To the outsider, it will look like a normal football game.
A cold, windy stadium in Ohio will host two teams for a game in late November. One team will win, the other will lose.
But the reality is there will be something different in the air. Tuesday night will just be different.
Akron (5-6, 3-4 Mid-American Conference) comes to Athens trying to reach bowl eligibility, but for Ohio, the prize is much bigger.
A Bobcats win clinches the MAC East Division and a trip to Detroit for the MAC Championship Game. A loss, however, and the standings become muddied.
An Ohio (7-4, 5-2 MAC) loss, paired with a Miami win over Ball State, means that the Bobcats will be sitting on their couches come Dec. 2. Miami and Ohio both kick off at 7 p.m.
But for now, the Bobcats control their destiny — something they don't plan on giving up.
"We’re trying to treat it just like another game," quarterback Quinton Maxwell said. "I know the guys, I know this team, we’re gonna come to work this week with a mindset of 'Hey, what’s passed is passed, we’ve got an opportunity still.' Our goals are still intact, we’ve gotta go take care of business."
The Bobcats had a chance to clinch the MAC East last week, but fell to Central Michigan on the road, which set up the importance of this final week.
"I wouldn’t call it pressure, we know what we’ve got to do," wideout Sebastian Smith said. "This is a great team, we’ve been in situations like this before. We’ve got to make plays, we’ve got to do everything right this week to come out with a W."
In decisive final week games with both teams playing desperately, records usually can be thrown out. That's comforting for a Zips team that has lost its last eight matchups to the Bobcats.
However, three of the last four matchups have been decided by six points or fewer, something not lost on coach Frank Solich.
"It will just be two good football teams out there," Solich said. "All MAC games have been close. In terms of our play, most of the games have been tight games. We have won our share of those and there is no reason to think this will be any different in terms of this being a hard-fought, physical MAC contest.”
Whether or not Ohio wins, the other truth of Tuesday night is that it will be the final game at Peden Stadium for the class of 2017. That alone has given the Bobcats motivation to send their seniors out with a win and on to the team's first MAC Championship game since 2011.
No player on the Bobcats roster was on the team when they last made the MAC Championship Game.
"I like the way they responded to preparing in the off-season for a chance to have a very good team and a successful football team," Solich said of his seniors. "I liked the way they play the game; never die, never quit. There can be leadership throughout your team, but senior leadership is important and these guys have provided that.”
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