Quentin Poling was in his usual chipper mood Wednesday night, wearing a wide grin while still in full pads after Ohio’s 38-10 win over conference favorite Toledo at Peden Stadium.
Poling, a fifth-year linebacker, was asked to reflect on his masterful senior night, which included 12 total tackles, three sacks and a fumble recovery.
“I wanted a big senior night, I did,” he said. “I wanted to crush these guys.”
His voice cracked as he continued, “I didn’t want to leave here with a loss.” Then, like a ton of Athens bricks, the weight of the moment hit him.
Another question came his way, but Poling never gave an answer. He smiled, his face reddened and his eyes welled. He raised his left hand, with his pinky and index fingers up like a rock star, and excused himself from the room.
“He gives football everything he’s got,” coach Frank Solich said with misty eyes. “He loves the game. I think it shows in how he plays, how he prepares, how he leads. To play your last game at home is a very emotional thing for a player.”
Poling is the heart of the Bobcats both for his position in the middle of their defense and for his role as a team captain.
He is the school’s all-time leader in solo tackles and is tied for first in tackles for loss. At 6-feet, 235 pounds, he mixes size and speed in a way that makes him more than a middling middle linebacker.
Poling is also one of the Bobcats’ all-time jokesters, a goofy guy whose Twitter banner photo shows the linebacker group holding hands midair in a “sorority sisters” pose, as he calls it. Despite NFL aspirations, he keeps his on-field mood light and is quick to laugh at his own expense.
“Program’s been here for like 100 years, I think I’ve been here for like 20. So that’s expected,” Poling said last Tuesday after setting the solo tackle record in the game against Miami.
More than anything, Ohio has come to expect Poling’s presence. He’s played in 46 of 49 games the past four seasons, missing three in a row for a knee injury in 2015. That year, in his first game back from injury, he ran an interception back 25 yards against Kent State but then had to be carried off the field by teammates.
Still, he was back in action the following week. Solich was already calling Poling, then just a redshirt sophomore, the “focal point” of the defense.
The Bobcats still have the most important stretch of their season ahead. They travel to Akron on Tuesday with a chance to clinch a berth in the Mid-American Conference title game — the promise of a bowl game is already secure.
They need Poling now, as they did Wednesday and as they have for four years.
“He’s got the whole makeup that you look for,” Solich said. “He’s been able to keep himself on the field and play through injuries that most guys would not be on the field with. I’m just so proud of him and what he’s been able to accomplish through his career here and what he’s meant to this football team.”
