Can Ohio Win The MAC East With Tyler Tettleton?

Per the indispensable (and free!) Twitter account of Athens Messenger reporter Jason Arkley, OHIO has the last key piece of their first-string team in place. Tyler Tettleton was handed the job as Phil Bates was put into more of a Wildcat role, which he was comfortable in last year.

Tettleton redshirted last season but got some sporadic playing time in '09. In seven games he threw 23 passes, completing only nine while getting picked off twice and scoring a rushing touchdown. This really means nothing today since that was two years ago.

Arkley's micro-synopsis of the new starter:

It says nothing here about Froot Loops. If he doesn't have a favorite cereal then this story just won't work.

Like I said in yesterday's preview it was too early to proclaim they can go undefeated without knowing who the QB was going to be. And even if Tettleton is all they say he is, this is effectively his first full-year unless you want to count the time he completed 39 percent of a handful of passes.

But the Bobcats have always competed with decent QBs and nothing more: Theo Scott and Boo Jackson were barely in the top 50 percentile of MAC quarterbacks but their teams always seemed to pull out a winning record. Such is the magic of Frank Solich's success.

And let's not downplay Bates' role either. As the more experienced player under center it's his job to take some of the pressure of Tettleton, getting first downs with his legs, arms, or any other extremity necessary.

Ohio's and Tettleton's first game will be September 3 at New Mexico State.