Game Nine (Ohio) Thoughts - 2026

[catdaddyp]

QB:

CB certainly brings a different element to this offense, and it makes one wonder how many games would have turned out differently this season with him running the show. He wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but his mobility and variety of throwing angles help keep the offense moving. Rather than pushing the ball downfield, CB typically utilized the underneath options, and we also saw the tight ends get more opportunities.

 

There was one play that really stuck out to me where CB connected with Williams, and it looked like Williams may have fumbled at the end of the play. CB quickly got the offense downfield and ran another play before the officials had time to review it. That’s the first time I’ve seen something like that during the Moorhead era. Usually, the offense lines up quickly but then takes its time before the snap, giving the officials ample opportunity to stop play.

 

On the flip side, CB should have given the ball to Gant a few more times than he did. It looked like he wasn’t quite sure what to do on a few of those read options. Whenever in doubt, give it to the back, especially when we have one of the best backs in the conference. The biggest mistake, however, was the interception returned for a touchdown. It looked like he actually had the tight end open sooner, and the receiver also came wide open on that side. CB just happened to throw it perfectly to the wrong spot at the wrong time.

 

RB:

What a day for these guys. As mentioned above, I thought Gant should have had a few more carries than he did. Patrick had some nice runs as well. The only negative I have with these two was a few failed blitz pickups in the passing game.

 

WR:

Mason thrived with CB at quarterback, as he does a really good job of creating space and getting open when the quarterback is scrambling around. Burris also did a nice job of finding open space and sitting down in coverage. I would have liked to see Williams get a one-on-one opportunity when we were down in the red zone, but that’s not really on him. Overall, it was a good outing by the wideouts.

 

TE:

I can’t say enough good things Cravaack and Hook. They really played well and made the most of their opportunities. Between their blocking and ability to get yards after the catch, it was the type of performance I hope we see more of.

 

OL:

I’m sure I sound like a broken record when I say this OL is built to run the ball. When we get away from that for consecutive plays, bad things tend to happen. CB was able to make this unit look a little better in pass protection due to his mobility, but there were still some struggles against a really good pass-rushing defense.

 

DL:

The defense as a whole displayed what they are capable of in the first half, holding Ohio to under 20 yards of total offense. Unfortunately, we got caught in some tough situations in the second half.

 

Durham had one of his better games rushing the passer, and we also had some pressure applied from the interior at times.

 

Williams single handily stopped one play from turning into something. Almost the entire defense was looking to the sideline when the ball was snapped, Williams quickly recognized it, blew up the guard,  and then proceeded to make a tackle for loss. Why he and Kavals haven’t seen more snaps this season is beyond me.

 

LB:

Johnson is having an All-MAC year. He’s on pace to easily surpass 100 total tackles, which would put him in the same conversation as seasons McCoy and Bubba had when they earned their selections. For what it’s worth, PFF has Johnson down for just six missed tackles this season. Nunoo and Curtis played well again, too. For all the struggles this defense has had, linebacker play has been really good. To me, that was the biggest question mark coming into the season.

 

DB:

There were three big blunders that led to touchdowns. Although, who’s to say whether Ohio’s drives wouldn’t have resulted in scores anyway? Regardless, it’s tough to give up points the way we did.

 

The first was by Thomas, who had a “kill” shot on the quarterback during a run and instead dropped his head and missed the tackle. This is college football, and apparently, things like “see what you’re tackling” still need to be drilled.

 

The second, I believe, was also by Thomas. He dove for the interception, came up empty, and the receiver had nothing but green grass in front of him. If defensive backs are going to gamble on making interceptions like that, they’d better be 100% correct. Otherwise, it puts the rest of the defense in a no-win situation.

 

The third was the long touchdown run, basically straight up the gut and untouched. There had to be some type of miscommunication on the play call. I just can’t believe we would line up without another defender in the box in that situation. As I was watching, before the ball was even snapped, I thought to myself, this isn’t going to be good. I had no idea it would turn out to be the worst possible outcome.

 

I know this sounds ridiculous to say, but outside of those three big plays, the defensive backs and the defense as a whole played well. Sadly, those three plays led to 21 points.

 

ST:

The timing of the onside kick made no sense to me. It’s since been cleared up that it was a mistake, but that can’t happen at a critical juncture. Everything else by this unit was pretty good, outside of the one missed long field goal.

 

Final Thoughts:

My only complaint about the game itself is that the staff seemed to call things too conservatively. We had several opportunities to go for it on 4th-and-short, especially with the run game working, but chose to kick field goals instead. We’ll never beat good teams playing like that. That said, I’m proud of how hard this team played. I hope we continue to see that kind of fight as we finish out the season.

 

QB:

Broughton
Roggow

 

RB:

Gant

Patrick

Williams

 

WR:

Williams

 

WR:

Mason

Louis

 

WR:

Burris

 

TE:

Hook

Cravaack

 

LT:

Slayden

Gould

 

LG:

Smith

Fox

 

C

Lyons

 

RG:

Hampton

Falkner

 

RT:

Jones

Gould

 

 

DE:

Durham

Waye

 

DE:

Frazier

Waye

 

DT:

Hull

Williams

 

DT:

Mixon

Kavals

 

LB:

Johnson

Jones

 

LB: 

Nunoo

Curtis

 

NB:

Moss

Branch

 

CB:

Thomas

Newsome

 

CB:

Hobson

Newsome

 

S:

Davis

Flowers

 

S:

Hunter

Flowers

 

 

Top Rated Offense:

RB - Gant

LT - Slayden

WR - Burris

TE - Cravaack

LG - Smith

 

Top Rated Defense:

S - Hunter

CB - Hobson

LB - Johnson

LB - Nunoo

DE - Durham

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by catdaddyp

[exit322]

10 minutes ago, catdaddyp said:

I know this sounds ridiculous to say, but outside of those three big plays, the defensive backs and the defense as a whole played well. Sadly, those three plays led to 21 points.

 

Is it ridiculous when it's 100% the truth?

[MangoZip]

It certainly wasn’t CB’s best game but his ability to run the ball changes the whole dynamic of this offense. It appeared that he was way less than 100% healthy and if he wasn’t running on one leg I think he would have broken more plays for some big gains. Chalk this up as yet another incredibly frustrating loss that could have/should have been a win in the Joe era. How many of those have we had?? 

[72 Roo]

1 hour ago, MangoZip said:

It certainly wasn’t CB’s best game but his ability to run the ball changes the whole dynamic of this offense. It appeared that he was way less than 100% healthy and if he wasn’t running on one leg I think he would have broken more plays for some big gains. Chalk this up as yet another incredibly frustrating loss that could have/should have been a win in the Joe era. How many of those have we had?? 

Unfortunately too many. Those type of losses are now a habit.

[blueandgold]

3 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

RB:

What a day for these guys. As mentioned above, I thought Gant should have had a few more carries than he did. Patrick had some nice runs as well. The only negative I have with these two was a few failed blitz pickups in the passing game.

 

 

OL:

I’m sure I sound like a broken record when I say this OL is built to run the ball. When we get away from that for consecutive plays, bad things tend to happen. CB was able to make this unit look a little better in pass protection due to his mobility, but there were still some struggles against a really good pass-rushing defense.

 

More of Moorhead being stubborn and wanting to call plays he likes and not stick to what our players are best at. Stop being cute and run, run, run the ball, then run some more! We have great backs and we need to control the clock and keep our defense off the field as much as possible.