For the first time all season, the Falcon football team will face a 1,000-yard rusher. Don’t count head coach Urban Meyer among the folks who are excited about it.
Chad Brinker, the Bobcats’ senior running back who has returned in full stride this year after brain surgery last year, has amassed 536 yards thus far in 2002 in five Bobcat games.
Partnered with quarterback Dontrell Jackson (who has 370 yards on the ground) in OU’s wishbone offense, you have a concerned Meyer.
“Ohio U. is a very good football team,” Meyer said yesterday in his weekly address to the media. “Their offense is strictly option now, and now that their quarterback has got going, he’s a major concern. … Our defensive coaches think Chad Brinker is the number one tailback in the conference; he’s tough, he’s rough, and we hear that he’s a 10.7 meter 100-yard dash. … He’s a very good player.”
Not only is the Bobcats’ offense confident, but their entire team is as well, after defeating Buffalo 34-32 Saturday at Peden Stadium for their first win of the season. The Bobcats had lost four straight games to open the season, and 14 of their last 15 under second-year head coach Brian Knorr.
Now, though, the Bobcats have major confidence, something Meyer is concerned about.
“it’s something that went on here [in BG],” Meyer said. “The taste of winning is so much different than the taste of losing. It’s a big concern the way they won it, watching their sideline, seeing the energy. …”
BG, on the other hand, had its second bye week of the short season this week, taking a week off after last Saturday’s 39-16 win over Kansas. The victory was the Falcons’ second straight win over a Big XII opponent, having beaten Missouri 51-28 a week earlier.
This week, the Falcons are very concerned with the amount of possessions they will get. Yes, their offense has been explosive thus far, but if Brinker and Jackson keep the Falcon defense on the field for long spells, there could be problems.
“The value of a possession is critical in a game like this,” Meyer said. “Against an offense like this, you might only get nine or ten possessions in a game. Last year, our offense ran 75 plays, and we only defended 46. This year, the number of possessions will be the key to the game.”
Having said that, the backup Falcon defenders may be the key to the game. If the Bobcat offense is able to sustain drives and keep BG’s offense on the field, and the first string becomes fatigued, those second-string players will need to step in. Still, though, Meyer will stick with his three-down-linemen defensive set, due to the lack of depth on that defensive line. Five Falcon defensive backs will still be on the field.
“When they have numerous long drives, depth is an issue; plus, with this offense, they will cut and chop you and injuries become an issue,” Meyer said. “… The lack of depth on the defensive line is the hand we are dealt. We are committed to three defensive linemen, and we will continue to play three at defensive line.”
