Linebacker Quentin Poling has made an immediate impact for the Bobcats’ defense, despite being just a redshirt freshman
Quentin Poling’s great grandfather, grandfather, father and brother are all named Kenneth.
Poling, the fifth male in the family, wasn’t given the same name as the other four born before him, though. Instead, his parents chose to go a more literal route.
Quentin derives from the Latin word “Quintus” meaning “the fifth.” He said he’s had to explain it many times, but he tends to just go by “Q.”
“Everyone just tells me I spell it funny,” he said.
Regardless of what the redshirt freshman goes by, he was called upon by the Ohio coaches to start the season opener at Kent State and fill in for injured linebacker Ben Russell.
Despite his youth and lack of experience, Poling already has proven himself as a leader of the Bobcats’ defense.
Poling, a Spencerville native whose only collegiate experience has come during the first three weeks, has already recorded 20 tackles, including a team-high three sacks for a loss of 20 yards.
“All I think about is how I have to do my job and everyone else is going to do theirs,” Poling said. “They have confidence in me, and I just need to go out and play and stay calm.”
He hasn’t even played a home game at Peden Stadium but has already received Mid-American Conference East Division Defensive Player of the Week honors after tackling Kentucky players 10 times during the Bobcats’ week-two trip to Lexington, Kentucky.
Although Poling’s presence has been strong thus far, he said it’s been easy to learn the defense alongside his more experienced teammates Jovon Johnson and Russell, who are each redshirt juniors.
The trio studied film over the offseason to better learn the linebacker positions. The film study was crucial for Poling — who made the transition from the outside to being an inside linebacker.
Poling said the change to the inside spot has been natural for him, though. In high school he played in the box, so he’s more comfortable playing middle linebacker than at an outside position, which is what he was recruited to do.
“He’s gradually gotten better from the day he stepped on campus,” linebackers coach Ron Collins said. “Last spring was big for him because he got a lot of reps in the spring time, and you could tell he had a good feel for the inside linebacker position.”
Although the defense struggled from the get-go each of the past two weeks against Kentucky and Marshall, Poling and Johnson eventually helped control the opposing offenses to keep Ohio in contention to attempt a comeback.
“(Jovon’s) been in the battles, so to have him out there is good for Q, and I think the same for Jovon to have Q out there,” Collins said. “(Poling’s) a smart player, he plays hard and he plays fast. And he has a lot of fun out there. That combination is good to have for a linebacker.”
Poling’s intelligence on and off the field is something everyone from Collins and Johnson to coach Frank Solich has pointed out. His more noticeable intangible has been his speed — he ran track in high school — when he’s rushing through the line to pressure the quarterback.
Still, after receiving the MAC weekly defensive honors, Poling recorded just one solo tackle last week against Marshall.
Collins said Poling has a long way to go before he reaches his ceiling, but he strives everyday to get better.
“I never blame him when he messes up, I just try to keep him up and just keep him in good spirits so that he can come back the next play and keep playing as well as he has,” Johnson said.
@chadlindskog
c027410@ohio.edu
