Monday started a new week for college football teams all across the country. Teams turn the page on week one, and begin preparation for week two. Pitt’s challenge this week will be to flush the memories of a 30-14 loss to Virginia and not let it linger when it welcomes Ohio to town on Saturday for an 11:00 a.m. kickoff.

Ohio enters the game with a 1-0 record after dispatching FCS Rhode Island 41-20 in its season opener on Saturday. The Bobcats are guided by Frank Solich, as he just began his 15th season in Athens.

Solich was at one time the head coach at Nebraska prior to Ohio. The Johnstown, Pa native guided the Cornhuskers to three top-10 finishes in his six years in Lincoln. His 1999 team posted a 12-1 record, a win in the Fiesta Bowl, and a No. 3 finish in the AP Poll. In 2003, Nebraska opted to fire Solich in a controversial move after his team posted a 9-3 record.

Like many members of the coaching fraternity, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi has a ton of respect for the Ohio coach and did not like how that played out even after all these years later.

“Frank Solich is a legend,” he said during his Monday press conference. “He's a legend, from his years back at Nebraska. Probably one of the biggest mistakes in Nebraska history is letting Frank Solich go.”

In his time at Ohio, Solich has taken the Bobcats to 10 bowl games, with five seasons of nine wins or more during his tenure. The 2019 team has high expectations. Ohio was picked to win the MAC East prior to this season.

Ohio’s offense starts with senior quarterback Nathan Rourke. He has been the Bobcats’ starter in each of the past two seasons and has 42 career passing touchdowns along with 37 scores on the ground.

"Their offense starts with Nathan Rourke, phenomenal football player,” Narduzzi said. “I think he completed 73% of his passes last week against Rhode Island. He's accurate. He's smart. He makes good decisions. I like what I see out of him, and he can run it, too. He's nifty and can run. They'll run a lot of quarterback keepers and they'll run some option and option pass with them.”

In last week’s opener, Rourke went 16-22 for 188 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a team-high 75 and a score.

In Pitt’s season opener, the Panthers faced another mobile quarterback in Bryce Perkins. The Virginia signal caller kept some plays alive with his feet, and Narduzzi notes the two play similarly.

“Yeah, they do similar things,” he said. “There's a lot of similarities. Yeah, but that's life in college football. Everybody is spread it out, quarterback zone read keeps. Nathan loves to run the zone read, especially out of three-by-ones into the boundary. He's a good football player.”

The Ohio game certainly looms large for the Pitt football team. With a season opening loss and games against Penn State and UCF on the horizon, a win here is imperative. Narduzzi downplayed the notion that this is a trap game more so than any other game on the schedule.

“I worry about every game being a trap game, every game is a trap game,” Narduzzi said. “Virginia was a trap game, an opener like that. We've just got to be ready to go. We're focused on one team, as you guys know, and Ohio U., if you put the tape on, is good enough to whoop your tail. They're well-coached. They've been there for a long time, and he's been there, I think, 15th season. He's got a system in, he's got his kids there. They're sound. They don't do too much, but they're very good at what they do. It's a trap game. They're all trap games. Every Saturday is a trap game.”