MAC Notes: Bobcats’ coach not  taking RedHawks lightly

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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer 1:32 AM Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Ohio University coach Frank Solich feels for the players who will be on the opposite sideline at Peden Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17.

The Miami RedHawks, he said, are a team “that was handed a very tough deal in terms of their schedule.”

Miami’s game at Ohio will be its sixth contest away from Yager Stadium in seven weeks.

“I know they have one of the more difficult schedules up to this point of any Mid-American Conference team,” Solich said Monday, Oct. 12. “They’ve played two top-10 teams (No. 5 Boise State and No. 8 Cincinnati). Nobody else in the MAC has that type of a schedule.”

That’s why he doesn’t seem to take the RedHawks’ 0-6 record too seriously.

“They’re a physically strong football team,” he said.

Fluttering Flashes

Kent State coach Doug Martin is concerned about the ability of his team to bounce back after last week’s shattering 36-35 loss at home to Bowling Green.

The Golden Flashes had led 35-23 late in the fourth quarter, but a 45-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Sheehan to Freddie Barnes pulled the Falcons close, and Sheehan scored the game-winning touchdown on a 3-yard draw with 5 seconds remaining.

Sheehan passed for 505 yards, the most ever against a KSU team, and Barnes’ 22 receptions (for 278 yards and three touchdowns) nearly broke the NCAA record.

“That’s the biggest issue for us, can we overcome what we went through?” Martin said. “We can’t let that game defeat us twice.

“We expended a great effort there Saturday and really played hard, played physical, played with a lot of emotion. Typically in the past, honestly, our guys have not handled that well.”

A team on a roll

Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit has no illusions about the task in front of his Broncos this week when they play host to the Central Michigan Chippewas, who have been the class of the MAC so far with a 5-1 record, 3-0 in the conference.

“They’re playing at a high level ... better than anyone in this league,” Cubit said of CMU.

“It’ll be a big, big challenge,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of great players, a great tradition. They’ve got a lot of things going for them.”

It’s been a roller-coaster ride for the Broncos, who were picked to finish second in the MAC West behind Central. They were drubbed by Northern Illinois 38-3 two weeks ago, but beat Toledo 58-26 last week.

Contact this reporter at  (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.

Frank Solich

Ohio coach

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