Sports
Ohio Football prepares for second week of MACtion against dangerous Western Michigan team
By: Andrew Bowlby
Posted on:
ATHENS (WOUB) — Ohio Football (6-3, 4-1 MAC) will play their first road MACtion game of the season Tuesday night at Western Michigan (5-4, 4-1 MAC).
It marks the second-straight week that Ohio faces one of the top teams in the MAC. Ohio, Western Michigan, Miami and Buffalo are all tied at the top of the conference with 4-1 records and three games to play.
Ohio has a win over Miami and the RedHawks have a win over Western Michigan. When the season ends, the only head-to-head between the four teams that will have not been played is between WMU and Buffalo.
For this season’s meeting between the Bobcats and Broncos, it will be the first since 2023 and the 67th all-time matchup. WMU leads the all-time series 33-32-1, but Ohio has won each of the last two meetings.
The Broncos this season are off to a 4-1 start in MAC play and have won all three conference games at home. Their only loss came on the road to Miami.
The victories at home have come over Toledo, Ball State and most recently against Central Michigan.
In the game vs the Chippewas, Western trailed 21-14 early in the fourth quarter, but a field goal combined with a Broc Lowry touchdown pass to Talique Williams led to a broncos 24-21 win.
Western Michigan hosted its largest crowd since 2015 in that game and proved that Waldo Stadium is one of the toughest to play in this season.
Lowry has been strong this season leading the Broncos offense. He has thrown the ball over 1,314 yards and seven touchdowns while only throwing one interception.
Also, Lowry’s legs have been a major factor. He has more rushing attempts than any other QB in the MAC and has eight more TDs on the ground.
“I would say a different types of dual threats,” Smith said on the comparison between Miami’s Dequan Finn and WMU’s Lowry. “Where [Lowry has] more quarterback run stuff than they probably do with Dequan. He’s gotten over 100 carries on the season, so that’s a different type of issue we have to prepare for.”
The rush attack has been solid in making up for a below-average pass game. WMU has the ninth rank passing game with just 161.1 pass yards per game.
On the defensive side, one face Ohio has to look out for is Nadame Tucker. He has recorded 15 TFLs and 9.0 sacks this season, good for first and second in the MAC respectively. As a group, WMU has 31.5 sacks and 64.0 TFLs on the season.
Despite a potentially daunting task, Smith feels confident in his offensive line against Western.
“It’s probably the best defensive front in the MAC that we’re going to play,” Smith added. “I have a lot of faith in our offensive line and when you’re talking about a good front and a good pass rush, there’s so much more that goes into protecting the quarterback than the offensive line.”
For Ohio’s defense they are coming off a strong performance against Miami. They didn’t allow much for Dequan Finn and the RedHawks offense. Although they did give up a pair of second half scores, the Bobcats came up with the big plays when needed.
They had a goal line stand in the first half that forced Miami to kick a field goal, and Jalen Thomeson had a game-sealing interception late in the fourth.
It’s a group playing with a lot of confidence and one Ohio needs to have another good game to find a road win.
The Bobcats will also be looking to replicate success from the special team’s unit. In the win over Miami, David Dellenbach made all four kick attempts and Sieh Bangura had a 97-yard kickoff return touchdown. It was probably Ohio’s best special teams day, and something they need again.
Tuesday’s action is schedule for an 8:00 p.m. kickoff at Waldo Stadium. It will also be the second-straight week Ohio’s game is aired on ESPN2.