Ohio got hit with the walloping fist of reality on Saturday.
It came in the form of Eastern Michigan, and it came in the form of 24 points allowed in the second half.
Here's three things learned from Saturday's upset loss to the Eagles:
Quinton Maxwell can hang
It'd be an oversight, despite the team's loss, to not mention the play of Maxwell.
He entered the game in the second quarter in place of Greg Windham, at the time thought to be on a series-by-series basis.
But with Maxwell, a redshirt freshman, leading the offense more efficiently than Windham, coach Frank Solich and company made the decision to stay with Maxwell at halftime.
He went 17 of 26 for 188 yards, including one touchdown and one interception.
Solich said it was too early to talk about Maxwell taking over long term, but for now, the biggest takeaway from the loss might be the future player at quarterback isn't the future anymore. He's the present.
The defense needs turnovers
Chad Moore said after the game the defense feeds off turnovers.
So it may not be a surprise to see the defense, while not forcing any turnovers, allowed scores on each of the Eastern Michigan possessions in the second half –– with the exception of the Eagles taking their game ending kneels.
The secondary, which leads the MAC in interceptions with nine, was burned to the tune of 347 yards through the air by Eagles quarterback Brogan Roback.
Roback was the Eagles MVP on Saturday, he went 29-for-39 and one touchdown and one interception.
The defense, which needed stops throughout the third and fourth quarters, was unable to make that one stop or turnover which could have sparked the Ohio offense.
But the turnover never came and neither did the stop.
Kent State is now a must-win
All in-division games in conference play are typically considered "must-win" games.
But for Ohio, a loss against Kent State would severely dampen any shot of competing in a MAC Championship game.
At 4-3 and 2-1 in the MAC, the game against the Golden Flashes becomes possibly a season-saving game. With a win, the Bobcats would keep pace with Akron in the MAC East race.
A loss would plummet the Bobcats to .500 overall and in-conference ahead of a short week before Thursday's game at Toledo on October 27.
Simply, the Bobcats are in danger of letting their season slip away from them, and a loss as the favorite at Kent State might be more than the team can handle.
It's a slippery slope to navigate. A slope the Bobcats must navigate if they want to hit their goal of reaching a MAC Championship game.
ag079513@ohio.edu
