Quinton Maxwell fought with everything he had left just to get up.
With under a minute left, Maxwell had gotten drilled — and had to trudge to the line for one final gasp on fourth down to try and tie the game, sending Ohio to overtime, where a Mid-American Conference Championship Game appearance waited for them. That final play resulted in an interception in the endzone. Maxwell and the team done fighting.
But the Bobcats will have to keep on fighting — their season depends on it.
Ohio wasn't able to clinch the MAC East on Tuesday night and fell to Central Michigan at Kelly/Shorts stadium 27-20.
“We had the matchup we wanted on the play where I got sacked, I just gotta at least feel that guy and try to get it out," Maxwell said. "The last play, I couldn’t take a sack, it was fourth down. Just get it in the endzone and give a guy a chance. Unfortunately Papi (White) fell down, they picked it off. You guys know the rest.”
The Bobcats, playing in their first game after their first bye week, looked sharp on the first drive. Then on fourth down in Chippewas territory, running back Dorian Brown fumbled the ball after already having gained the first down. It would be a theme for the rest of the night.
Ohio (7-4, 5-2 Mid-American Conference) finished the game with three turnovers and a busload of sick stomachs due to missed assignments and lack of execution.
“It was an abomination," coach Frank Solich said of the first half. "We executed very, very poorly, two turnovers. I thought the defense started off well, controlling the ground game, but we kept putting them out there and they started to get things going and get confidence. It was difficult to stop them in a manner that allowed us to win this ball game.”
Maxwell finished 16-of-36 with 208 yards passing, including one touchdown and the game ending interception. He took a beating the entire night, getting up hobbled and slow for a good majority of the game. Maxwell ran the ball 21 times for 56 yards.
“We knew going into this game they were going to give us everything they’ve got, it was their senior night, they’re fighting to get bowl eligible," Maxwell said. "All we had to do was come out and execute, and things would take care of themselves, we didn’t for a half, and it hurt us.”
The Bobcats entered the night with the chance to win the MAC East for the first time since 2011, a feat that would've been completed with time to give injured players proper rest before the MAC Championship Game.
Now, it'll be all hands on deck against Akron. With a win, Ohio still can win the MAC East. A loss, however, means that Miami has the chance to steal it away with a win. Miami, which plays Ball State, has won five in a row.
“We’re gonna have to play much much better than what we did tonight if we expect to get in the MAC Championship game," Solich said. "We’ve gotta bet back to work, have a good week of practice, play much better football.”
Ohio finished with 357 yards of offense, including 149 rushing, but that's no consolation to a team that now has its postseason flashing in front of its eyes.
The Bobcats had 12 days to get ready for a chance to punch their tickets to the MAC Championship Game. Now, they'll have six days to try and figure out how to keep their MAC East Division hopes alive with a win.
“Us losing this game doesn’t put any extra pressure on us for next week, it’s just another ball game," Maxwell said. "Just go in, execute, think of it as another ball game.”
Unfortunately for Maxwell, it isn't just another ball game. It will be the biggest game that any player on the Bobcats roster has ever played in.
