The Western Mustangs have wrapped up their regular season road schedule and are back at home for their final two contests, including this Friday, when the Carleton Ravens will make their way to TD Stadium.
 
This week's matchup is a key one for the purple and white, as after defeating the Laurier Golden Hawks last week to stay as the OUA's only undefeated team, the Mustangs can lock up first place with a win over the Ravens on Friday.
 
Western took down the defending Yates Cup Champions with a stellar ground game and an impressive defensive effort that prevented Laurier from finishing off drives, and limited the Golden Hawks rushing attack to just 121 yards, nearly 100 less than they'd been averaging.
 
The Mustangs aren't the only ones coming into Friday's game with some momentum, however, as the Ravens picked up an important win with a 33-30 double overtime victory over Ottawa in the Panda Game.
 
Running back Nathan Carter led the way for the Ravens in the win, and Western will look to slow down the OUA's leading rusher on Friday night. Carter enters this week in first in the OUA with 822 yards, including an astonishing 530 yards over his past two games. The sophomore ran for 256 yards last week against Ottawa, and set a Ravens single game record with 274 yards rushing against the Warriors on September 16.
 
Carter may get the bulk of the headlines, and deservedly so, but the Mustangs will also have to be aware of receivers Phil Iloki and Kyle VanWynsberghe, who are coming into this week with 470 and 389 yards receiving through five games.
 
Guiding that passing attack will be first-year quarterback Michael Arruda, who's thrown for 1,368 yards on 94 of 175 passing, with eight touchdowns and five interceptions.
 
On the other side of the ball Western's offensive line will be in for a busy evening, as the Ravens lead all U SPORTS teams with 23 sacks. Perhaps the most concerning part of that statistic is that no one player dominates the Ravens pass rush, but have six players with at least two sacks this season.
 
One of those players with at least two sacks is Leon Cenerini, who leads the national with an average of 9.1 tackles per game and ranks third overall with 45.5 tackles in five games.
 
Despite the intense pressure that they put on opposing quarterbacks, the Ravens rank in the lower half of U SPORTS teams in most statistical categories, with an average of 30.6 points and 448 yards being allowed per game.
 
Flip over to the offensive side however, and Carleton is in the top 10 for most offensive categories, including an average of 28.4 points and 497 yards per game.
 
These numbers have led to a series of close games for the Ravens, with all but one of their contests being decided by five points or less, including each of their past three games which included a 38-35 loss to Laurier, and 45-43 loss to Waterloo, and their 33-30 win over Ottawa.
 
Game time is set for 7 p.m. and fans can watch live on Rogers Cable channel 368 and OUA.tv. Fans can also tune in on Radio Western 94.9 FM, or on Newstalk 1290 CJBK with Tom McConnell and legendary Mustangs coach Larry Haylor calling all the action.
  
Coach Marshall on the Ravens
 
"They're a good football team, but this is one of those kind of classic trap games. You have to be careful because you look at their record and say 'well, you know they lost to Laurier, and they lost to Waterloo,' but they're a good football team.
 
"They have a young quarterback, and that might be the difference in their team right now, but he can run, and he can throw the football, and I think in looking at film from the Carleton games he's gotten better every week.
 
"Their defence is solid, they're solid. Last year they were a good, strong group. They've lost some really close games. This is a football team that if they make the playoffs, and there's a good chance they will, they could do some damage."