Sports
Brian Smith Week Two Press Conference Notebook
By: Andrew Bowlby
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – On a Monday morning following the opening week of college football, Ohio head coach Brian Smith met the media to discuss the Bobcats week two matchup with West Virginia. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from Smith’s week two press conference.
Reflecting On Rutgers
Everyone is well aware of how Thursday night’s game finished. Ohio fell 34-31 after a strong effort on the road facing the Scarlett Knights. Smith acknowledged post-game that the Bobcats could have and probably should have won their season opener.
However, little things proved to be costly for the Bobcats. A couple of bad snaps turned into points for Rutgers. Flags held the offense back at times, and overall, the small details were what cost the Bobcats a week one win.
“You can’t snap the ball on the ground, that was very unfortunate. We talked about the little things,” Smith said. “There was definitely some detail-oriented things within our players that were addressed and should be fixed.”
As whole, however, Smith noted that at seemingly every position, the group got better as the game progressed.
“It’s a group that’s come together fairly well,” Smith said on his offensive line. “I was happy with how they played. They embrace what we want to be as a team, as an offense, which is a tough, hard-nosed group.”
Defensive Growth
Another big takeaway from the Rutgers game was the steady growth the Ohio defense showed. By no means did the first half performance meet the expectations of the Bobcats coaching staff. Ohio gave up 31 points, 252 yards and 8.7 yards per play. In the second half those numbers shrunk to three, 147 and 4.9 respectively.
“I think a lot of them progressed a lot throughout the game,” Smith said on Ohio’s defensive front. “Especially the two starting linebackers Michael Mack and Jack Fries. When you look at how they played in the first half and then how they continued to play in the second half, I think they grew a lot throughout the game.”
Smith also said that with the amount of inexperience on the defense, he expects a big jump from game one to game two.
Scouting West Virginia
Onto the new challenge, the Bobcats home opener. It’s become nationally recognized at how good Ohio is on its home turf. Over the past three seasons the Bobcats are 17-1 on Frank Solich Field only losing to Miami back in 2023. That also includes a 6-0 mark against non-conference opponents and a win over another Power 4 school in Iowa State (2023).
For the incoming Mountaineers, their season began with a home matchup against Robert Morris. Although things started slow and West Virginia only led 10-3 at the break, the game was opened up in the second half and the Mountaineers went on to win 45-3.
“Once they kind of settled down and really got things rolling, I think you saw what their potential is,” Smith said.
And a slow start could’ve been predicted with what the WVU roster looks like this year. It’s a program that brought in an astonishing 51 transfers (second most only to Purdue with 52). Those 51 players bring along with them over 460 starts in college football and almost 33,000 total snaps.
The group is under the direction of first-year head coach Rich Rodriguez. He was set to coach Jacksonville State in the Cure Bowl against Ohio last season but took the job at WVU before the game took place.
Smith says that Ohio is looking at numerous sources to determine what they will line up against Saturday.
“There’s a lot of different ways to evaluate and try to gather information to determine what you might see,” Smith said.
Just as the Bobcats showed in week one, WVU also sent a handful of players out as they figure out who will play later in the season. The Mountaineers had eight players record at least two carries and over 20 rushing yards. There were also seven different receivers who caught a pass in the week one victory.
But the biggest threat that West Virginia could pose is with their tempo.
“I think some of the tempo stuff on offense is going to be challenging,” Smith said. “Offensively for us, they’re going to give you a lot of different looks. There’s a lot that they give you that you’ve got to handle.”
Ohio’s Receiving Group
When the Bobcats saw Coleman Owen depart the program after his outstanding 2024 season, there were some questions on who would step up in the receiving core. Many of those questions were answered against Rutgers.
Chase Hendricks caught nine passes for 115 yards, both going down as career highs. Ohio also saw increased production from Max Rodarte and Eian Pugh who each hauled in a couple of passes.
“Moving Chase into the slot was great for him. It fit his style of play really well,” Smith said. “The thing Chase does really well is he can make plays with the ball after the catch. I think he’s really grown as he’s moved inside and has a better understanding of the offense fully now.”
And then of course the tight ends.
Probably the most unexpected part of week one was the success of the tight ends. Jake Bruno and Mason Williams combined to catch all three Bobcats passing touchdowns.
“I like how hard they play, they’re tough, physical kids,” Smith said. “I was extremely happy for Bruno, because he’s a tough hard-working kid. Didn’t get a whole lot of opportunities last year to get a ton of catches and to get two touchdowns in the first game, I was excited for him.”
Week Two Matchup Info
Ohio and West Virginia will meet Saturday at Peden Stadium. It will be the Bobcats home opener, and the expectation is the stands will be full.
“It should be an electric experience,” Smith said. “We’re expecting it to be the largest capacity that we’ve had in the stadium.”
It will also be the first time that Ohio has hosted a Power 4 school since Iowa State in 2023 and the first time the Bobcats have welcomed WVU to Athens since 1949.
The game kicks off at 4 p.m. and will be aired on ESPNU.