The Ohio Bobcats have taken away much of the buzz surrounding the CMU football team’s season finale at 1 p.m. Friday at Kelly/Shorts Stadium against Northern Illinois.

When Ohio beat NIU 38-31 Saturday, CMU clinched the Mid-American Conference West Division title and a Dec. 4 trip to Ford Field in Detroit.

But despite clinching the division, it is business as usual around Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

“(Did) it change what’s on the line? Yeah. But I hope we’re mature enough to handle the situation the right way,” said senior quarterback Dan LeFevour.

Coach Butch Jones said the NIU-Ohio outcome does not change all that is at stake for the team.

“We have what we call our program goals that never change,” he said. “And one of them is to win all of our home games. We haven’t been able to do that in a number of years here.”

CMU has not won all its home games since 1998, when the team finished 5-0.

“We’ve worked all summer on this field, and to go out on my last game playing in Kelly/Shorts with a loss is just unacceptable,” said senior defensive end Frank Zombo.

Run-oriented opponent

The Huskies represent the only team in the MAC to rush for more than 200 yards per game (210.4).

Junior running back Chad Spann is fourth in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 18 rushing touchdowns. He is fourth in the MAC with 78.4 rushing yards per game.

To complement Spann, sophomore running back Me’co Brown is seventh in the MAC, rushing for 58.6 rushing yards per game.

But Jones said it is not just NIU’s running backs that make the running game.

“They have some very talented running backs but, also, their quarterbacks are so involved in the run game,” he said.

While sophomore starter Chandler Harnish has returned to the lineup after missing three games to injury, sophomore DeMarcus Grady has averaged 5.7 yards per carry.

“They’re always able to get an extra hat in your run fits because of their running back being a lead blocker (when the quarterback runs the ball),” Jones said.

Stingy defense

Defensively, NIU is second only to CMU in scoring defense (19 points against per game). LeFevour said there is no weak link to target.

“I think any defense presents something that we want to attack and, to be honest, there’s not a whole lot that you can pick out and try to attack against Northern,” he said.

But LeFevour has led a balanced attack this year.

After running for 140 yards against Akron and 98 yards against Buffalo in the team’s first two MAC games, LeFevour has relied on his arm in recent weeks. The senior has thrown for 341 yards against Toledo and 344 yards against Ball State in the past two games.

Health status

Senior cornerback Josh Gordy participated Saturday in practice more than he has in previous weeks. Although looking better, his status, along with redshirt freshman left tackle Jake Olson, has not been determined for Friday’s game.

E-mail the author: Andrew Stover