2008 Ohio Bobcats Football Betting Preview

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NCAA College Football Betting – Previewing the Ohio Bobcats

Frank Solich’s Ohio Bobcats won six games last year for college football betting enthusiasts but might find it tough to do the same again this year. They are transitioning their offense from an I-formation offense to more of a spread-option attack.



The Bobcats have to adequately replace the school’s all-time leading rusher, Kalvin McRae and weather a difficult early schedule.

Offense

With McRae out of the picture, and a bevy of talented quarterbacks and wide receivers, the offense is transitioning to Solich’s patented spread-option attack.

Theo Scott and transfer Boo Jackson will vie for time at the helm and both bring different intangibles to the table. Jackson is the better passer while Scott is the runner, which means the Ohio Bobcats will have to play two quarterbacks to get the type of production that they would probably rather get out of one player. Using two players may make their offense more predictable.

With McRae gone, the Bobcats will probably also use a committee of backs to fill his spot. That group include Chris Garrett, L.J. Flintall, Vince Davidson and Donte Harden.

Much more is expected from the wide receiving group. LaVon Brazzill is expected to breakout after a solid spring and tight end Andrew Mooney has already proven to be one of the best targets on the team.

The offense averaged 29 points per game last year and is quite confident they can do so again this year. With a schematic transition and the loss of McRae, some onlookers are not as convinced.

Defense

To say the Bobcats defense was awful last year would pay them a complement. They allowed 32.5 points per game and were run on like a treadmill allowing 180.6 rushing yards per game.

That might not change so much this year as the strength of the defense is still the back seven.

The Bobcats have two premier starting cornerbacks in Mark Parson and Jullian Posey and a good safety in Michael Mitchell. But the problem is that the defensive line is weak – as it was last year – and even a talented secondary was exposed.

The front line also lost two starting tackles, which is not going to help matters against the run. The lone bright spot is Jameson Hartke, who is a very stout defensive end.

Outlook

The Bobcats offense looks good but it may not manage to output the same amount of points-per-game it produced last year because of formation transition they are going through. They also lost the offensive MVP and school’s leading rusher in Kalvin McRae.

On defense, the problems that surfaced last year, such as the leaks in the rushing defense, don’t appear to be plugged up.

On top of that, the Bobcats also have a rough start to the schedule, which might deflate their sales early. Their first three games are at Wyoming, at Ohio State, home to Central Michigan and at Northwestern. The Bobcats could be 0-4 and out of the picture before the end of September.

The Bobcats and sports betting should be happy if they can get to a bowl game this season.

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