The Bobcats are looking to secure bowl eligibility for a sixth straight year on Tuesday at Miami.
Although the Battle of the Bricks alone is motivation for Ohio to end Mid-American Conference play with a victory, there are even greater stakes for Tuesday’s regular season finale.
The Bobcats need a win in Oxford to finish with a 6-6 overall record, which would make them bowl-eligible for a sixth consecutive season. The MAC has five guaranteed bowl tie-ins and the league already has five bowl-eligible teams with Ohio and Akron still on the bubble.
A win Tuesday doesn’t guarantee a bowl game for the Bobcats, but is a chance to end an up-and-down year on a positive note.
“It’s going to be a big one and if we get this one it makes us .500 and we’ll be bowl eligible, so everybody’s pretty hungry for this one,” said redshirt junior cornerback Devin Bass. “Just the fact it’s Miami is the extra drive to get a win.”
The last time Ohio traveled to Oxford, in 2012, is not a meeting it wants to remember.
The Bobcats were ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press poll and were off to their best start since 1968 with a 7-0 record. Miami, however, defeated Ohio for the first time since 2005 with a field goal in the game’s final minutes.
Since that victory, the RedHawks have only won two games.
After a winless campaign last year, Miami (2-9, 2-5 MAC) has shown signs of improvement this season with wins over Massachusetts and Kent State. The RedHawks also are averaging over two more points per game than the Bobcats.
“We want to obviously win and go out on a good note,” said redshirt junior quarterback Derrius Vick. “This is a really improved team that’s going to bring it their all, especially knowing that it’s a rivalry game.”
Ohio is coming off a 21-14 loss last week to Northern Illinois and is hoping to fine-tune its game plan after committing a pair of second-half turnovers, including a fumble on its last possession.
A bright spot for Ohio in that game was freshman running back A.J. Ouellette who received MAC East offensive player of the week honors Monday after rushing for 127 yards on 25 carries and scoring two touchdowns.
Miami also lost to Northern Illinois this season, but had more success scoring on the Huskies’ defense in a 51-41 loss. Although the Bobcats’ game last week was played in below-freezing temperatures, Bass said they’re not going to “allow weather conditions to get them off their game.”
This week has marked the first time in about a month the Bobcats have only had a week to prepare for their upcoming game, as they had multiple off days before playing Buffalo and Northern Illinois.
Vick said the first couple days flew by because of the unusual number of off days the previous two weeks, but he’s ready to get back on track and end the regular season with a victory.
“This is like a Super Bowl game for us and for them being in a rivalry game,” Vick said. “We win this game obviously we’ll have a chance (to make a bowl).”
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