Troop's Takes: Will defense be a Bobcat strength?
By Caleb Troop
Athens NEWS Sports Columnist
April 7, 2008
For many, April is a time to grab the umbrella, start watching baseball, and begin anticipating the upcoming summer. For Ohio Bobcats’ football defensive coordinator Jimmy Burrow, it’s a time to get his unit back on the gridiron for a few team workouts.
The Bobcats only get 15 spring practices. And after giving up 29.9 points per game for the 6-6 ‘Cats last season, Burrow is understandably trying to make the most of every drill.
“We certainly think we are going to be better this year,” said Burrow. “And hopefully we do have a chip on our shoulder because we did not play very well last year.”
Competitions at quarterback and running back will undoubtedly be the most discussed throughout the spring; however, it all starts with the defense. Say what you want about the all the injuries on the defensive unit last fall, the ’Cats just did not get it done.
Ohio returns 10 players who started at least one game last season. Burrow will look to replace middle-linebacker Taj Henley, free-safety Todd Koenig, and defensive linemen Brett Sykes and Landon Cohen.
“At times we played well, but we are looking for consistency and the ability to stop the run. Those are things we did not have last year,” Burrow said.
Indeed, the ’Cats run defense was in the lower half of the league last season. This coming season, matchups against Wyoming’s thunder-and-lightning duo of Wynel Seldon and Devin Moore in week one and Ohio State’s Chris “Beanie” Wells (and three other quality backups) in week two will challenge the unit right away. Seldon and Moore combined for 290 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the Cowboys’ 34-33 win last year at Peden Stadium.
Linebacker Lee Renfro, who has looked good in spring practice thus far, knows he will be one of the key figures in slowing down opposing offenses. He sounds ready to head to Laramie, Wyo. right now.
“We are very, very motivated,” he said. “Last year we gave up over 180 yards a game on the run. That’s way too much. You cannot give up that much and let teams do whatever they want on you.”
So why will this year be different? Why should you believe that one year will make a difference, especially given that six of Ohio’s first eight contests are away from home?
Up front, the additions of interior linemen Ernie Hodge and Corey Moncreif paired with the development of Jacob Williamson — all of whom hover around 300 pounds — should clog up the middle and force tailbacks outside the tackles. Departed seniors Sykes and Cohen were solid, but the two weighed 273 and 274 pounds, respectively.
In the secondary, cornerback Mark Parson is a consistent playmaker, and there’s plenty of depth opposite of him with Julian Posey and Idris Lawrence, among others. If Burrow can find a replacement for Koenig, who led the team with 96 total tackles last season, the secondary could be one of the strong parts of this team.
Renfro, who will again challenge currently injured linebacker Jordan Meyers for a starting spot at weak-side linebacker, is more optimistic about his unit.
“We have simplified the defense right now,” Renfro said. “We really want to make it to where it is more of a reaction thing than a thinking thing as a linebacker corps. Things happen so fast four or five yards from the line of scrimmage.”
Maybe the most appealing factor regarding this defense, according to Burrow, is the number of options all over the field.
“There is a lot of competition, and anytime you can have a lot of guys capable of playing, that is great. No one can just rest on what they did in the past.”
The surplus of able bodies will hopefully allow Ohio to stay fresh during a nearly impossible first month before conference play heats up.
“Anytime you have depth and guys don’t have to take 60 to 70 snaps a game, we can cut down their snaps and that helps towards the end of the year,” Burrow said.
Fans can and should worry about the daunting schedule, the lack of a proven running back, and the inexperience throughout the special-teams unit. But of all the question marks facing this team, the defense maybe is the least concerning right now.
“Last year we didn’t play as well defensively as we wanted to. We didn’t accomplish a lot of things. We gave up a lot of yards, especially in the running game,” Renfro said. “But I’m really looking forward to see how we play this year.”
Caleb Troop is the sports columnist for The Athens NEWS and can be reached at ctroop@TroopSports.com. He co-hosts “The SportsFan” weeknights from 6-7 on 970 WATH-AM in Athens.
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