You\u2019ll often hear coaches say that the most improvement a team will show all season is the jump between weeks one and two. No program in the country has defined that adage more recently than the Ohio Bobcats.<\/p>\n
Last weekend\u2019s 49-21 defeat to the Nebraska Cornhuskers is the fourth straight time Ohio has lost its season-opening game. But after every loss, the Bobcats have bounced back with a victory.<\/p>\n
In all four of their most recent seasons, Ohio has captured a week two victory to make up for their season-opening defeats. Last year\u2019s 17-10 win over West Virginia is the most recent of those wins, with a record-setting crowd inside Peden Stadium for that one.<\/p>\n
John Hauser has been on the Ohio sideline for all four wins, and he\u2019ll be looking to extend that streak while also capturing his first official victory as the team\u2019s head coach when the Bobcats welcome Jacksonville State to town on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought last week we got a little bit away from that one play at a time mentality,\u201d Hauser said in his media availability earlier this week. \u201cWe want to win at home. That\u2019s definitely our mindset, but we\u2019re going to be more worried about execution play-to-play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s matchup against Jacksonville State will provide a high-level test between two programs that have been uber-consistent in recent seasons.<\/p>\n
Ohio has won 40 games across its past four seasons, while their opponent has won 27 games since making the jump to the FBS level in 2023. Both have also won conference championships in the past two seasons.<\/p>\n
The Gamecocks will enter Athens this weekend having already played two games this season. They blasted FCS foe Eastern Kentucky for a 49-7 home win last week, but struggled mightily in a 33-7 loss at North Dakota State in a week zero matchup.<\/p>\n
While having the tape on both games is a positive for Hauser and the rest of the Bobcat staff, he didn\u2019t shy away from the danger Jacksonville State\u2019s offense threatens.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the tale of two weeks. I think that first week they maybe didn\u2019t execute as well, drops that just weren\u2019t in character,\u201d he said when talking about his evaluation of the Gamecocks. \u201cBut they\u2019ve got a shot every week to light up the scoreboard with what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first-year head coach stressed the importance of being sound defensively at every position, while also giving credit to Gamecock quarterback Caden Creel and wideout Deondre Johnson.<\/p>\n
Creel, a dangerous dual-threat who racked up over 1,000 rushing yards last season, threw for 327 yards and five touchdowns in last week\u2019s 42-point win. Johnson, a gigantic target at 6-foot-8, poses a serious threat opposite the speedy Jamill Williams, who ended last week\u2019s game with 144 yards and four touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Regardless of Jacksonville State\u2019s offensive talent, Hauser knows his unit will have to clean things up on the back end after some tackling issues in the loss to Nebraska.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of our critical plays were missing tackles on our leverage side. That can\u2019t happen, ever,\u201d he said when discussing the tackle problems. \u201cI can\u2019t emphasize it any more than I\u2019m going to. Our guys know it. We\u2019re gonna miss some tackles, but we have to make up for it by running to the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacksonville State could enter Saturday\u2019s game without running back Jalen Likely, who was banged up in last week\u2019s victory. His absence would make life a little easier for Ohio\u2019s defensive front.<\/p>\n
On the flip side, Ohio\u2019s offense will attempt to take another step forward after a solid opening showing in Lincoln on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Nick Poulos showed plenty of flashes in his first action as the team\u2019s full-time starter, throwing for 164 yards, rushing for 70 and adding two total touchdowns. He showcased serious chemistry with wideout Riley Neer, who caught six balls for 104 yards and the opening score.<\/p>\n
The Bobcats struggled, however, in the running game. Despite usually being the team\u2019s primary offensive weapon, Ohio was largely bottled up on the ground outside of a few key scrambles by Poulos.<\/p>\n
Some of that can likely be attributed to a completely new offensive line already facing injury issues and a power conference opponent. But Hauser knows his group needs to improve the rushing attack on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s what we want to do. We\u2019ve got to establish the run,\u201d he emphasized. \u201cNick\u2019s a good threat to pull it, which is nice to have, but it\u2019s going to be a point of emphasis this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bobcats have a nice one-two punch in the form of Duncan Brune and Victor Rosa, with Hauser also floating the idea of reserve options Irving Brown and Mike Taylor Jr. getting a few snaps.<\/p>\n
That group will likely have a slightly easier road this week against a Gamecock defensive front that\u2019s not only banged up, but has shown some vulnerabilities against the run.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville State has allowed an average of 202 yards on the ground in their first two games, and will be without star linebacker Mac Sanders, who is out for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s game provides the Bobcats both a bounce-back opportunity and another chance to extend their 13-game home win streak at Peden Stadium.<\/p>\n
That streak ranks second nationally, trailing Indiana\u2019s 19-game streak for the longest FBS streak in the country. Ohio is also 23-1 at home since the field was named after legendary head coach Frank Solich.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome support us,\u201d Hauser said in a message to the fans earlier this week. \u201cWe\u2019re grateful for the town of Athens, the students and everyone who comes to pack Peden and give our guys an advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big part of our winning tradition here. It\u2019s a great atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s contest will be just the second meeting all-time between the Bobcats and the Gamecocks. The two met in the Cure Bowl in December 2024, and Ohio won that game 30-27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You\u2019ll often hear coaches say that the most improvement a team will show all season is the jump…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9126,58644,58646,116,118,117,158200,10365,58648,57529,57524,23337,158199,6759],"class_list":["post-396975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-american-football","tag-college-football-conference-seasons","tag-gridiron-football","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jacksonville-state-gamecocks-football","tag-national-football-league","tag-ncaa-division-i-fbs-football-teams","tag-nfl-seasons","tag-nfl-teams","tag-ohio-bobcats","tag-ohio-bobcats-football","tag-south-carolina-gamecocks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}