Well the first part of that is simply the opponent.

Also, I watched film of OU this year with a few former teammates. What we noticed about our defensive alignment is that the LBers are playing further back than the LBers in my class. This invites the opponents to run on us. I think our LBers are fast enough to play 2-3 yards behind the D-Line; not 5-6 yards like they do this year.

Check out our previews for Saturday's games:

OHIO @ BALL STATE: The MAC East and West Division leaders go head-to-head this Saturday in Muncie. Will Ohio be able to slow down Ball state, the top offense in the MAC? @bryan_kurp & @chloeballer00 get you ready for Saturday! pic.twitter.com/rzVI3ZIrwP

— WOUB Bobcat Showcase (@BobcatShowcase) October 24, 2019

Written
https://woub.org/2019/10/25/ohio-football-bobcats-face-hu... /

When you look at MAC stats, using Conference games only balances things out because you are looking at games against common opponents. Using full season stats, one team might play Arizona State, Auburn, and Wisconsin, while another team plays Illinois, Troy, and UMass. Anyway, here's a link to the Conference Game Only stats:
https://getsomemaction.com/stats.aspx?path=football&year=...

Offensively, Ohio is 4th at 34.0 points a game, while Ball State is second, at 36.0 per game. Ohio is averaging slightly more yardage, at 450.0 per game compared to 433.3 for Ball State, but the balance is different. Ohio has 757 yards passing (9.5/attempt) and 593 rushing (4.7/carry), while Ball State has 805 Rushing (5.1/carry) and 495 Passing (7.9/attempt).

Defensively, there is a huge difference. Ball State is giving up only 19.0 points a game, while Ohio is giving up 32.3. As far as yardage, Ball State is giving up 356 yards a game, 374 Rushing (3.7/carry) and 695 passing (5.9/attempt). Ohio is giving up 455 yards a game, and has given up 564 rushing (5.0/carry) and 800 passing (8.2 per attempt). The biggest difference is in Pass Efficiency Defense, where Ball State leads the conference at 92.9, while Ohio is 10th at 155.4.

Offensively the teams are similar, though Ohio throws more, while Ball State relies more on it's rushing attack. Defensively, however, there is a huge difference. Ball State, statistically, has the 2d best defense in the conference, while Ohio has the tenth best.

To win, Ohio's offense will have to continue to improve, and manage to score a lot of points against a very good defense. Defensively, Ohio really needs to start playing like they did at the end of last year.

The snap, hold & kicking crew has ⁦@OhioFootball⁩ fun too! ⁦@MichaelllFarkas⁩ ⁦@DEVIN_A_KING⁩ & ⁦@LouieZervos⁩ help us count you down to kickoff for the Cats & ⁦@BallStateFB⁩. ⁦@IMGAudio⁩ airtime is 1pm on Saturday. 😼🎙 https://t.co/o2eRsofm9v

— Russ Eisenstein (@RussEisenstein) October 25, 2019

Most believe we will bring them back down to earth. I was reading the boards and one fan said "who would've thought Kent State has the #1 offense in the MAC." I did not know that!!

http://overthepylon.boards.net/thread/2936/ohio?page=1

Defense held up in the first half. Fewer plays mean more reps for first-string D-line. Both quarterbacks look like they're having trouble driving the ball when passing. Ohio again settling for FGs in late October/November. I thought we were past that.

Good job all around. A step forward.

Defense looked like they were a little better this week. If they keep improving, we could end up like last year with good second half of the season and a bowl win. I was particularly pleased to see some freshman playing well on the defense. This is young team in many positions. Great win. Let's get the RedChickens in 10 days! Go OHIO!

Check out our recaps of today’s big win!

Written:
https://twitter.com/bobcatshowcase/status/118824594937160...

OHIO FOOTBALL: It was a wet and windy Saturday in Muncie and I had a lot of fun getting soaked while watching Ohio battle Ball State!

Behind two TDs by @Dtuggle24 and Nathan Rourke, a fumble recovery by @SMarlinBrooks22 and a blocked FG, Ohio defeated the Cardinals, 34-21. pic.twitter.com/XcxMf3dNad

— Bryan Kurp (@bryan_kurp) October 27, 2019

I thought many guys played well today in Muncie, will get accolades, and deservedly so. However, if there was an unsung hero award, and I had a vote, that vote would go for Tariq Drake. I counted four plays that he made on special teams that I thought were very important in determining how things ultimately played out for the Bobcats.

What today's win means is that if Ohio beats Fiami, we'll need to win only two of the last three to be in the MACCG. Fiami's the only other one-loss team in the East. Beat them and we have the tie-breakers on all the two-loss teams. Two more wins would clinch it.

After we got up 20-7 you could almost feel the team taking control. The offense was very methodical and made very few mistakes in the 2nd half. The defense kept BSU's passing in check with really good coverage in the secondary. Maybe we should hope for a driving rain vs Fiami.

We're 2-0 on the road in the MAC with road games left vs BG (1-3, 2-6) and Akron (0-4, 0-8).

And in back-to-back weeks we've given the final two unbeaten teams in MAC play their first MAC losses of the season (Kent was 2-0 and BSU was 3-0).

Just got to avoid any slip-ups during weekday MACtion like we did in the two years past and take it a game at a time from here on out.

But, as far as our schedule goes for our last four games, the only thing I can see that is disadvantageous for us is that Western Michigan plays Ball State on Nov. 5th (Tues.) and we play Miami on Nov. 6th (Wed.) so although the Broncos have to play on the road, they get one more day to prepare for us than we do for them during a six-day week.

Beyond that, it is not only good we get a long week before we start the weekday MACtion games, but we get Miami and Western Michigan at home and our road games are against Bowling Green and Akron so you couldn't ask for any better schedule short of requesting a weaker MAC West opponent.