They are, by my estimate, in their immediate region the biggest show in town in terms of sports. Especially with football.
What also helps Appalachian State is North Carolina doesn't have a big time P5 program in it. The P5 jobs in North Carolina are second tier P5 jobs. East Carolina is over their heads in the AAC. Same with Charlotte in CUSA. That makes it easier to be a G5 football school.
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TWT
12/5/2019 4:32 AM
ou79 wrote:expand_more
While we are reflecting, take a moment and think about this. Appalachian State University has similar difficulties to Ohio University. Both institutions are located in the Appalachian mountain region which means both have similar issues such as inaccessibility, poverty, both play in what can best be described as the bottom feeders for FBS football (Sun Belt/MAC), and both have to deal with somewhat limited resources, especially compared to the P-5 conferences/teams.

In 2014 Appalachian State made the jump from D-IAA/FCS football to FBS football and joined the Sun Belt Conference. Since then their football record going into this week is 58-17. In 2018 they were ranked at No. 25 in the AP Poll and this year have been ranked several times with the highest being this week at No. 20 in the AP Poll. They have appeared in four post season bowl games and have won all four. In 2015 they played in the Camelia Bowl and beat us. In 2016 they again played in the Camelia bowl and beat Toledo. In 2017 they played in the Dollar General Bowl and again beat Toledo, and in 2018 they played in the New Orleans Bowl and beat Middle Tennessee State. They have also won the Sun Belt Championship in football in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and play Troy this weekend in the Championship game. And finally this year they have beaten two P-5 teams, North Carolina from the ACC and South Carolina from the SEC. With a little help they could arguably be playing in a New Year's Day bowl this year, or at least come closer than Ohio University has ever been.

Now think about what our staff has achieved in the last 15 years. Yes they have somewhat "elevated" our program, but no MACC's, one week of national rankings in 2012, and a mixed bag when it comes to post season bowl games with absolutely no smell or chance of playing in a New Year's Day bowl. I agree with what bshot44 stated at the beginning of this thread. With this staff we play for mediocrity ever year. After 15 years I do not see that changing going into the future.
Right Appalachian State is a legitimate Peach Bowl contender. They've won the SBC three years in a row. Winning the MACC is an important step for Ohio as far as building a perception the program can compete for the Peach Bowl. The program hasn't been that far off the last couple of years from the ASU level but it might take a little more recruiting than what the staff is capable of.
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Deciduous Forest Cat
12/5/2019 12:20 PM
If you look at the attendance of the camelia bowl when we played Asu, that tells you all you need to know about how each program is supported.
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UpSan Bobcat
12/5/2019 12:36 PM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
. . .Oddly, I'm thinking that the next Ohio coach might've been standing on the sideline at the BG game. Jim Burrow is 66 but looks like he'll be ready to get back into it after Joe is done at LSU.
I had the same thought, but only after he comes back as DC, and Frank decides to retire. I suspect that Frank might retire a little sooner than otherwise if he is assured that his successor is someone "from his coaching tree," to use a hackneyed sports expression.
From an Arkley story today:

“You never say never,” Jimmy Burrow begins, “But there’s no intentions here in January for me to go to the (NCAA Coaches) convention and start looking around.

“The other thing is we want to stay in Athens,” he added. “Why would I want to go interview at wherever? That’s not what our family wants to do right now.”
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bshot44
12/5/2019 3:17 PM
There have been a few comments around "Ohio was a play or two away from being 9-3" or (to steal a hockey term) they've had bad puck luck when it comes to winning a MACC.

While neither of those two are factually incorrect .... they paint a glass-half-full mentality.

Take this year .... while yes, Ohio was a few plays from winning the NIU and Miami games ... and were only 9 points away from being 9-3 .... they were also a few plays away from being 3-9.

If UB could make a kick ... that's a loss.

Kent was just a few plays from beating Ohio in Peden to make it an even more dreadful home season. Can you imagine going 0-5 at home?!?! Yuck. 1-4 is bad enough.

And if the weather wasn't absolutely dreadful, I'm not sure Ohio wins in Muncie.

At some point, you have to acknowledge the constant in this program ... and it isn't the players.

This is the same staff that couldn't come up with a play to score from the one-yard line to beat UC.

Same staff that couldn't find a way to win games in November the last three years to lock up the MAC East.

Same staff that let a 20-0 lead slip away in a MAC title game.

Same staff that lost to Kent with division title on the line in 2010.

Same staff that saw season's inexplicably spiral on them in 2012 and 2013.

Same staff that has built the most wins in MAC history mostly on the backs of the bottom feeders. I don't have time to run the numbers ... but the overwhelming majority of Solich's wins at Ohio have come against teams with losing records. And yes, I understand Ohio plays more teams with losing records than winning records ... but traditionally, during the Solich era, Ohio has not fared that well against teams with winning records.

And let's be honest here ... while Solich is king in the MAC for wins ... he's also nearly the king of losses with 81 (only two behind Bill Hess)

Look ... bottom line is, while the program has been super close to MAC superiority the last few years ... they also have their fair share of blame for self-inflicted wounds. And while I agree, players need to execute .... the common factor these last 15 years has been this coaching staff. That's indisputable.

Again ... thanks for all your contributions. It will serve this program well going forward .... but I think we've seen the ceiling ... and we've lived thru it. I don't think they'll ever get over the hump with this current staff.

.... and for the record, I think Burrow is back as DC at best someday. But I would be surprised if he is ever the head coach. Can't see the new AD going that direction when she has a real chance to take this program to the next level (which is a dominant MAC program). Hiring Burrow to me would be a vote that she's satisfied with the status quo ... and I'd hope that's not the case. Boals was already in place and he's here for a while (let's hope) ... so she'll have a chance to put her stamp on the dept with a football hire .... and I'm not sure Jimmy Burrow is one that will jumpstart things. It would essentially be Solich II ... an older coach who is on the back-end of his career (but with zero head coaching experience)
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Robert Fox
12/5/2019 3:26 PM
bshot44 wrote:expand_more
And while I agree, players need to execute .... the common factor these last 15 years has been this coaching staff. That's indisputable.

Again ... thanks for all your contributions. It will serve this program well going forward .... but I think we've seen the ceiling ... and we've lived thru it. I don't think they'll ever get over the hump with this current staff.

[/QUOTE]Kind of hard to reconcile all of that, with this:

[QUOTE=bshot44]
What I'll say is this ... I do NOT think Ohio should fire Solich & Co. No way, no how. I've stated that about a million times on here. He's done waaaaaay too much to be fired.
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OU_Country
12/5/2019 3:40 PM
Bobcat1996 wrote:expand_more
Guessing Appy State has a bigger stadium and nicer facilities than Ohio. Not being in Boone, I'm not for certain, but just a guess. They do love there football in Boone.
Judge for yourselves with a little looking at each facility:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidd_Brewer_Stadium

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peden_Stadium

The biggest commonality is that each is in a really nice setting with a grass hillside in one endzone. After that, the differences are notable to me. I've been in that stadium once. It's definitely a notch nicer than Peden as they stand right now. I think Peden **could** be as nice though, with some renovation to the student side of the stadium, and some connection of those corner sections to the rest of the stadium.
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bshot44
12/5/2019 4:06 PM
Robert Fox wrote:expand_more
And while I agree, players need to execute .... the common factor these last 15 years has been this coaching staff. That's indisputable.

Again ... thanks for all your contributions. It will serve this program well going forward .... but I think we've seen the ceiling ... and we've lived thru it. I don't think they'll ever get over the hump with this current staff.
Kind of hard to reconcile all of that, with this:

What I'll say is this ... I do NOT think Ohio should fire Solich & Co. No way, no how. I've stated that about a million times on here. He's done waaaaaay too much to be fired.
Again ... you are missing my point.

I repeat ... SOLICH & CO. SHOULD NOT BE FIRED. PERIOD.

I repeat ... thinking they will deliver a MAC title before they wrap up their time in Athens is fool's gold.

As I've said multiple times, this program is in neutral ... it's stale. It is what it is. Until there's a change ... what we see is what we'll continue to get. A slightly above average program in a super below average division.

But we're kind of stuck with it. I get it. Just frustrating to continue to watch it.
Last Edited: 12/5/2019 4:07:18 PM by bshot44
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bshot44
12/5/2019 4:10 PM
OU_Country wrote:expand_more
Guessing Appy State has a bigger stadium and nicer facilities than Ohio. Not being in Boone, I'm not for certain, but just a guess. They do love there football in Boone.
Judge for yourselves with a little looking at each facility:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidd_Brewer_Stadium

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peden_Stadium

The biggest commonality is that each is in a really nice setting with a grass hillside in one endzone. After that, the differences are notable to me. I've been in that stadium once. It's definitely a notch nicer than Peden as they stand right now. I think Peden **could** be as nice though, with some renovation to the student side of the stadium, and some connection of those corner sections to the rest of the stadium.
I was SUPER impressed with Coastal Carolina's stadium when I was down in MB for the basketball tourney a couple weeks ago. Was a really cool, small stadium.

Outside of the teal turf ...

Ohio will inevitably play a bowl there in the next few years ... so we'll get a chance to check it out.

But I would love a stadium like that in Athens. It's only 20k ... but it's pretty awesome

https://goccusports.com/sports/2018/5/24/facilities-brook...
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Robert Fox
12/5/2019 4:32 PM
bshot44 wrote:expand_more
And while I agree, players need to execute .... the common factor these last 15 years has been this coaching staff. That's indisputable.

Again ... thanks for all your contributions. It will serve this program well going forward .... but I think we've seen the ceiling ... and we've lived thru it. I don't think they'll ever get over the hump with this current staff.
Kind of hard to reconcile all of that, with this:

What I'll say is this ... I do NOT think Ohio should fire Solich & Co. No way, no how. I've stated that about a million times on here. He's done waaaaaay too much to be fired.
Again ... you are missing my point.

I repeat ... SOLICH & CO. SHOULD NOT BE FIRED. PERIOD.

I repeat ... thinking they will deliver a MAC title before they wrap up their time in Athens is fool's gold.

As I've said multiple times, this program is in neutral ... it's stale. It is what it is. Until there's a change ... what we see is what we'll continue to get. A slightly above average program in a super below average division.

But we're kind of stuck with it. I get it. Just frustrating to continue to watch it.
Got it. You don't want to fire the coach but you are certain he can't succeed. Odd, but ok.
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bshot44
12/5/2019 5:39 PM
Robert Fox wrote:expand_more
And while I agree, players need to execute .... the common factor these last 15 years has been this coaching staff. That's indisputable.

Again ... thanks for all your contributions. It will serve this program well going forward .... but I think we've seen the ceiling ... and we've lived thru it. I don't think they'll ever get over the hump with this current staff.
Kind of hard to reconcile all of that, with this:

What I'll say is this ... I do NOT think Ohio should fire Solich & Co. No way, no how. I've stated that about a million times on here. He's done waaaaaay too much to be fired.
Again ... you are missing my point.

I repeat ... SOLICH & CO. SHOULD NOT BE FIRED. PERIOD.

I repeat ... thinking they will deliver a MAC title before they wrap up their time in Athens is fool's gold.

As I've said multiple times, this program is in neutral ... it's stale. It is what it is. Until there's a change ... what we see is what we'll continue to get. A slightly above average program in a super below average division.

But we're kind of stuck with it. I get it. Just frustrating to continue to watch it.
Got it. You don't want to fire the coach but you are certain he can't succeed. Odd, but ok.
Yep. Pretty much spot on. The coach certainly has earned the right to leave on his own terms for what he's done for this program. It's just my opinion, he's done as much as he's capable of with Ohio football. I think after 15 years, we've seen a good enough sample size to know that elevating this program any higher than it already is is probably just not in the cards.

I celebrate the ashes from which Solich has risen this program ... but I also wait with anticipation for the next guy to come in and take things even higher (hopefully)

I know it's a gamble any time you make a change .... just look at Ohio hoops. Groce to Christian to Saul was a steady decline that eventually got to rock bottom. Boals appears to have things trending upwards.

I just think that what Solich has built .... he essentially will be handing over the keys to a pretty well-stocked program compared to the empty cupboard he inherited in 2005.
Last Edited: 12/5/2019 5:40:15 PM by bshot44
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ou79
12/5/2019 7:45 PM
Well stated bshot44. I came to the conclusion a couple of years ago that the current regime had taken us as far as they could and that with them no MACC's or other elevation was going to occur with our program. Because of that fact I dropped my premium season tickets/parking passes along with all donations to the football program and Ohio Athletics in general. I suspect I am not alone in taking that action.

If you look at our own attendance records you will find that Ohio's "hay day" for football attendance was between 2012-2016. During those years for home games we averaged 21,844 per game for 2012; 20,672 per game for 2013; 21,594 per game for 2014; 21,323 per game for 2015; and, 21,190 per game for 2016. In 2017 that average slipped to 19,388 per game and in 2018 the average slid further to 16,229 per game. This year the average per game was 16,566 which is slightly up from last year but significantly down from what it was earlier in the decade. In addition thereto, if you remove the Miami game from this year when we offered one semester of free tuition to a lucky student who attended that game, the overall average per game attendance drops drastically and looks more like the attendance during the Cleve/Lichty years. For the other five home games this year the average attendance per game was 15,762. The attendance for the Miami game this year as stated by our program was 20,589 which is the only time we topped the 20,000 mark. As a matter of fact the next most attended game this year was NIU with 18,019 in attendance and it goes down from there to a low attendance of 11,700 for WMU.

You can argue whatever you want, but I believe the "Buzz" has left this program and with it support/fans. Even this Message Board has lost a lot of people. Someone posted earlier this Fall that pretty soon people will revert back to attending Ohio football games to listen to the 110 at halftime and then leave. We may be closer to that then you think. I believe that there are others like me who realize this program is going no further and therefore have left. When Coach Solich retires, we need to go in a different direction and bring some life back to this program. If people have hope, they will support this program. As it currently stands and for many of us, there is no hope.
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mid70sbobcat
12/5/2019 9:02 PM
ou79 wrote:expand_more
Well stated bshot44. I came to the conclusion a couple of years ago that the current regime had taken us as far as they could and that with them no MACC's or other elevation was going to occur with our program. Because of that fact I dropped my premium season tickets/parking passes along with all donations to the football program and Ohio Athletics in general. I suspect I am not alone in taking that action.

If you look at our own attendance records you will find that Ohio's "hay day" for football attendance was between 2012-2016. During those years for home games we averaged 21,844 per game for 2012; 20,672 per game for 2013; 21,594 per game for 2014; 21,323 per game for 2015; and, 21,190 per game for 2016. In 2017 that average slipped to 19,388 per game and in 2018 the average slid further to 16,229 per game. This year the average per game was 16,566 which is slightly up from last year but significantly down from what it was earlier in the decade. In addition thereto, if you remove the Miami game from this year when we offered one semester of free tuition to a lucky student who attended that game, the overall average per game attendance drops drastically and looks more like the attendance during the Cleve/Lichty years. For the other five home games this year the average attendance per game was 15,762. The attendance for the Miami game this year as stated by our program was 20,589 which is the only time we topped the 20,000 mark. As a matter of fact the next most attended game this year was NIU with 18,019 in attendance and it goes down from there to a low attendance of 11,700 for WMU.

You can argue whatever you want, but I believe the "Buzz" has left this program and with it support/fans. Even this Message Board has lost a lot of people. Someone posted earlier this Fall that pretty soon people will revert back to attending Ohio football games to listen to the 110 at halftime and then leave. We may be closer to that then you think. I believe that there are others like me who realize this program is going no further and therefore have left. When Coach Solich retires, we need to go in a different direction and bring some life back to this program. If people have hope, they will support this program. As it currently stands and for many of us, there is no hope.
You discontinued contributing to the University due to us possibly plateauing? Hmmm. Win or lose I'm proud to be an alum and contribute consistently.

Attendance can be down for many reasons. Whereas you may be right in your assessment of the decline it would be easy to cite other reasons, such as the fact that students just aren't into spots as much as in the past. I don't think I ever missed a home football or basketball game in my years in Athens.

As far as going in a different direction after Frank is gone I'm not so sure. Be careful what you hope for. Frank has brought "life" back to the program after years and years of complete mediocrity. Not sure why you have no hope; I still do. 6-6 this year could have been as good as 10-2 with some breaks. Had that happened I doubt there would be as many gloomy Gus' around.
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bshot44
12/5/2019 10:23 PM
mid70sbobcat wrote:expand_more
Well stated bshot44. I came to the conclusion a couple of years ago that the current regime had taken us as far as they could and that with them no MACC's or other elevation was going to occur with our program. Because of that fact I dropped my premium season tickets/parking passes along with all donations to the football program and Ohio Athletics in general. I suspect I am not alone in taking that action.

If you look at our own attendance records you will find that Ohio's "hay day" for football attendance was between 2012-2016. During those years for home games we averaged 21,844 per game for 2012; 20,672 per game for 2013; 21,594 per game for 2014; 21,323 per game for 2015; and, 21,190 per game for 2016. In 2017 that average slipped to 19,388 per game and in 2018 the average slid further to 16,229 per game. This year the average per game was 16,566 which is slightly up from last year but significantly down from what it was earlier in the decade. In addition thereto, if you remove the Miami game from this year when we offered one semester of free tuition to a lucky student who attended that game, the overall average per game attendance drops drastically and looks more like the attendance during the Cleve/Lichty years. For the other five home games this year the average attendance per game was 15,762. The attendance for the Miami game this year as stated by our program was 20,589 which is the only time we topped the 20,000 mark. As a matter of fact the next most attended game this year was NIU with 18,019 in attendance and it goes down from there to a low attendance of 11,700 for WMU.

You can argue whatever you want, but I believe the "Buzz" has left this program and with it support/fans. Even this Message Board has lost a lot of people. Someone posted earlier this Fall that pretty soon people will revert back to attending Ohio football games to listen to the 110 at halftime and then leave. We may be closer to that then you think. I believe that there are others like me who realize this program is going no further and therefore have left. When Coach Solich retires, we need to go in a different direction and bring some life back to this program. If people have hope, they will support this program. As it currently stands and for many of us, there is no hope.
You discontinued contributing to the University due to us possibly plateauing? Hmmm. Win or lose I'm proud to be an alum and contribute consistently.

Attendance can be down for many reasons. Whereas you may be right in your assessment of the decline it would be easy to cite other reasons, such as the fact that students just aren't into spots as much as in the past. I don't think I ever missed a home football or basketball game in my years in Athens.

As far as going in a different direction after Frank is gone I'm not so sure. Be careful what you hope for. Frank has brought "life" back to the program after years and years of complete mediocrity. Not sure why you have no hope; I still do. 6-6 this year could have been as good as 10-2 with some breaks. Had that happened I doubt there would be as many gloomy Gus' around.
They were just as close to 3-9 as they were to 10-2.

That's just reality.

The last two years I would say they were closer to really good years ...

This year they were super fortunate to beat Ball & UB .... that's a razor's edge from 3-9. Throw in Kent and it could've been 2-10.

That's how underwhelming they were in 2019
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Robert Fox
12/6/2019 8:33 AM
ou79 wrote:expand_more
Well stated bshot44. I came to the conclusion a couple of years ago that the current regime had taken us as far as they could and that with them no MACC's or other elevation was going to occur with our program. Because of that fact I dropped my premium season tickets/parking passes along with all donations to the football program and Ohio Athletics in general. I suspect I am not alone in taking that action.

If you look at our own attendance records you will find that Ohio's "hay day" for football attendance was between 2012-2016. During those years for home games we averaged 21,844 per game for 2012; 20,672 per game for 2013; 21,594 per game for 2014; 21,323 per game for 2015; and, 21,190 per game for 2016. In 2017 that average slipped to 19,388 per game and in 2018 the average slid further to 16,229 per game. This year the average per game was 16,566 which is slightly up from last year but significantly down from what it was earlier in the decade. In addition thereto, if you remove the Miami game from this year when we offered one semester of free tuition to a lucky student who attended that game, the overall average per game attendance drops drastically and looks more like the attendance during the Cleve/Lichty years. For the other five home games this year the average attendance per game was 15,762. The attendance for the Miami game this year as stated by our program was 20,589 which is the only time we topped the 20,000 mark. As a matter of fact the next most attended game this year was NIU with 18,019 in attendance and it goes down from there to a low attendance of 11,700 for WMU.

You can argue whatever you want, but I believe the "Buzz" has left this program and with it support/fans. Even this Message Board has lost a lot of people. Someone posted earlier this Fall that pretty soon people will revert back to attending Ohio football games to listen to the 110 at halftime and then leave. We may be closer to that then you think. I believe that there are others like me who realize this program is going no further and therefore have left. When Coach Solich retires, we need to go in a different direction and bring some life back to this program. If people have hope, they will support this program. As it currently stands and for many of us, there is no hope.
Yeah, that's fine. But the question is, do you support Solich staying or should he be fired? Bshot's argument is he agrees with your above assessment AND he thinks Solich should stay as long as he likes. Do you agree with that second part?
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allen
12/6/2019 11:10 AM
bshot44 wrote:expand_more
And while I agree, players need to execute .... the common factor these last 15 years has been this coaching staff. That's indisputable.

Again ... thanks for all your contributions. It will serve this program well going forward .... but I think we've seen the ceiling ... and we've lived thru it. I don't think they'll ever get over the hump with this current staff.
Kind of hard to reconcile all of that, with this:

What I'll say is this ... I do NOT think Ohio should fire Solich & Co. No way, no how. I've stated that about a million times on here. He's done waaaaaay too much to be fired.
Again ... you are missing my point.

I repeat ... SOLICH & CO. SHOULD NOT BE FIRED. PERIOD.

I repeat ... thinking they will deliver a MAC title before they wrap up their time in Athens is fool's gold.

As I've said multiple times, this program is in neutral ... it's stale. It is what it is. Until there's a change ... what we see is what we'll continue to get. A slightly above average program in a super below average division.

But we're kind of stuck with it. I get it. Just frustrating to continue to watch it.
This is a great post, bshot is right on. Frank should be able to write his own ticket, we will not win a championship until he holds his assistants accountable. Solich is a very honorable and loyal coach, loyal to a fault so it would be heartless to dump him. FS will need to recruit better players and replace a few coaches to win a MAC championship.
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bshot44
12/7/2019 3:46 PM
MAC Titles last 15 years

NIU 4
CMU 3
BG 2
Miami 2
Toledo 1
WMU 1
Buffalo 1
Akron 1

Ohio 0

In the same club as Kent, EMU & Ball.

SMFH ....
Last Edited: 12/7/2019 3:47:32 PM by bshot44
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Urban Bobcat
12/7/2019 3:51 PM
Miami just won their eighth MACC, since Ohio won their last MACC.

Time to get excited for the "Let's Interview Joey Burrow's Dad Bowl."
Last Edited: 12/7/2019 3:58:39 PM by Urban Bobcat
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