Another week means another tough test for the Bobcats
By Caleb Troop
September 11, 2008
Two weeks into the 2008 college football season, the ’Cats are 0-2 but have lost both games by a total of just 13 points. Injuries have been one of many storylines thus far, having kept middle linebacker Michael Brown out for consecutive weeks, and having knocked starting quarterback Theo Scott out for most likely the rest of the season after surgery on his left shoulder.
Frank Solich’s program would love a bit of a break in the schedule, but there’s no rest in sight. The two-time defending Mid-American Conference champion Central Michigan Chippewas come to town on Saturday for the home opener, and Solich knows it will be a tough test.
“In my eyes, this is as equal a challenge for us (as the Ohio State game last Saturday),” Solich said. “It’s going to be a major, major challenge. We are going to have to play with the same intensity level, give the same effort, but we are going to have to play better in regards to mistakes and in regards to turnovers.”
The pre-season favorite to win the MAC for the third straight season, the Chippewas (1-1) possess a quick-strike offense led by do-everything junior quarterback Dan LeFevour. Last year, the gunslinger became just the second player in Bowl Subdivision history to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in the same season.
The ’Cats know all about LeFevour’s skills. The last time the two teams met was at the MAC title game in 2006, a 31-10 win for CMU. LeFevour was the MAC Freshman of the Year that season, and against the ’Cats he completed 22 of 30 passes for 314 yards, including four touchdown tosses.
“He’s extremely poised, makes great decisions, and makes them quick,” said Solich. “Georgia’s got one of the better defensive lines in the country, and they only got one sack (last week in the SEC powerhouse’s drubbing of Central Michigan, 56-17).
“It’s a little different style of offense, but they are really efficient in what they do offensively,” Solich continued. “They’ve got big-time receivers, (and) they’ve got a quarterback that ended up being a proven quarterback by the end of his freshman year.”
The Bobcats, though, think they are up to the test. Through two weeks, the Green and White leads the league in total defense, allowing just 271.5 yards per game. On the flip side, however, they have committed seven turnovers in just 120 minutes of football.
After Saturday’s game at home, the Bobcats head on the road for four of their next five games. A difficult start for the ’Cats — one that Solich knows doesn’t allow for a letdown this week against CMU.
“You look at this start; in all my years of coaching, this might be as tough a start to a season that I’ve been involved in,” he said.
Not your typical Sunday afternoon
On Saturday the ’Cats played in “The Horseshoe” in front of 105,022 fans. On Sunday afternoon, a few members of the program played in front of one lucky fan.
Cameron Brown is like most boys in southeast Ohio — he loves football and video games. But that’s where normalcy ends. Brown has had leukemia since he was diagnosed in March of 2003 at the young age of 4. Three relapses and two bone marrow transplants later, the youngster is still fighting.
Teamed with Athletes in Action campus representative and team chaplain Mark Heflin, Ohio players Chris Hall, Brandon Peterson, Lee Renfro, L.J. Flintall and Donovan Fletcher all went to visit Brown at his home in Guysville on Sunday to help lift his spirits before he entered a new stage in his treatment this week.
“Life is a way bigger picture than just football,” Hall said afterward. “I feel blessed just to play football, but you’ve got to realize that there are things so much more important. Devoting 30, 45 minutes to come out and here and spend time with Cameron, it’s nothing.”
Peterson, who leads the team Bible study on Wednesday nights added, “Knowing the impact, it’s something that he’ll remember possibly for a lifetime. And it only took 30 minutes? It’s like, why not? Why not try to change somebody’s life if you have the opportunity to do so? As football players, so many people look up to us. Why not use that pedestal for good and help others?”
A charity golf event will be held at the Ohio University Golf Course this Sunday to help raise money for Brown’s medical expenses not being covered by insurance.
“It’s really kind of inspiring to be able to just go over and see people like Cameron, who we’ve never met before and we don’t really know what is going to go on in his life,” said Renfro. “It just comes down to really just spending time and genuinely caring for people nowadays.”
For more information about the event or to send a donation, contact Jennifer at (740) 590-2860.
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