ATHENS, Ohio – For the third year in a row, Ohio and Temple meet in a game that will put the winner in control of the Mid-American Conference East Division lead and probably will go a long way in deciding who plays in the MAC Championship Game.

The Bobcats have won both of the previous two meetings, but they will be facing a major challenge from an Owls team that has excelled defensively, in their rushing offense and on special teams, with Ohio coach Frank Solich saying they are “by far the best all-around team we have faced.”

Temple (5-3, 3-2 MAC) has given up more than 13 points only once this year and is allowing an average of just 10.0 points per game to rank first in the conference and second in the nation.

While the Owls rank 112th in passing offense, they are 10th nationally in rushing offense behind the tandem of Bernard Pierce and Matt Brown.

Pierce has gained 951 yards and scored 18 touchdowns on the ground, while Brown has racked up 562 yards and two touchdowns. Both have gone for more than 300 yards in each of the last three games.

But stacking the line of scrimmage is not necessarily the best solution to stopping the duo, Solich said.

“If they do find a crease, you have no secondary deep support to help usually if you crowd the line of scrimmage, so it’s a complicated issued,” Solich said. “People think all you have to do is put a lot of people up there and that’s the way to do it, but in putting a lot of people up there, you’re very vulnerable to play-action passes. … That’s how they get a lot of their big plays. … You’re not going to stop them and shut them down, but you need to control it.”

Chester Stewart has brought stability to the passing game since taking over quarterback duties. He has completed 63.5 percent of his passes for 643 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Mike Gerardi, who started early in the year, completed only 50.8 percent of his passes for 432 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions.

However, the Owls average only 133.3 passing yards per game.

“I think by nature we’re going to run the football,” Temple coach Steve Addazio said. “We’re a run team and we’ve done that pretty effectively throughout the year. We mix in play-action passes. I don’t think anything is broke. I think it’s just a matter of making sure we have more balance in what we choose to attack with.”

Conversely, Ohio (5-3, 2-2 MAC) sports a balanced offensive attack that ranks 24th in the nation by averaging 455.4 yards per game. The Bobcats rank in the top 33 in both rushing and passing offense and are 39th in scoring offense (31.9).

Tyler Tettleton is rapidly approaching single-season school passing records, having completed 64.3 percent of his passes for 1,979 yards and 17 touchdowns with five interceptions. He also has rushed for 258 yards and five more scores.

LaVon Brazill, already the Bobcats’ all-time leading receiver, has 39 catches for 571 yards and eight touchdowns. Riley Dunlop has added 25 catches for 367 yards and five scores.

Despite missing two and a half games, Donte Harden has 514 yards rushing with an average of 5.6 yards per carry. Ryan Boykin has tallied 345 rushing yards.

Defensively, the Owls have been stout, giving up just 263.3 yards per game to rank fifth in the nation. Temple is first in the MAC in scoring defense, total defense, passing defense and rushing defense. They allow only 90.5 rushing yards and 172.8 passing yards per game.

“You’ve just got to understand that you’re playing a team that doesn’t allow people to put points on the board, but you’ve got to find ways to do it,” Solich said. “You’ve got to understand that every game has its flow and just try to pick up on the flow of the game and what it’s going to take to win it and build your continuous game plan during the game off of that.”

Temple linebacker Stephen Johnson has 69 tackles, while linebacker Tahir Whitehad has made 10 tackles for loss with four sacks. Defensive end Adrian Robinson has four sacks, and defensive back Justin Gildea has three interceptions.

Ohio also has been solid defensively, allowing just 20.4 points and 320.5 yards per game to rank in the top 24 nationally. The Bobcats rank 29th in rushing defense, allowing 117.4 yards per game.

However, Ohio still will be without nose tackle Neal Huynh, who has missed several games due to a knee injury. Outside linebacker Eric Benjamin also is expected to miss the game with a foot injury. But defensive tackle Carl Jones is expected to return and cornerback Omar Leftwich should be back to full strength.

Middle linebacker Noah Keller leads the Bobcats with 57 tackles. Safety Gerald Moore has 46 with two interceptions, and defensive end Tremayne Scott leads the Bobcats with 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.

A key could be special teams, which also has been a strength of the Owls, Solich said, because the game could come down to field position.

“You look at special teams and they’re at the top or almost at the top in almost all the categories in the country,” he said. “They cover kickoffs extremely aggressively and well. They return kickoffs very well. They return punts very well and they cover punts very well.”

Solich added it is not uncommon for the Owls to punt from their opponents’ 40- or even 35-yard line to try to pin an opponent deep and give their defense a chance to force a three-and-out for sometimes even better field position with a first down.

Temple, Ohio and Miami currently sit atop the MAC East standings with two losses each. Bowling Green, which has knocked off both the Owls and the RedHawks, has three league losses, so this game certainly will go a long way in determining the division champion.

“We’ve been in these games before as a program,” Solich said. “We plan on being in many more of them as the years go on, so you handle it because you’re in a program that’s going to put you in position to play in these kinds of games. That’s what you want to be all about. We just move forward with it, prepare well for it, play the best we can and have it hopefully be an opportunity that we seize.”

Ohio hosts Temple at 8 p.m. Wednesday in a “Black Out” game at Peden Stadium on a game being broadcast on ESPN.