25 Got Frank Questions.....

What is their body of work this season?

Well, its not too good, featuring only one win at the I-A level, and that was over Kent. As coach mentioned in his presser (see "snakebit") they have lost a lot of close games. Note also that they lost to common opponent Wyoming.

What is their best result this season?

I guess by default it has to be the win over Kent, since that's the only one. They also led OSU in the 4th Quarter at the Shoe, and nearly beat CMU and Northwestern.

What is their worst result this season?

Losing a late lead and dropping the game to Temple.

What is the turnover margin?

Not good. They are last in the MAC in turnovers, with a -9. They have lost 26 turnovers in total, which is 7 more than the next highest team.

What is the injury situation

Not good. They have a number of injuries to starters, including Chris Garrett, one of their big play players. From the Post (their student paper).

Ohio came out of the loss with more injuries. Safety Michael Mitchell, defensive tackle Ernie Hodge and running back Chris Garrett are all questionable.

Vince Davidson, who has been hurt for much of the season, and L.J. Flintall will be No. 1 and 2 on the depth chart if Garrett can’t go. Fullback Jayson White could see reps at running back if needed.

“(White) is a guy that has good strength,” Solich said.

Defensive end Curtis Meyers and quarterback Josh Febus should be ready to play Saturday against Bowling Green.

Quarterback Theo Scott has begun to throw again and Solich didn’t rule out a return at the end of the season.

“I don’t think we do it if the guy is 90 percent,” Solich said. “At this point, it doesn’t make sense to push it.”

Offense:

How is their QB play?

Boo Jackson is their QB, and he's pretty decent. He's a dual threat QB, but not as good a runner as Edelman. His passing efficiency is slightly higher than Sheehan's, due mostly to the fact that he gets 7.5 yards per attempt and Tyler only 6.2 His TD/INT ratio (11/7) and completion % are nothing special, but I don't think he throws the high percentage passes that BG does. He's not their starter, and they are talking about getting Theo Scott back into play before the end of the season, so he can't be somebody that they have total confidence in.

What is their yard per play?

At 5.4 yards per play they are tied for 7th in the MAC and slightly better than BG (5.2). They are also 9th in scoring.

Can they run the ball?

Not like you would think. At 3.6 yards per carry, they are 10th in the MAC.

Do they pass the ball.

They are 8th in the MAC in passing efficiency.

Are they high efficiency or big play?

I am assuming by what I have seen that they do go upfield.

Do they convert on 3rd Down.

They are 10th in the MAC with 38.2%, following the theme of "slightly below average."

Do they score in the red zone?

They are a red zone train wreck. They have failed to score 10 times in 30 trips, and their 5 red zone turnovers is the worst in the conference. They average 3.1 points per red zone trip, which is among the worst I have seen.

Do they protect the quarterback?

Not especially well. With 18 sacks, they are 10th in the MAC.

The conclusion here is clear--and even clearer when you look at their scores. This offense struggles to score.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.

The defense is the stronger part of their team. They are sixth in scoring defense, and tied for third in yards allowed per play--tied, in fact, with BG.

Do they defend the run effectively?

They are tied for 6th in yards per rush (4.4), so they are pretty average here as well.

Can they be passed on?

Their pass defense appears to be among their stronger elements. They are 4th in pass defense efficiency, allow only 57% completions and have 10 pics. They are also fourth in yards per pass attempt allowed.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

Nope. Something had to account for the difference between yards per play and scoring defense, and this is one half of it. They are 12th in 3rd down defense. (My opinion is that the other half is short fields provided by the turnover-prone offense).

Do they defend in the red zone?

At 87% they are 9th in the MAC. Three of their four stops have been missed field goals (ie, luck). 4.5 points per red zone possession is pretty typical.

Do they pressure the QB?

Typical: they have 14 sacks. Six of the MAC teams have 13 or 14 sacks.

Special Teams:

Punting?

They are tenth in punting average and do give up some return yards. They have not kicked one touchback this season.

Punt Return?

Chris Garrett is not returning punts anymore, so they are 8th in the conference.

Placekicking?

They are 9th in the MAC in FG%, but have missed 6 FG's, tied for the most in the conference.

Kickoff?

They are in the middle of the pack here, as well.

Kickoff Return?

They use Garrett here and are 4th in the MAC. (Though he is questionable due to injury). They have two kick return TD's. LJ Flintall is very dangerous, too.

Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.

This is always hard to answer.

• OU has had 10 days to rest and recover and is playing at home.
• BG needs a win and OU has nothing to play for.
• OU beat us last year.
• Are people in Athens wondering what's up with Frank?
  

In general, this is a game we should win if we play well. We should be able to move the ball on them some, and score enough to win if the defense can produce against their injured and anemic offense. If the defense allows more career days, than OU will win this game.

And, it would be nice to take care of the ball, get a couple turnovers, get off the field on 3rd down, move the chains and convert in the red zone.

Not to give away our secrets.