ATHENS — The Ohio Bobcats will look to make it six-straight wins on Saturday as they head west to take on the Northern Illinois Huskies in a key Mid-American Conference game.
The game can be seen on ESPNU with Drew Carter and Dustin Fox on the call.
The Huskies (2-4, 1-1 MAC) defeated Akron last week, 55-14. Saturday's matchup against the Bobcats marks their first home conference game of the season as well as Homecoming.
Offensively, Northern Illinois comes into Saturday's game averaging 25.2 points on 164.7 rushing yards and 194.8 passing yards per game.
Individually, junior running back Antario Brown leads the Huskies on the ground, netting 616 rushing yards on 93 carries. For the season, he has five rushing and one receiving touchdown.
In the air, redshirt senior quarterback Rocky Lombardi is 82-for-146 for 1,015 yards. He has thrown five touchdowns and four interceptions over six games. Lombardi also has two rushing touchdowns on the season.
His top passing target is senior wide receiver Kacper Rutkiewicz, who currently has a team-best 20 receptions and two touchdowns on 313 yards. Redshirt junior wide receiver Trayvon Rudolph has one touchdown in 15 receptions.
The NIU defense is led by senior defensive end Raishein Thomas who has 34 tackles, including 19 solo stops and four tackles for loss. Junior safety Nate Valcarcel leads the team in interceptions with two.
Ohio (5-1, 2-0 MAC) continued their winning ways last weekend at Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium, defeating the Kent State Golden Flashes 42-17. The victory marked the first time the team started off MAC play 2-0 since 2016.
Currently, Ohio's offense averages 24.50 points on 144.3 rushing yards and 203.67 passing yards per game.
In the air, quarterback Kurtis Rourke is 76-for-119, throwing eight touchdowns in 909 yards. He also has 27 rushes for a net 133 yards this season.
Sam Wiglusz leads all Bobcat receivers with 25 catches and two touchdowns in 248 yards. Teammate Miles Cross has four touchdowns on 246 yards and 17 receptions. Tight end Will Kacmarek is another key target in the passing game, he also has two touchdowns on the season.
On the ground, running back Sieh Bangura has 83 carries in 328 rushing yards. He scored his first two rushing touchdowns of the season last Saturday against Kent State. Running back O'Shaan Allison has 239 yards on 78 carries with one touchdown.
Defensively, linebacker Bryce Houston leads the team with 59 tackles. He also has tallied 7.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions on the season. Linebacker Keye Thompson has 32 tackles and one fumble recovery, which he returned for a touchdown against Bowling Green. The Bobcat defense ranks first in the MAC in interceptions, as eight different defenders have snagged opposing quarterback passes so far this season.
The two teams last faced off on Oct. 22, 2022 on Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium.
After the Bobcats took an early lead, NIU fought back to tie the game at 17-17, with a two-point conversion in the third quarter.
With seven minutes remaining in the game, Sam Wiglusz would score on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Kurtis Rourke to take a 24-17 lead.
After four consecutive incomplete passes the Huskies turned the ball over on downs and Ohio went into victory formation, solidifying their fourth home win of the season.
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