What Ohio Head Coach Brian Smith Said About West Virginia and the Expected Split Crowd

The Bobcats' head coach discussed this week's game against the Mountaineers.

Aug 28, 2025; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Ohio Bobcats head coach Brian Smith reacts during the first half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at SHI Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Fresh off a close 34-31 loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, the Ohio Bobcats are eager to get back at it with another opportunity against a Power Four opponent.

Head coach Brian Smith met with the media earlier this week to discuss this week's game with West Virginia. Here's everything he said about the Mountaineers.

Evaluation of WVU vs. Robert Morris

“There was turnover issues that they had. That’s things that tend to happen in a first game. Once they kind of settled down and really get things rolling, I think you saw what their potential is. Rich Rod is a very good coach. They’re going to play fast on offense. They’re going to play with a lot of tempo. He coaches his teams hard, and they’re typically going to be physical. They’re going to live on running the football. I appreciate the brand that he represents.”

Rutgers showed tempo, are there similarities to WVU

“I would say West Virginia is going to play at a much faster tempo than Rutgers did, for sure. I think that’s more of what their culture is and who they are and what the coach wants to be. So, there’s more prep in that this week in terms of how we handle tempo, getting our calls, and getting lined up faster and things like that.”

If it’s hard to evaluate WVU with so many transfers

“For personnel, it does. It’s interesting when you’re looking at so many different players from so many places. There’s a lot that you’re evaluating off of that first game. The coordinator (Zac Alley) was not with him last year at Jacksonville State, so they ran similar schemes/concepts, so you’re looking at stuff from Oklahoma, stuff from Jacksonville State. There’s a lot of ways to evaluate and gather information to determine what you might see.”

The energy he expects from the crowd on Saturday

“It should be an electric experience. We were talking about that with the players and how exciting it should be for them. I know we’re expecting it to be the largest capacity that we’ve had in the stadium. It’ll be unique because there will be a good group from Morgantown. It should be very exciting. I think it’s a great time for our program, coming off a championship year, to have an opportunity to play in a game like this and that type of atmosphere at home. It’s awesome.”

Biggest challenge WVU poses

“I think some of the tempo stuff on offense is going to be challenging. Offensively for us, they’re very multiple. They’re going to give you a lot of different looks, so just being able to compartmentalize what all those things are — coverages, pressures, fronts. They’re going to move the front, stem, so there’s a lot that they give you that you got to handle at the line of scrimmage.”

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