Lopresti: Unbeaten Ohio U could enter top 25 thinking

• Ohio University is 7-0 for the first time since 1968.
• Ohio defensive end Corey Hasting plays with motivation of a soldier brother shot in Afghanistan.
• Ohio coach Frank Solich is a long way from his heyday at Nebraska, but enjoying his achievement

ATHENS, Ohio – Another Saturday, another victory for unbeaten Ohio University, and 45 minutes after the game, the defensive end had already heard from his role model.

The brother who was shot 10 times in Afghanistan.

"Hell of a nice job Bro. 7-0,'' was Scotty Hasting's text to Corey Hasting, sent from Fort Riley in Kansas, where the recovery goes on.

And so here was Corey Hasting, fresh from the Bobcats' locker room after a 34-28 win against Akron, wearing his brother's Army dog tags that never leave him.

"He's with me all the time,'' Hasting said of his brother. "I write 'For him' on my cleats. Like today, I had a really bad play. I looked down at my cleats and thought, 'I've got to pick it up. This is for Scotty.' ''

Just one of the feel-good stories going at the moment for Ohio. You remember the Bobcats. The team that stole the show back on Sept. 1 when the college football world tuned in to see Penn State get back to playing football. Ohio outscored the Nittany Lions 21-0 in the second half that day in Happy Valley to win 24-14, then promptly disappeared from national notice.

But the Bobcats are still around, 7-0 for the first time since 1968, and on the fringe of being voted into the rankings, which rarely happens for the Mid-American Conference, no matter how many big boys its members upset. The ripples of that Saturday at Penn State still follow Ohio.

"We had a chance to maybe show people the caliber of football we play,'' coach Frank Solich said. "I think that opened up a fair number of people's eyes in terms of what we have here. When we're really clicking, we're pretty good.''

To be honest, that remains the only quality win on Ohio's resume. The other six Bobcat victims own a combined record of 7-30, and four of the Ohio victories have been by a touchdown or less. So there is still much to prove before you could make an unshakable case for the top 25 vote.

"That's not on our radar screen,'' Solich said. "Obviously, if we continue to win, and win by enough numbers and people feel that we've accomplished enough to put us there, we'll probably be there. But right now, we're not there.''

But there are lots of things to like about them. Hasting's story for example.

He still remembers the time and date – April 21, 2011, sitting in class at 11:30 a.m. – when the text came from his mother, Rhonda, asking to call. He texted back that he'd call just after class. No, she answered. Now.

"I knew right away what it was,'' he said Saturday. "When I called, she was crying hysterically. She said, 'Scotty's been shot. All we know is he's in serious condition.' ''

His brother, Army platoon leader, had gone on patrol into a hut in Afghanistan, where an ambush was waiting, and been shot 14 times – although four bullets hit his vest. The other 10 hit arms and legs and shoulders.

The worst day of his life, Corey Hasting says now.

"I went back to my dorm room and just sat there and started thinking. What did I say last to him? Did I tell him I loved him? Was I a good brother?''

But the news got brighter. His brother survived, although a long recovery was ahead. Hasting was there at Walter Reed Medical Center when his brother took his first steps.

He marveled at his brother's ability to cope and go on with life – becoming a father just last spring, one year after he walked into that hut.

Meanwhile, Hasting, who walked on at Ohio, was awarded a scholarship last season. This season, he starts for an unbeaten team. There is a good luck text from his brother before every game, congratulations after. And a brotherly give-and-take whenever Hasting dares mention the aches and pains of football.

"I'll tell him my foot hurts,'' Hasting said. "And he'll say, 'I was shot 10 times.' ''

There is more to Ohio. Quarterback Tyler Tettleton, who grew up in Norman, Okla., not far from where the Sooners roam, threw his 39th and 40th touchdown passes against Akron to become the school's career leader, and he is only a junior.

"I never imagined or dreamed we could be ranked, but that shows the kind of program we've built,'' he said. "Everybody asked me for reasons why I came here. It was the direction they were headed, and what they were about.''

Then there is Solich. What they had here Saturday was the How-Things-Change Bowl.

Solich coaching for Ohio, Terry Bowden for Akron. Once upon a time, Solich took Nebraska into the BCS national championship game against Miami in the 2001 season. Bowden led Auburn to a perfect 11-0 record in 1993.

But neither lived happily ever after. So two men who once worked in the brightest lights of college football ended up together Saturday in the hills of southeastern Ohio. The long and winding road.

This is not the old days at Lincoln for Solich, with stands full of red sweaters rising to the sky. Look out the north end of Peden Stadium, and you get trees. Look out there south end, there is the Hocking River, and traffic curving past on the highway.

But he has found a home here, doing things for eight years the Bobcats never did before. Play in bowl games, to start with. Even won one of them.

"I feel very good for the players that have put us in this position,'' he said. "The players that started with us eight years ago when we were able to take tiny steps, to where we started taking bigger steps, and now we're taking pretty good steps.''

Tougher MAC games are ahead, and we'll find out more if Ohio can stay perfect and deserves a top 25 vacancy. One date certain to be special is the last home game on Nov. 7 against Bowling Green.

Senior Night for Hasting. His brother will be here.