After Thursday’s practice, Greg Windham stood at midfield and told the team it needed accountability and motivation moving forward.
In the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon, Windham stood on the sideline as backup quarterback Quinton Maxwell led the Ohio offense in a 27-20 loss at Peden Stadium.
“Obviously if Greg was hitting on all cylinders we would’ve left him in,” coach Frank Solich said. “We indicated we’d bring Quinton in sometime in the first half. That was exactly what we did.”
Windham started the game, but he struggled. Sometimes passes were poorly placed; other times the receivers dropped catchable throws. Within the first three offensive drives, Ohio (4-3, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) punted three times.
When the second quarter began, Maxwell was brought in and quickly ignited the offense to a field goal on his first drive. Interchanging quarterbacks in the second quarter wasn’t a shock — Solich has done so throughout his coaching career at Ohio.
The surprise, though, was keeping Maxwell in the game. Tied 3-3 at halftime, Solich met with quarterback coach Scott Isphording and they agreed to finish the game with Maxwell.
“I’m just trying to be ready when my name is called,” Maxwell said. “Coach tells us every week, we don’t have to try to be Superman; we don’t have to try to do anything extraordinary.”
In only his second career appearance, Maxwell, a redshirt freshman, threw for 188 yards and a touchdown on 17-of-26 passing in three quarters. He also had an interception on a deep pass near the goalline in the second quarter.
“It’s a little weird at first,” he said of coming into and finishing the game. “I like being in, I like being the guy. …There are some nerves but you have to shake them off and just play.”
While he tried to keep the game close, drives ending in anything other than points only widened the gap between the teams. Eastern (5-2, 2-1 MAC) scored on every offensive possession in the second half, apart from taking a knee as the clock expired. Eastern hadn’t won in Athens since 1994.
After the game, Solich, who had never lost to Eastern previously, said it was too early to decide if the quarterback change would be long term.
“I don’t know,” Maxwell said of his future role. “Whatever happens, happens. I’m just gonna try to be ready for whatever my role is.”
A final decision, which likely will lean toward Windham, will be named sometime this week. Solich did acknowledge that Windham, who started the season strong, has struggled the first three weeks of conference play.
Windham went 9-of-17 for 103 yards before being pulled.
“He’s shown flashes of being really good,” Solich said of Windham, a redshirt senior. “But there have been moments when that hasn’t been the case. I think he works to try and battle out of that.”
The newfound-quarterback battle is more of a thunderstorm in a coffee cup than a wild storm of uncertainly, but it’s another worry brewing in Ohio’s struggle to play a complete game on all sides, offensively and defensively.
“You’re after both to be functioning well,” Solich said. “There have been times when both haven’t. There was a little bit of that in this ball game.”
