Ohio, after coming off a much-needed break, looks to win against Northern Illinois to stay in the running for a sixth-straight bowl appearance.
It’s almost like the Bobcats had two bye weeks.
Ohio (5-5, 3-3 Mid-American) had an extra four days between games following its trip to Western Michigan, and after the Bobcats hosted Buffalo, they still haven’t seen action and won’t until Tuesday.
The Bobcats will host Northern Illinois (8-2, 5-1 MAC) in senior night at Peden Stadium following four days off in the past two weeks.
“That formula worked very well for us against Buffalo, in terms of our guys having a lot of energy,” coach Frank Solich said. “We got a little bit banged up in this last ball game — nothing that will keep anybody out of the game necessarily — but guys were struggling coming back a little bit. So the time off I think is going to help everybody; coaches, players, everybody.”
A healthy backfield
Redshirt junior quarterback Derrius Vick and freshman running back A.J. Ouellette hadn’t played together for a full game until Ohio’s victory over Buffalo a week ago.
The Bobcats have looked forward to getting both of them back and close to full-strength because each of them have shown their worth on offense, as they both are leading their respective positions with 149 and 70.2 yards per game, respectively.
Solich said that Ouellette should be very close to, if not at, 100 percent coming into the game next week.
“(Vick’s) talent continually shows, and I think it’ll show more and more as he starts to play again with regularity because he was coming on very strong as we got into this season,” Solich said. “I think A.J. has shown, through his time here, what he’s all about … he’s become an important part of what we’re all about in not only picking up first downs with strong runs, but also being able to make cuts and having bursts where he’s able to make big and explosive runs.”
The postseason race
The Bobcats now sit at .500 despite the bumps in the road, but they still have a chance to control their own destiny, per se, when it comes to qualifying for a bowl game.
A win against Northern Illinois would be quite a statement for a team that is hanging by a thread in the MAC East race.
“It’ll be a huge undertaking for us, we’re excited about it and we’re looking forward to it,” Solich said. “It’d be a huge statement for us to get that accomplished and get that done.”
In a year full of injuries and minor stepbacks, Solich and company want to take positive steps before the year’s end.
One of those steps could come with a victory Tuesday to remain in contention of qualifying for a sixth-straight bowl.
“We’re looking at taking forward steps with our program and that would be one of them,” Solich said. “It will not be easy. They’re winning a lot of football games for a reason, and they’ve done it with regularity. They’re able to attract real quality athletes, they have good facilities and they’ve had good coaching and have good coaching.”
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