By Greg Langlois

Smart alecks on campus used to find easy prey in the Ohio University football team. One barb always good for a chuckle: "The Ohio University f ootball team hasn't won a championship since the Johnson administration. That's Lyndon, not Andrew."

They didn't play football back in the early Reconstruction days, but Ohio University's team was so bad for so long that jokesters made it sound plausible. During one 10-year stretch, from 1984 to 1994, the Bobcats won 21 games, lost 95 and tied five. In eight of those seasons, the team won two games or fewer.

But while it's true the Bobcats haven't won a Mid-American Conference (MAC) champi onship since the fall of 1968 - 30 years ago - the wise guys on campus have had to find a new target.

Ohio University football is no longer a joke.

Grobe and his wife Holly Photos: John W. Liston

Last year, in their third season under Head Coach Jim Grobe, the 'Cats finished 8-3, good for their first winning season in 15 years, and played f or the MAC East Division title on the last day of the season. Ohio was first in the MAC in rushing offense and scoring defense (fourth and 10th nationally); attracted a record average of 21,198 for five home games in Peden Stadium; and at one point was ranked 30th in national college football polls, the highest since surprise, surprise 1968.

Four years ago, some people feared the demise of Division I-A football at Ohio University. Now folks are talking bowl games. How did the program rise from th e abyss? It took a better work ethic, a new philosophy and a belief system espoused by a new coach with a plan.

When Grobe was hired after the 1994 goose-egg season of 0-11, he says he inherited a team filled with discouragement. "We had a very, very demoralized, splintered group when I first got here," he says. "When you put in all that hard work and effort and get absolutely nothing for your time, then it's hard to stay upbeat and positive."

Grobe, a linebacker coach for 11 years at the Air Force Academy who helped the Falcons win four of seven bowl games in that span, came in and "laid down the law," says Andre Jackson, a starting outside linebacker who played on the 1994 Ohio University squad and finished his career last fall.

"When I first got here, we had an abundance of athletes, but that whole teamwork attitude wasn't there," he says. "He instilled teamwork and discipline."

A top priority was getting bigger and stronger. The athletic department's first full-time stre ngth coach, Ethan Reeves, began putting the players through "some real killer workouts," says offensive guard Mike Solominsky, a senior-to-be. Workouts took place at 6 a.m. Players were evaluated every day to ensure they were keeping pace with their practice schedules. Lollygaggers, no matter how talented, risked losing their starting positions. Accompanying the new work ethic was the emphasis on teamwork. Grobe describes his team as an 80-plus-member family.

Grobe now has his players believing they can beat anyone. The new attitude has been evident not only against MAC competition but schools from stronger conferences as well. In 1996, the 'Cats beat Hawaii in Honolulu for their first nonconference road win since 1983 and shut out then-defending Big 10 champion Northwestern for three quarters in a 28-7 loss. Last year, Ohio beat Maryland of the Atlantic Coast Conference on the road and came within three points of upsetting 20th-ranked Kansas State.

"Grobe's been able to change the men tality to where they think they're winners who can win every Saturday," says Tom Lichtenberg, who compiled an 8-45-2 record as the Bobcats' head coach from 1990 to 1994. "The attitude has changed and I think that's the thing Jim has done the best with so far."

Changing a quarter-century of losing ways isn't easy, Lichtenberg says. He says even the referees expected his team to lose. He credits strong support from President Robert Glidden and Athletic Director Tom Boeh for the team's turnaround.

"The attitude now is, 'If we have a football team, let's support it at the best level of anybody in the Mid-American Conference,'" says Lichtenberg, now teaching at a middle school in Worthington, a Columbus suburb.

In the Grobe era, the university hired a ninth assistant coach, the maximum allowed by the NCAA; more than tripled season ticket sales from the 1994 level; and brought corporate-sponsored tailgate parties, fireworks and even night games to Peden Stadium. Construction begins thi s summer on a new weight-lifting center at the south end of Peden Stadium.

As for Xs and Os, Grobe installed the triple-option offense used successfully at Air Force. Employed by only a handful of schools, the triple option allows the quarterback to hand the ball off to the fullback, pitch it to the halfback or keep it and run. The different possibilities keep opponents guessing. With less overall talent and size, the team needed to do something unique to have an immediate impact, Grobe says.

MAC opponents had trouble adjusting to the triple option. After winning two games in Grobe's first year, the 'Cats finished 6-6 and in third place in the MAC in 1996, earning Grobe MAC Coach of the Year honors. Last year was the breakthrough year.

"We're certainly much further along than anybody dreamed even I dreamed we would be," says Grobe, whose 16-17-1 overall record is good for sixth on the all-time win list at Ohio University. But he cautions, "we have to keep our feet on the ground a nd not start feeling too good about what we did in the past. We tell our players all the time, 'If what you did yesterday looks good to you, then you haven't done anything today.'"

One glaring weakness last season was Ohio's passing game. Grobe and his staff began diversifying the offense in spring practice. He says two consecutive strong recruiting classes have provided enough talent for the 'Cats to pass the football more and enough strength to run the ball straight up the middle. He predicts the triple option will be used only about 50 percent of the time next year, compared with nearly 100 percent in 1997.

In spring practice, 5-foot-7 senior Kareem Wilson, the team's starting quarterback the past two seasons, was moved to running back to make room for two strong-armed quarterbacks senior Mike Orlando and redshirt freshman Tony Macon.

Grobe and company hope their prayers will be answered in 1998.

How healthy the 'Cats are after their first three games will have a major impact on the rest of the 1998 season, Grobe says. Ohio opens the season against North Carolina State of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Wisconsin of the Big Ten and East Carolina (see schedule on page 19).

"I don't think this team feels a lot of pressure," Grobe says. "We haven't arrived. We're still climbing the ladder, but I really think our players feel they are going to win every game they play next year."

Greg Langlois, BSJ '98, begins a 10-week internship in September with The Associated Press bureau in Jerusalem.