Week 11

Nice job last night...talk to me about Ohio tonight. Really like Bowling Green's defense. Having a hard time taking the public play against a team with what looks like a better defense. Would love to hear your thoughts because you are the MAC daddy.

A few fellas whom I respect are on BG tonight but I like Ohio because Ohio will be the first team that BG faces this season who has an offensive line that can handle BG's defensive front. Ohio is averaging 465 yds total offense and 220 rushing yds/gm which is because of the big fellas up front. When I capped this game, I didn't put too much stock as to what these teams did against common opponents because UMass, for example, nearly upset Ohio in a 37-34 final. If these teams played each other 10 times, Ohio would beat them 10 times. It seems that Ohio has played down to their opponents level at times which includes giving up 31 points to Buffalo in a 38-31 win and losing at Miami 23-20.

However, we have seen Ohio's athleticism all season as they've scored 36 td's and are averaging 38 points/gm to go along with a defense who only giving up a respectable 135 yds/gm on the ground. Defensively, Ohio has shown vulnerability in passing coverage, giving up an average of 250 yds/gm which is primarily due to a young secondary. However, Ohio has kept their opponents 3rd down completion percentage to less than 35% over the last two games which is down from a previous 50% rate. In any case, BG's passing game vs Ohio's defense isn't going to determine the outcome of this game though it may influence the total which is why I lean to over 48 points for this matchup. The influencing factor that determines the outcome of this game will be the strength of Ohio's offensive line against BG's defensive front and I strongly believe Ohio will be effective. Blankenship and Boykin have been solid for Ohio and while splitting carries, Blankenship has still rushed for 1000 yds this season. Tettleton will be one of the more athletic QB's BG has faced as he extends plays and has great mobility which is what will be needed against a heavy pass rushing team like BG. He has a strong arm and he has a high passing efficiency which is why tonight, he will become Ohio's all time passing leader. He needs 80 yds to break the record. Ohio also has an excellent kicking game as Weller is the MAC's second all time leading scorer. The only thing I don't like about this matchup is that it's Ohio's 3rd game in 12 days and BG is coming off a bye. However, I'm a Frank Solich fan and I'm confident he'll have his boys ready to play tonight. Ohio is a healthy team and with the exception of the secondary, they are a relatively deep team.

Great stuff...Obviously when you take a quick glance at it you see that Ohio is playing their 3rd game in 12 days while playing a team coming off a bye week (who made this schedule?). You also see a team in Bowling Green that has fared better against like opponents. If you stop there then almost anyone would lean BG even though Ohio looks like the public play which I am sure is based on their early win over Penn STate and the fact they have the better record. Great info about the Ohio OL and I really like Tettleton. I watched the Miami/Ohio game a couple of weeks ago because I was on Miami OH for a large play. So glad that Ohio got caught in a shit storm early because after the early portions of that game they dominated for the rest of the game for the most part. As far as playing on another short week...they came out pretty flat against EMU last week but eventually pulled away for an easy win and didn't seem to expend a lot of emotion in the game.

Good luck tonight!

Quote Originally Posted by pinballwizard:

Wow, Amd you believe Ohio would go a perfect 10-0 against Bowling Green if they were to go head to head 10 times? Bol tonight.

He was talking Umass not BG