Sports
Seeking Seven Straight
< < Back to seeking-seven-straight2005. That was the last time Miami bested Ohio in the annual Battle of the Bricks. The Bobcats had never won a bowl game, Sports Illustrated had no reason to come to Athens, and Tyler Tettleton was a freshman—in high school.
Oh how things have changed.
It could be argued that Ohio’s recent dominance in the Miami game has made for a lack of intensity between the two schools. But while the Bobcats have outplayed Miami six consecutive times, there’s still no doubt the Battle of the Bricks is a big game.
“The rivalry exists,” said head coach Frank Solich in his weekly media session. “It’s important to Miami, it’s important to Ohio and it’s obviously important to the fans.”
That was evident last season as Tettleton’s three second-half touchdowns led Ohio to a 21-14 win.
When asked to name the first few words that come to mind when they hear “Miami”, the players give varying responses.
“Polo shirts and khakis,” said Gerald Moore, opting for the stereotypical Oxford dress code.
“Battle of the Bricks,” added Donte Foster. “We strongly dislike them.”
But Tettleton takes a slightly different approach.
“I just look at it as another game,” he said dryly. “We’ve got to come ready to play and just keep doing what we’ve been doing these last seven weeks.”
What Ohio’s been doing for seven weeks is the same thing it’s been doing for six years in the Miami series: winning. The ‘Cats are 7-0 and ranked in the BCS Standings for the first time in program history.
But Ohio has lived and will continue to live by the “one game at a time” approach this season.
“Every game is important, regardless of who you are and how you’re doing,” said Solich. “You cannot just go beyond the next game.”
For Ohio, the next game is at 3:30 Saturday against a Miami team that it has beaten six times in a row.
Foster wants to make it seven.
“We’re going to go out there and try to get the win for us, for our fans and for everybody else.”