Sports
Week 7 Football Preview: Ohio looks for consistency on road at Central Michigan
By: Joshua Jacob
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB)—The Ohio Bobcats (3-2, 1-0 MAC) are coming off their bye week and heading to Central Michigan (3-2, 1-0 MAC) for their second conference game.
Ohio’s last game was a conference matchup against Akron, and the Bobcats had a strong game, winning 30-10. The recurring highlight for Ohio has been its defense, but it was even more dominant this week. They had season highs in several categories, with 12 tackles for loss, four sacks, two interceptions, and the first safety of the season.
Head Coach Tim Albin said, “Making somebody one dimensional, particularly with all the RPO, was very challenging. Our guys handled that and were going to build off that because we’re going to be tested. Nothing against Akron, but I told the team, hey, we played well, but it wasn’t our best, and we are going to see better each week.”
The Bobcats’ offense started slowly but eventually found a rhythm, scoring four touchdowns. Akron held Anthony Tyus III and Rickey Hunt Jr. to just 135 yards on 37 attempts, which is extremely out of character for this run-first offense. However, they still won due to Parker Navarro. Navarro picked up the slack by rushing for 127 yards on 13 attempts while completing 12 passes for 204 yards for the first game of the year with two passing touchdowns.
While looking good against Akron, Ohio’s offense has struggled to stay consistent. Even though Navarro was the catalyst for the last game, it wasn’t too long ago that he was benched for throwing three interceptions in the first half against Morgan State. Additionally, Tyus had a stellar 203 yards on 16 attempts in the season opener against Syracuse, but other than his game against Akron, he hasn’t been able to rush for 100 yards in a game while receiving a similar number of carries. Consistency in these players will be crucial, continuing throughout the season and facing strong MAC opponents.
Looking at the other side of the ball, the Central Michigan Chippewas are a very balanced offense with a dynamic dual-threat quarterback.
Albin said, “They are balanced, they got some really good formations, and they do a lot of really good things scheme-wise with the tight ends,” and “The quarterback is a dual threat guy. I mean, he can create, extend, make guys miss, so it will be our biggest challenge up to date as a defense.”
Central Michigan has been consistently good in the red zone, scoring points 19 of the 20 times they found themselves there. They have also been great in the clutch. Two of the three games they have won have been off scores in the last seconds of the game. These qualities are sure to make this one a nail-biter.
The Chippewas’ defense has been solid but has shown more weakness in the run game. Though Tyus and Hunt’s efficiency has dipped, they should still find themselves in a favorable matchup.
The Bobcats are fighting history going into this matchup since they haven’t won a game against Central Michigan on the road since 2011, so a win here would mean a lot for Ohio.
Whatever the outcome, this will be a MAC game with plenty of action. The Bobcats will try to stop the streak of road losses against the Chippewas while Central Michigan tries to maintain their home dominance.