Ohio coach does 'not see a weakness in Kentucky's defense,' Bobcats needed 'basically flawless' game to win

Ohio coach Tim Albin wasn’t shy about the challenge he anticipated when making the trip to Lexington to take on Kentucky. He called his shot earlier in the week, saying his Bobcats were entering the matchup at a major disadvantage, particularly on the defensive side of the football.

In his eyes, the Wildcats are as good as it gets, clearly among the best you’ll find nationally.

“Huge challenge on the road,” he said Monday. “An SEC school, they’re big everywhere and physical. Their defense — I don’t see a weakness. Without breaking them down, I don’t see a weakness in their defense. We’re going to have huge matchup problems.”

How would things unfold for the Bobcats? Well, exactly as expected for the 59-year-old coach now in his fourth season at Ohio.

“His team did very well today. It was a big stage, great crowd, and a beautiful day,” Albin said following the 41-6 loss in Lexington. “To beat them, we would’ve had to play basically flawless. I said this earlier in the week, but I do not see a weakness in Kentucky’s defense, and I stand by that statement.”

Kentucky held Ohio to just 223 total yards with 113 net rushing yards and 110 net passing yards, allowing just 3.5 yards per rush and a 42% completion percentage. The Bobcats converted just three of nine third-down attempts while also losing the turnover battle 2-0, the Wildcats recovering one fumble and returning another interception for a touchdown.

Brad White’s unit only recorded two tackles for loss without a sack, but it didn’t matter. They dominated from start to finish — talented, deep and productive at all three levels.

And Albin knew that going in, struggling to recreate what Kentucky did well in practice throughout the week. Factor in the offense finally finding its footing — especially in the passing game — and that’s how you put together a 35-point loss on the road.

“They are very athletic, and we had trouble adjusting to their speed on both sides of the ball,” he said. “It’s impossible for us to simulate the speed of those guys but I did think we settled in well after the first quarter. We had too many missed tackles on defense but the guy who had the ball in their hands had a lot to do with that. I could sit here and say from this angle or that angle but they’re athletic.

“They did a nice job on some play calls and kept us kind of off balance. We had trouble catching some deep over routes and zone coverages. We have some first downs that we have to get cleaned up.”

They also wanted to minimize touches for Barion Brown on special teams, knowing No. 7 is a ticking time bomb ready to take it to the house on any given touch. Put it simply, there wasn’t a time Ohio felt totally comfortable slowing down Kentucky in any phase of the football game.

“In terms of all three phases, it’s a tough, tough call. You don’t want No. 7 [Barion Brown] touching the ball because that puts big pressure on our kickers,” he added. “Jack [Wilson] and Gianni [Spetic] had a big day today trying to make up for that.”

The loss was what it was, but the Bobcats are hoping to move past it by hitting reset on their way out of Lexington. They got their butts kicked, but they’ve got a full MAC schedule to play and a conference to win.

It’s all you can do when losing in an SEC road game by five touchdowns.

“There is nothing in this game we are going to hang our heads over. We have a locker room that is disappointed. Your hearts hurt when you invest as much as our guys continue to, and they are going to continue to have that hurt, but that’s just part of us,” Albin said. “I stand by the ‘one game at a time’ outlook. That is something that I say frequently. We’re going to correct the things that we can control.

“There are things, whether it’s leverage, keeping the cup, how we catch the ball, and not turning it over we are forging ahead on and going to work to correct. We are going to take a full twenty-four hours but then we look forward to getting back to Athens for homecoming and starting league play. It’s tournament time so every game counts and we want our guys playing our best ball.”

Hopefully Kentucky continues to do the same as it travels to Oxford to take on Ole Miss next weekend.