By: Pete Nakos
OhioBobcats.com Feature Writer

When Ohio takes the field Thursday night in the Glass Bowl against Toledo, it will be the night of firsts.

The first mid-week Mid-American Conference game of the season, and hopefully coach Frank Solich's first ever win against Toledo.

The Bobcats will also be playing their second game in a five-day period.

"The teams that we're playing in all honesty have been really good football teams in the MAC and that will continue to be the case," Solich said. "Toledo is obviously an outstanding football team on both sides of the ball so there's no break there in that regard. Do we want to score more points? Do we need to score more points?  The answer is yes. We're looking at ways to try and do that. At times we show flashes of being what we want to be offensively but we haven't put it together yet in terms of a whole offense."

Redshirt freshman quarterback Quinton Maxwell made his first career start against Kent State, completing 11 passes for 127 yards. One of the biggest things he is putting emphasis on this week is preparation, he said. He pointed to the fact that Toledo has a short week too, and the team that prepares best will come out on top.

As Maxwell settles into his role as the presumed starter, he has been helped out by running backs Dorian Brown and Maleek Irons. The two picked up 198 yards and combined for two touchdowns last week at Kent State.

Brown led the pack, though, picking up a 49-yard touchdown run and helped the Bobcats run out the clock towards the end of the game, picking up key yards on third downs and extending their drives.

"Dorian has been able to play through some injuries, but he missed some playing time," Solich said. "With the way it has been with our running backs, guys have had to step up and when it is their turn they have had to really respond. Dorian has done a great job of that, especially this last game. Very powerful, strong runner, a guy that moves piles and gets extra yards. He is hitting the hole with more confidence now and his paths are good. If he keeps performing at a high level, if all of our backs keep performing, and we are blocking and not getting stalemated up front, we'd like to give our running backs more carries."

With a solid run game comes a solid play action attack, which the Bobcats will be looking to do against the Rockets. They will also look to put the ball in the hands of running back Papi White and wide receiver Sebastian, both players that can be explosive when they have the ball in their hands.

Defensively, Ohio will look to stop a Toledo attack that is led by quarterback Logan Woodside who is 12th in the country in pass yards with 2,277 and is first in passing touchdowns with 28.

Running back Kareem Hunt has 740 rushing yards this year on 152 carries, with just under five yards per carry. He's 23rd in the country in rushing yards.

"We just have to make sure that we are playing really sound defense and fast defense," Solich said. "They can beat you through the air as well as on the ground. They are averaging 200 yards on the ground, so it is kind of a pick your poison deal."

With a win, Ohio could put itself in a good position to win the MAC East Division, and head to Detroit for the MAC Championship Game. Ohio can also become bowl eligible for the eighth straight season with the win tonight.

Defensive end Tarell Basham maybe said it best, that Thursday night's game could be a statement game for the Bobcats in the East Division, to let it be known to teams in the West Division that Ohio can compete with anybody.

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