Ohio head coach Frank Solich ruled out red-shirt quarterback Derrius Vick for Saturday’s game against Eastern. The Bobcats will also have a new starting running back in freshman A.J. Ouellette.

Vick suffered an injury to his right knee in the Bobcats’ 36-24 win over Idaho in the second quarter that forced the quarterback to miss the rest of the game.

“This injury will not make him available for this game and we’ll see from a week-by-week basis,” Solich said. “We did have an MRI and so we’re looking for him being out at least this week, maybe more.”

Before being injured against the Vandals, Vick rushed for 84 yards on four carries, including a 54-yard run that helped set up an Ohio touchdown. Vick was also 4-of-6 for 68 yards and had a passing touchdown.

In four games, Vick has four passing touchdowns and one interception, while completing 40-of-65 passes for 530 yards. He has also rushed for 193 yards, averaging 7.7 yards per carry.

Luckily for Solich, the quarterback starting against the Panthers on Saturday has experience playing this season.

Similar to Eastern head coach Kim Dameron’s philosophy of having two quarterbacks prepared to play at any time; Solich has had Vick and red-shirt JD Sprague sharing time at the quarterback position.

Just like Dameron received criticism early in the season for having two quarterbacks splitting time, Solich did as well, but like Dameron he also shrugged it off.

“There was never any questioning in our mind about that being the right decision to try and get both guys as much experience as possible,” Solich said.

Sprague has played in three games for Ohio, throwing one touchdown pass and no interceptions. Against Idaho, he was 8-of-13 for 165 yards. The red-shirt sophomore also had 30 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.

Overall, Sprague is 25-of-46 for 344 yard with 56 rushing yards.

The only difference for Sprague this week against Eastern is going to be being ready to play right after the opening kick off.

“The thing now is you have to be ready right at the start,” he said to The Athens Messenger. “You know you’re getting that first snap.”

New starter at running back

Freshman running back A.J. Ouellette joined Ohio as a walk-on, but Solich soon realized that he was much more talented not to be a scholarship player.

“I’ve said this several times  – he was a walk-on that was overlooked as a scholarship player and he should not have been,” Solich said. “We recognized that immediately once he was on campus, performing for us. We put him on scholarship right away and he’s been a great addition to our team.”

Following Ohio’s practice on Monday, Solich said that Ouellette would be the new starting running back for the Bobcats’ home game against the Panthers.

The freshman has been Ohio’s most productive running back, rushing for 201 yards, scoring two rushing touchdowns and averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Ouellette is replacing junior Daz Patterson.

Through four games, Patterson has averaged 3.5 yards per carry, with no touchdowns. He has also lost three fumbles, while Ouellette has zero with only four less carries than Patterson.

“Daz has done some great things for us and you don’t just toss him aside,” Solich said. “He just needs to take better care of the ball. No one feels worse than he does about it.”

In Ohio’s previous game against Idaho, Ouellette rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns. He is the first Bobcat running back to break the 100-yard rush mark this season.

“He does look like a long-term guy,” Solich said. “He’s performed at the level that we saw in that game since he’s been with us coming through fall camp. Every opportunity he’s gotten he’s shown to be an explosive back.”

 Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or asoto2@eiu.edu.