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MAC notebook
Bobcats feeling better after win

Toledo kicker sets record with 23 straight field goals. BSU honors injured player

By Tom Gaffney
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Wednesday, Oct 01, 2008

Ohio University coach Frank Solich was surprised by the reaction of his players after a 51-31 home victory over VMI last Saturday that came after four early losses.

''They came into the locker room after the game, and they were down. There was no hollering, no celebrating,'' Solich said. ''We played some really good football teams, and we've got nothing to be embarrassed about.

''They wanted to play a perfect football game against VMI, and that didn't get done. But we did play well and we won.''

So Solich and his staff quickly changed the mood in the locker room.

''We tried to pick them up as coaches,'' Solich said. ''We sang the fight song. We got them jumping around and feeling pretty good about the win. If you can't feel good about the wins, it's a pretty tough profession to be in.''

The Bobcats' four losses came at Wyoming (21-20), at Ohio State (26-14), against Central Michigan (31-28) and at Northwestern (16-8).

 

Against VMI (2-2), the Bobcats had trouble with the visitors' wishbone offense and trailed 17-14 after one quarter and led only 31-24 at the half.

OU held a 20-7 edge in the second half to beat VMI, a member of the Big South Conference and the Football Championship Subdivision.

''You don't see it every often,'' Solich said about the wishbone. ''You can't replicate the speed of the wishbone in practice. It took us longer to adjust to it than I had hoped. Those guys ran it every, very well.''

OU finished with 575 total yards, the fifth most in school history. The 51 points was the most since 2002, when the Bobcats defeated Kent State 50-0.

Junior quarterback Boo Jackson, who has taken over for the injured Theo Scott, completed 16-of-23 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman tailback Donte Harden ran 20 times for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

In other MAC developments:

Bowling Green — The Falcons, who are the favorites in the East Division of the MAC, traveled to Laramie, Wyo., and beat Wyoming 45-16 last Saturday. Quarterback Tyler Sheehan completed 22-of-35 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. Bowling Green is 2-2 after beating Pittsburgh (27-17), and losing to Minnesota (42-17) and Boise State (20-7). ''Our kids all know we had a chance to win all four of those games. In the losses, we were in those games in the fourth quarter,'' said coach Gregg Brandon, whose team's eight remaining games are in the MAC.

Central Michigan — The Chippewas, who are attempting to win their third consecutive MAC title, have struggled in opening with a 3-2 record. Last Saturday at home against Buffalo, CMU survived to win 27-25 when a 46-yard field goal by the Bulls' A. J. Principi hit the right upright on the final play. Coach Butch Jones welcomed having a bye this week. ''We have got to get healthy . . . and we are going back to fundamentals. It's going to be about us getting better as a football team. We need to improve in all areas,'' Jones said. ''Our kids have been in some physical football games, so this off week comes at the right time.''

 

Ball State — The Cardinals will honor receiver Dante Love in various ways the rest of the season. Love suffered a spinal injury against Indiana on Sept 20, and his playing career is over. Against Kent State last Saturday, the players wore stickers on their helmets with his No. 86 on them. They also wore red warm-up shirts before the game with the number. In addition, one player will be named honorary captain on his behalf in every remaining game.

Toledo — Junior Alex Steigerwald, a Benedictine High School graduate, has made 23 consecutive field goals to set a MAC record. He set the record with one against Fresno State on Sept. 20 and added three more last Saturday against Florida International. Steigerwald made his last 15 attempts in 2007 and has eight in a row in 2008. The previous record was 19 by the Rockets' Jason Robbins in 2004-05.

Temple — The Owls defeated Army 35-7 in their opener but have now lost four in a row. Two of the losses were at home, and Temple did not score a touchdown in either one. Those defeats were to Connecticut (12-9) on Sept. 6 and Western Michigan (7-3) last Saturday.

 

Tom Gaffney can be reached at tgaffney@thebeaconjournal.com.

 

Ohio University coach Frank Solich was surprised by the reaction of his players after a 51-31 home victory over VMI last Saturday that came after four early losses.

Get the full article here.


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