Frank Solich’s Ohio Team is Poised to Bust the BCS

Solich’s School for Boise

Nebraska castoff Frank Solich, who was fired from the Cornhuskers’ head coaching post in November 2003, has rebuilt once-hapless Ohio University into Boise State circa 2003. Lars Anderson looks at how the unbeaten Bobcats are poised to become the next great BCS buster, even without a blue field or occasional Wednesday night ESPN game (page 50).

In Ohio, Solich found the antithesis of his Nebraska program: No pantheon of pros, no multimillion-dollar budget and no success to speak of. But the lack of notoriety was just what he needed, and his Nebraska method—emphasizing the walk-on program, liberally redshirting and aggressively recruiting players with high GPAs—has lured players to Athens. Now the undefeated Bobcats are looking beyond just a BCS bowl berth to the national title game, and redshirt junior quarterback Tyler Tettleton is ready to lead them there. Tettleton, whose father is former major league catcher Mickey, says, “I’ve been around winning teams all my life. I remember getting sprayed with champagne as a kid with my dad in the Texas locker room after the Rangers clinched their division [in 1998]. I feel like I know what it takes to get the job done.”