Citing privacy issues, Martin was reluctant at the program’s weekly media session to discuss details of Gabbert’s injury.
“That was a terrible day,” he said. “That was a terrible day for the Gabbert family and for Miami football. He was in position to be the conference player of the year. People say, ‘Next man up.’ No. Losing him is a big deal. It’s a huge blow in our biggest two-game stretch of the year.”
Martin was impressed with the work of the Oxford Fire Department first responders who treated Gabbert on the field before placing him on a gurney and loading him into an ambulance for the trip to Mercy Hospital in Fairfield.
“It was bad,” he said of the injury. “They see this stuff all the time. I saw it on a one-time basis.
“The surgery went well. He’s hanging in there. Hearing that we didn’t win was a blow to him. He knows that he’s the battery.”
“He was good (on Sunday),” Martin added. “I saw him last night.”
Martin anticipated loads of support for Gabbert, including from unexpected sources. To a man, the Rockets were on a knee while Gabbert was being treated on the field on Saturday, and several walked out to join the RedHawks in verbally supporting him as he was loaded into the ambulance.
Miami saw its winning streak snapped at six games while falling to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the MAC, tied with Ohio and Buffalo for first place in the conference’s East Division. The RedHawks are scheduled to travel to Athens, Ohio, to meet long-time rival Ohio in the annual “Battle of the Bricks” rivalry game on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. After playing Akron on Nov. 8 at home, Miami will host Buffalo on Nov. 15. The Bulls, who are 3-5 overall, are scheduled to play at Toledo on Halloween.
“Games like this against Toledo and OU are what you live for,” Martin said.
The RedHawks trailed Toledo, 21-3, at halftime before scoring two third-quarter touchdowns to close the gap to 21-17, including one on the first play after Gabbert’s injury, but despite a spirited defensive effort that forced seven second-half Rocket punts, they couldn’t put together a go-ahead scoring effort.
Gabbert finishes the season 111-of-187 for a MAC-leading 1,634 yards and tied for the conference lead with 14 touchdown passes.
Redshirt-sophomore Aveon Smith ascends to the starting slot with classmate Henry Hesson backing him up. Smith started nine games last season while Gabbert was working his way back from an injury.
Junior place-kicker Graham Nicholson credited team leaders such as defensive end Brian Ugwu with helping the team start processing the loss of Gabbert and trying to keep the players focused on the task ahead of them.
“(Ugwu) probably talked for five minutes before the coaches came in,” Nicholson said on Monday. “He said we have to maintain our practice habits. Everybody loves Brett. Losing him sucks.
“Our leaders stepped up. We were all down, but they talked us through it. They said, ‘We’ll get there. The first step is to beat OU.’”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Miami at Ohio, 3:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network, 980, 1450
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