MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A week after playing a run-heavy offense, the Ohio defense will have to adjust to facing a pass-first offense when the Bobcats travel to Central Michigan on Thursday night.

The Chippewas rank third in the Mid-American Conference by averaging 269.5 passing yards per game. They are led by quarterback Ryan Radcliff, who has completed 58.0 percent of his passes for 2,691 yards and 20 touchdowns with 14 interceptions.

Central Michigan is coming off a 24-21 loss at Kent State on Friday night, a game in which it had a chance to come from 10 points down to force overtime with a shot field goal that was missed.

“Ryan Radcliff now a couple of times has driven our team down at the end of games,” Central Michigan coach Dan Enos said. “Against Eastern Michigan, we were down two possessions and he drove us down twice and hit a two-point conversion to tie the game and send it to overtime and then he did the same thing Friday night. We were down 10 and he makes a great throw on a backside post for a touchdown and then drives us down to the 10-yard-line to kick a field goal to overtime. We obviously didn’t make it, but give a lot of credit to Ryan.”

A lot of the credit also has to go to freshman wide receiver Titus Davis, who had 10 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns against the Golden Flashes. On the year, he has 29 catches for 577 yards and four scores.

“Titus continues to impress us for being a true freshman,” Enos said. “He’s very explosive. He’s got great ball skills, he’s very competitive and he loves to play. We’ve got some young receivers that make our team better, make our team more explosive. … Titus and Courtney Williams, both those guys, they do something every day in practice that makes you shake your head. Once they grow up and figure out what to do, I think they’re going to be very special.”

Williams has 252 yards on 15 receptions with four touchdowns in five games. Both will play a bigger role with leading receiver Cody Wilson (47 receptions for 522 yards and three touchdowns expected to miss his second straight game.

David Blackburn (33 catches for 464 yards and five touchdowns) and Jerry Harris (22 catches for 253 yards and two touchdowns) also have been major targets for Radcliff.

Even with the passing prowess of the Chippewas, Ohio coach Frank Solich said the Bobcats need to stop the run more than anything else.

“We will emphasize stopping the run, No. 1, especially if you’ve got a good throwing team,” Solich said. “You can’t let them get their ground game going because they are going to make some yards and they’re going to put themselves in position to score points with their throwing game, no question about it. You don’t want the ground game to contribute to that.

Although Central Michigan has not run the ball much, a combination of backs have produced decent averages. Anthony Garland (365 yards, 4.8 yards per carry), Paris Cotton (333 yards, 6.4 ypc), Zurlon Tipton (296 yards, 4.5 ypc) and Tim Phillips (214 yards, 4.0 ypc) have shared responsibilities in the backfield. None of them have played all 10 games and only Cotton has missed less than three games.

Injuries also have been tough on Central Michigan’s offensive line and it suffered the loss of left tackle Eric Fisher for the year against Kent State, putting it down three starters in the trenches.

The Bobcats have used a balanced offense to produce the second-most yards (458.1) and third-most points (32.2) per game in the MAC.

Running back Donte Harden is coming off a career day in which he rushed for 184 yards, caught passes for 75 more yards and totaled a school record 322 total yards in a big win against Temple.

“He’s not an oversized guy; in fact, he might be a little bit of an undersized guy in terms of what you look for at the running back spot, but he has tremendous athletic talent as a running back and an extremely tough individual,” Solich said. “Those two things, when you add them, generally produce an outstanding running back.”

On the year, Harden, who missed two and a half games, has 698 yards rushing and an average of 6.3 yards per carry.

Tyler Tettleton has led a potent passing attack and is likely to eclipse a few single-season school passing marks this game. On the season, he has 2,237 yards and 20 touchdowns with five interceptions and a 64.2 percent completion percentage. He also has rushed for 287 yards and six scores.

Receiver LaVon Brazill also is close to some records, having racked up 46 catches for 736 yards and eight touchdowns. Riley Dunlop (26 catches for 376 yards and five touchdowns) and Donte Foster (20 catches for 231 yards and three touchdowns) also have been top targets.

Ohio seems to have an edged on defense, where it ranks second in the MAC in both points (21.6) and yards (334.0) per game. By comparison, Central Michigan is 10th in both categories with averages of 31.1 points and 410.7 yards allowed per game.

After an injury-plagued start, middle linebacker Noah Keller has been all over the field for the Bobcats with 72 tackles on the year, including five for loss. Safety Gerald Moore has 51 tackles and two interceptions, and defensive end Tremayne Scott has 43 tackles and three sacks.

The Bobcats still are without Neal Huynh, who has not begun practicing after suffering a knee injury against Kent State.

Strong safety Jahleel Addae leads Central Michigan’s defense with 84 tackles and four interceptions. Free safety Avery Cunningham has 65 tackles, while defensive end Joe Kinville is tops on the team with 5.5 tackles for loss.

Central Michigan had only six days to prepare for this game, while Ohio had eight, and that will be an added challenge for the Chippewas, Enos said.

“Ohio University is going to be a well-rested, very veteran football team. … We ended up driving back from Kent and got home at 6 o’clock in the morning that Saturday and had to get right back at it because we’ve got a short week and they’ve got a long week. We’re going to get our guys as refreshed and ready as we can.”

Ohio will try to maintain its lead in the MAC East Division by winning its third straight game.

“It will be a key game for us as we try to establish a win on the road,” Solich said. “At times, we’ve been a very good road team, but this will be a challenge.”

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Kelly/Shorts Stadium with the game to be broadcast on ESPNU.