Javon Hagan stared into the eyes of Kent State quarterback Dustin Crum.
The redshirt senior safety was nearly 20 yards away, but Hagan kept telling himself the same thing that he had repeated in his mind throughout the game.
“Make a play.”
Crum snapped the ball and looked to his left toward the Ohio sideline. His target, wide receiver Isaiah McKoy, managed to slip behind all of the Bobcats’ defensive backs and was wide open.
Crum saw McKoy in space and heaved a deep pass. It looked as if Kent was going to score and tie the game up at 38.
Only it didn’t.
Hagan, in his spot as the lone high safety in man coverage, broke toward McKoy once the ball left Crum’s hand. He stretched as far as he could and made the one-handed deflection that forced Kent into a three-and-out.
As Hagan made his way toward the crazed sideline, coach Frank Solich gave him a pat on the back. Moments later, Hagan turned around and watched Ohio score its final touchdown to seal the game in its 45-38 win.
“It means a lot to finally get the job done,” Hagan said. “When there’s moments like that, you kind of just blackout in that ‘make a play’ deal.”
The Bobcats’ defense made the key plays against the Golden Flashes, but it struggled to get the job done throughout the season.
It blew an 11-point halftime lead to Northern Illinois on Oct. 12. It has missed plenty of tackles and has allowed too many big plays, and yet, it turned in a performance good enough to secure the win against the Flashes.
Hagan’s pass break-up was the biggest play from the defense. Among the highlights, however, was Kai Caesar’s sack on Crum during second-and-10 during Kent’s last drive that shaved more time off the clock. Austin Conrad also sacked Crum on the Flashes’ first play from its own 10-yard line that ended the third quarter and led to a three-and-out.
While it was far from a perfect performance, it was what the Bobcats defense needed.
“I don’t think we’re where we want to be,” Solich said. “I think we did some things in the second half that we had not really been doing in the few games early on. I see that as progress for our defense, but we’ve got work to do.”
Solich is right — Ohio still has work to do. In a game that featured over 1,000 total yards of offense, 476 belonged to the Flashes. Crum’s dual-threat capabilities showed with his four passing touchdowns and 358 yards of total offense.
The Bobcats’ injuries throughout the lineup also forced plenty of new and inexperienced faces to step up and make plays. Redshirt freshman Keye Thompson stepped in for Jared Dorsa at middle linebacker and had 10 tackles.
The defensive line saw plenty of different guys sub in and out. Even veteran linebackers Dylan Conner and Eric Popp were subbed out for lesser experienced players in Bryce Houston and T.J. Robinson. Mass substitutions happened not only to keep guys fresh because of Kent’s up-tempo offense, but also to have more depth development in Ohio’s most important game of the season so far.
“You’re fortunate if you don’t have guys banged up and you don’t have to have guys step in and play in crucial roles for you,” Solich said. “We have guys that are doing that and that’s all a huge plus for us. I think it makes those guys feel good that they’re able to step in and we have confidence in them.”
The biggest challenge for Ohio now is to continue building from its quality performance. It has shown it can do that after its solid performance at Buffalo, and it performed well in the first half against NIU.
But the Bobcats can’t afford just six strong quarters. It needs to play every quarter better than it played the week before, and the guys in the locker room know that.
The defense will celebrate the win, but it’s eager to return to the field and prove that it has enough talent to lead Ohio to Detroit.
