After what we did tonight and what WMU didn't do it looks at least there is a viable path to play for a title. Meaning that we have a real chance of taking out WMU, Miami and Akron to set up a title match with Buffalo. Next week if they win Ohio is bowl eligible for the 10th straight year. Then its Miami which is always important and we are back in Peden for the final two games.

Ohio can't afford even one loss for the remainder of the season. Buffalo could drop a game and still take the east by defeating Ohio. This is a problem Ohio hasn't faced in previous years without a serious competitor in the east.

Exactly! That was a dominating performance tonight. That is what I expected for most of season. Well done!

But yes .... these next two road games are winnable .... but Ohio is 1-3 away from Peden already.

We'll see what they're made of next two weeks. Challenging opponents ... but both that Ohio "should" beat

Seeing the defensive improvements make me feel some confidence. This was truly a dominant performance all around, so it's easy to feel this way.


Still, you can stop our offense completely if you're able to stop the run on first and second down. We saw this against NIU. Rourke is an efficient passing QB but I don't feel confident with him dropping back on 3rd and long. Luckily with Rourke's running and scrambling ability, our rushing potential is always solid.

I don't think we'll go 4-0, sadly. And it's quite likely 2-2 is how it turns out. Hope I am wrong though.

The D has actually played well in four straight games, but except for NIU the competition hasn't been great. And NIU doesn't have the offensive weapons they've had in the past, so it's hard to gauge. The performance has been encouraging, but next week will be a real test. Toledo had something to prove last night after losing to EMU the week before, and I expect WMU will have a chip on its shoulder next week. I hope we don't have to get into a shootout with WMU because we haven't played well offensively on the road this year. We're averaging only 27 ppg on the road (vs 49 at home) and only 24 ppg in MAC road games (vs 50 at home). That's a huge dropoff. The D will really have to come up big next week.

Exciting few weeks of football left. I like our chances against WMU after what Toledo did to them in 'Zoo. Lot of points to be scored there.

It'll be nice to play Miami in a meaningful and competitive game again.

Akron game scares me. Especially if we can pull off the Buffalo upset.

Western's coach said they hoped to contain and get pressure with four. They could not and were required to devote additional bodies to the line of scrimmage. He said Toledo's tackles were size of hotels and they hoped to pressure through the guards, did not work. With the WRs Toledo has he knew bringing up LBs would open things up downfield. His big disappointment was that they never did get pressure, 0 sacks and allowed 7.7 per rush. Western was only able to muster 3.7 per rush which they needed to abandon as they fell behind early in the second half. Western's QB Wassink was injured in the first quarter. New QB, Eleby, was 23-28, 293 yards, but, held the ball under pressure taking five sacks. Expect they will get that worked out should Wassink not be available against Ohio.

Ball State actually has a better offense than Buffalo in terms of yards per game, but they have had trouble scoring (59th in total offensive yards, 106th in avg ppg). So take that for whatever it's worth.

The defense has definitely improved over the last three games, but playing against competition that isn't as skilled offensively has lent a hand in that. Here are the remaining opponents offensive rankings:

WMU: 33rd ppg, 24th in ypg

Miami: 85th ppg, 97th ypg

Buffalo: 41st ppg, 64th ypg

Akron: 108th ppg, 123rd ypg

It will be interesting to see what the defense can come up with in the last quarter of the season.

I don't think it's irrational at all. As to me, I am conflicted, as I feel like I'm watching the Coyote about to catch Roadrunner for some reason.....

Why I think we're seeing what we're seeing:

Injuries - Mid-season plateau/late season drop-off: The coaches have recognized this issue and the fall camp injuries, hence the reduced contact/scrimmages during fall camp. This likely contributed to our slow start, but will hopefully continue to show benefits through the remainder of the season. This is a very dynamic issue, though, as all it takes is one game for some key injuries to occur. Things that concern me now - Kittrel's injury and the nasty targeting hit on Rourke vs. Ball State.

Offensive line performance: The key to our slow start offensively. The new OL coach and the changes he brought have takes some time for the OL to assimilate. We are now seeing the type of performance we (and MAC coaches) expected pre-season.

Defensive performance: We knew that there would be a drop-off in the front 7 due to loss of key players and lack of game experience in the replacements. They are really beginning to get their legs under them now. Will they be as good as last year's? Probably not. Do they need to be? No. If the running game continues to perform at (or near) this level, the defense will be protected by the offense.

The last two teams we have played are pretty bad...it's hard to argue otherwise. However, if we continue to play at this level, I think we'll be fine. Even with the improved competition, there's plenty of wiggle room between running a team completely out of the stadium (as we did) and just winning, baby.

The media may be ready to anoint Buffalo as the conference champs, but I guarantee that the Buffalo coaching staff is enduring their share of heartburn watching our running game grinding up defenses as we expected them to...let''s hope they get to experience that too.

Like the Cats can easily lose to Fiami as well?

Road Games in the MAC ... not exactly scoring at will.

Ohio 27 pts at Kent
Ohio 21 pts at NIU

They need to get that turned around to win at WMU tomorrow and at Miami next week