The former

Walsh was too until he wasn't. I spoke to him many times before he decommited and after and trust me Walsh loved Ohio, but circumstances change. Point is until the NLI is signed anything is possible. 

Could this guy be a Roethlisberger type?  As I recall, he was injured in his junior year, and, therefore was kind of "off the radar" of the big time schools.  Even with a good senior year, he still stayed with that school in Oxford, which despite all of its suckiness, had some very successful years with him at QB.  And, of course, he took the NFL by storm when he graduated from that hell hole in Southwestern Ahia.  Let's hope that this parallel holds true, with one exception -- Duckworth is a man of character in his personal as well as his on-the-field life.  

Roethlisberger wasn't injured. He didn't play because of HS politics until his senior year. Big Ben had offers from Miami, Ohio State and Duke after leading a Division 1 HS to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs for the first time in 16 years. He redshirted his first year at Miami and continued to put on mass while in college. The decision to play at Miami was influenced more by the level Miami's program was in the late 90's and their dedication to grooming him that he couldn't find at Ohio State.

OK, Wes, I stand corrected on his junior year.  He did, however, stick with Miami despite offers from BCS schools, so it's certainly possible that Duckworth would do the same.  

Frequent reader, first time poster. I felt compelled to post on the topic, since I went to Louisville back in the day, and have been to a decent number of Leopards games the past couple of years. 

First, let me say, Duckworth is a huge get for the Cats.  This kid is the real deal. He has the size, arm strength and athletic ability to become a big time college quarterback.  He has speed, but I see him as more of physically bruising runner (Tebow Type) rather than a shifty runner with break away speed, especially after he bulks up at the next level.  

All that being said, he does lack touch with many of his passes and is prone to throwing balls too and too long for his receivers.  Also, people much closer to the program than I am question his work ethic and commitment to the team, but I personally have no idea if there is any truth to those claims.

His only offers are from MAC schools now, but as mentioned earlier, he as hurt for a large chunk of the season last year.  Also, kids from Louisville tend to fly under the radar, combine this with the team's poor season last year and I'm not really too surprised he has no major offers.  However, I think if he stays healthy this year, and has decent production, he will get offers from more than a few Big10/Big East schools.

If I'm reading into this correctly, Ohio is now recruiting players that A) Would immediately play at other MAC schools and B) would've been a godsend pre-Solich era. Any long-term MAC fans have any opinions on this?

I have heard very, very good things about Vick. Anything can happen, but I would be shocked if he was not the starter next year. 

Business_Cat, I do believe we are recruiting at a level unseen before Solich.. I wouldn't go as far as to say they would play immediately at other MAC schools in every case.  I have noticed this year and last in particular we are getting more guys with offers from Toledo and random higher tier MAC school instead of offers from all the lower tier MAC schools.  How this translates on the field remains to be seen.

We liked Vick the first time we watched him practice at his first spring game......just looks polished and smooth.

As far as recruiting we have some good things going for us in no significant order of importance:

*  Solich himself brings some name recognition.

* the promise of the IPF can't hurt.

*  having a great educational program and the world renowned sports management program.

* the pipeline to Nebraska gives us the best players the Huskers pass over.

*  the coaches have contacts all over....especially in Florida and Cally.

* recent success including the Indy bowl will help.

*  current players have connections to recruits thru school affiliations and competition.

* excess TV time has been good.

* the 110 gets the name out on you tube and their travels.

* we have great fans and bobcatattackers.



Just as a funny aside....I was coming out of our local radio shack and walking to my car when an elderly man was helping his wife into their car....she look up and apparently had great eyes.....my tee shirt just had some real small Ohio football stuff on it and she yells at the top of her lungs....."GO BOBCATS"......good stuff.

http://fridaynightohio.com/portal/news/173/Louisville&rsq.../


Done for the year with ACL tear.

Ouch...

Good luck to him wit the rehab. He can recover, though. I'm pretty sure that's the same injury that Mario Dovell had during his Senior year of High School. He ended up redshirting his first year as a result since he was still in rehab.

Very disappointing for him. Trying to looking at a positive (from a bobcat fan). Most likely, a BCS team will NOT be offering him. 

This young man seems to have a lot of upside, get that knee healed and get ready for college ball.

I don't know it he will recover fast enough to play in 2014, but he almost certainly would have redshirted anyway. It is very rare for a true freshman to play at QB. Brandon Jones did play as a freshman, a little, but then redshirted the following year, so it can happen. In any case, I don't think this injury will affect his career at Ohio at all. I agree that I'd like to see another QB in this recruiting class. I was hoping for 2 QB's even before this. Ohio is just too thin at that position for my taste at the moment.