It's all up to the 'Cats whether they extend their season

With only two games left on their schedule, the Ohio University football team has put itself in a good position. The pre-season hype about the Bobcats seems warranted as they control their own destiny on the path to a Mid-American Conference East Division title and a bowl bid.

Now it all comes down to how they finish.

"It's where we want to be," senior wide-receiver Taylor Price said. "We had all this talk during off-season and winter conditioning, so now we just have to make the most of it."

If Ohio wins its final two games, at home against Northern Illinois this Saturday and Temple next Friday, the Bobcats will head to the MAC Championship and earn their first bowl bid since 2006.

Since the start of the season, the talk from the football team has focused on making a bowl game and competing for a league title. With such a talented group returning this season, people expected that kind of success.

For the most part, Ohio has not disappointed, and now with two games left, the Bobcats know what they have at stake.

"We're playing for a bowl bid," junior linebacker Noah Keller confirmed. "We're trying not to go home and sit around for six weeks."

Finishing off the season with two wins will not be easy, as Northern Illinois (7-3, 5-1) and Temple (8-2, 6-0) are the toughest league opponents on Ohio's schedule.

But the timing of the games is perfect for Ohio, which has won two games in row and had a bye last week after beating Buffalo 27-24 on a Tuesday night game Nov. 10. Having the bye gave Ohio a chance to get some rest and heal some bruises that have piled up over the season.

"It's just some more time to relax and get your body healed up," Keller said. "It's a good time of the year to have that."

The Bobcats hope the extra rest pays dividends Saturday against Northern Illinois.

In many regards, Ohio and Northern Illinois are in similar situations.

They have identical records, and both teams are playing for a MAC championship and bowl bid. Both have to face their toughest conference opponents in their final two games. Both teams have looked good at times this season, and both have played down to their competition in other games.

The similarities between the two make Saturday's game difficult to predict, and even the oddsmakers could not decide a favorite. The game was still a pick'em in the middle of the week.

The expected competitiveness of Saturday's game seems fitting for a MAC contest.

"There's so much parity in the MAC that any game could throw you off," Price said. "So you've got to come out like every game's your MAC championship game."

The records and situations for Ohio and Northern Illinois are similar, but how they get their victories varies tremendously. Ohio uses a spread offensive attack and relies on a group of talented receivers to put up points, while Northern Illinois is all about the running game.

The Huskies are the 11th best rushing team in the nation, averaging 220 yards per game on the ground. With a power rushing attack, Northern Illinois will look to exploit Ohio's rush defense that has given up big yards on the ground in some games this season.

In preparing for the Saturday game, the Bobcats realize that Northern likely will be one of the most physical opponents Ohio has seen all season.

"That's one way where they're able to beat a lot of teams, is that they're able to be physical for four quarters, where most defenses aren't," Keller said.

To counter the Huskies' rushing game, the Bobcats will look to continue what they have excelled at all season: forcing turnovers. Ohio leads the country in forced turnovers, and that probably will need to continue for the Bobcats to have success in slowing the Huskies' running attack.

Offensively, the Bobcats hope to put together a complete game. At times this season - as in the first half against Buffalo - the offense has looked unstoppable. At other times - recall the second half against Buffalo - moving the ball down the field has seemed impossible. There has been no consistency.

Nobody has questioned the talent on the offensive side of the ball, but the execution has been suspect.

"We're getting there. We're not nearly where we want to be," Price acknowledged. "I don't think offensively we've played to our best ability yet. We haven't put 50 points up on the board yet. We haven't all contributed to a big-time offensive performance yet. I think that's still to come in these next two games, and we're going to bust out one of these."

If the offense can find a way to get a solid performance from all of its playmakers, then Ohio will be tough to stop.

An all-around effort from the offense and another turnover-forcing defensive effort would give Ohio a good chance at a victory, and put the Bobcats right in the mix for a bowl bid, and keep alive their MAC championship hopes for at least another week.

"We know there's two games ahead of us," Keller said, "and if we want to go to the conference championship, we need to win both of them."

WHILE THE FOOTBALL team is hoping to earn a MAC title, the Ohio volleyball team already has wrapped up its sixth MAC championship in the last seven years. The Bobcats finished the regular season last weekend with a sweep of Miami and Bowling Green to improve their final record to 23-5, and 15-1 in the MAC.

Earning the regular season title gives the Bobcats the top seed in this weekend's MAC Tournament in Toledo, where winning the conference tournament would guarantee the Bobcats a bid to the NCAA tournament for the seventh year in a row.

Ohio could still have a shot at earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament even if they don't win the conference tournament, but the Bobcats want to avoid the guessing game.

"Without a doubt we don't necessarily want to leave it to chance," coach Ryan Theis said in his press conference Monday. "And certainly these seniors want to go out with winning a conference tournament."