BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – For the second week in a row, the Ohio football team is facing a team that likes to throw the ball, and for the second week in a row, the Bobcats are emphasizing stopping the run first.

Regardless of a team’s preference on offense, running the ball is the best indicator of success, Ohio coach Frank Solich said, as indicated by the fact that the top six teams in the Mid-American Conference in rushing offense (Temple, Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Ohio and Ball State) are the teams so far with at least six wins.

“You can’t find another statistics, whether it’s passing efficiency or total defense or total offense or what, that you find that,” Solich said. “That’s not abnormal. I’ve seen in the past in years. It just emphasizes to me the need to have a ground game and the need to stop the ground game.”

And although Bowling Green (4-6, 2-4 MAC) is not one of those top teams, it has shown some ability to run the ball when it wants to. Freshman running back Anthony Samuel is fifth in the MAC with 777 yards and four touchdowns. He averages 6.0 yards per carry.

“If you have a back that’s averaging 6.0 a carry, you’re jumping up and down,” Solich said. “That’s great production, so their offensive running game has been improving and I think it’s better than what people think.”

And most people are aware of the Falcons’ passing game prowess, led by quarterback Matt Schilz. He ranks fourth in the MAC by throwing for 2,556 yards and is fourth with 21 touchdowns. But he also is tied for second-most interceptions in the league with 10.

Kamar Jorden is a key reason for the Falcons’ passing game success. He has 67 catches for 928 yards with nine touchdowns. Eugene Cooper has 54 receptions for 655 yards and six touchdowns to complement him.

“They’re an excellent throwing football team and their stats indicate that,” Solich said. “They get a lot of big plays offensively because of that.”

He also noted the Falcons often line up in some unique formations and snap the ball quickly, giving defenses little time to react. They are particularly effective with this because they have a multitude of plays they run out of these formations.

Put altogether, the Falcons average 24.8 points and 391.2 yards per game to rank sixth in the MAC in both categories.

Ohio, though, will have an increasingly healthy defense to try to slow down Bowling Green. Nose tackle Neal Huynh is expected to return to action after sitting out the last five-plus games with a knee injury suffered against Kent State.

Solich said he Huynh has been practicing and is mostly healthy but still needs time to return to game shape. He was the Bobcats’ leading tackler at the time of his injury.

“He was certainly with the top defensive performers on the line in the MAC with how he was performing early in the year,” Solich said.

Defensive tackle Carl Jones should be back to playing shape, Solich said, while linebacker Eric Benjamin is questionable with a foot injury.

Linebacker Noah Keller has totaled 75 tackles to lead Ohio’s defense. Safety Gerald Moore has 61 tackles and two interceptions, and defensive end Tremayne Scott has a team-best 6.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.

Ohio’s defense ranks second in the league in points allowed at 22.2 per game and is third in yards against at 343.3. The Bobcats have the MAC’s top pass defense in efficiency.

The Bobcats should be back to health offensively also. Running back Donte Harden missed the majority of last week’s game against Central Michigan with the flu, while wide receiver Donte Foster did not travel with the team to Mount Pleasant because of a concussion suffered in practice.

On a roll, Ohio has amassed more than 500 yards in each of the last three games. The Bobcats are third in the league with an average of 465.0 yards per game and fourth with an average of 33.3 points per game.

Harden, despite sitting out two games and missing the majority of two others, has totaled 725 yards with an average of 6.2 yards per carry. He also has made plays in the receiving and kick return games.

Beau Blankenship and Ryan Boykin fill in against the Chippewas, helping the Bobcats total more than 300 yards on the ground, but it will be good to have Harden healthy this week, Solich said.

“Donte has excellent running ability and he’s tough,” he said. “He’s a much, much tougher and a stronger runner than what his size would indicate to you. He’s very productive at getting yards after contact. You like the combination of a guy that’s able to break the big play and be very strong and get yards after contact.”

Quarterback Tyler Tettleton has completed 63.5 percent of his passes for 2,455 yards and 22 touchdowns with six interceptions. He has added 337 rushing yards and seven scores on the ground.

LaVon Brazill leads the Bobcats with 49 receptions for 825 yards and nine touchdowns. Riley Dunlop has made 29 catches for 394 yards and five scores.

Bowling Green has given up quite a few yards this season, 408.0 per game, ranking ninth in the MAC, with 200.0 per game of those coming on the ground. However, the Falcons have stood tough when it matters, giving up just 28.9 points per game to rank sixth in the league.

Dwayne Woods is the Falcons’ leading tackler with 87, including a team-best 12 for loss. Chris Jones has been dominant with a MAC-leading seven sacks.

“Defensively, they’re strong up front,” Solich said. “They are a tough, physical football team up front. They penetrate. They’ve got corners that can lock you down, so that hurts you in the pass game a little bit. They have a good combination of things.”

A major struggle for the Falcons has been that they have forced only 12 turnovers with 23 of their own to rank last in the MAC.

But led by Ray Guy Award semifinalist Brian Schmiedebush, who is averaging a league-best 46.6 yards per punt, the Falcons have the top net punting team in the MAC with an average of 41.7 yards per attempt.

“That’s all about field position,” Solich said. “They are very, very dangerous and one of the best teams in the MAC in terms of kickoff returns. That again accounts for field position, so there’s a lot of challenges as we enter into this balling game, and knowing that one day less preparation doesn’t help.”

With a victory against Bowling Green and a loss by Miami to Western Michigan, Ohio clinches the MAC East Division title and a spot in the Championship Game. Even if the Bobcats lose to the Falcons, they still control their own destiny in the division.

Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. Wednesday at Doyt Perry Stadium in Bowling Green with the game to be broadcast on ESPN.