MAC Conference Roundup - Week 2

MAC conference roundup, standings, player and game of the week

Click on each team for game recaps, thoughts, schedules and more and scroll down for the games, results, players of the week and the conference roundup.

East  Akron | Bowling Green | Buffalo | Kent State | Miami Univ. | Ohio | Temple
West  Ball State | Central Mich | Eastern Mich | No Illinois | Toledo | West Michigan

MAC Game of the Week
Minnesota 41 ... Miami University 35 3OT
Minnesota played its third straight overtime game going back to last season, but this time, it finally won as Amir Pinnix rumbled in from two yards out after the defense held when Jamal Harris intercepted a Daniel Raudabaugh pass. The two teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime, and Miami had a chance to win it after Jason Giannini missed a 26-yard field goal in the second overtime, but Trevor Cook missed a 33-yard field goal attempt. Adam Weber threw four touchdown passes for the Gophers including two two Eric Decker, on the way to a 28-12 fourth quarter lead, but the RedHawks roared back with 16 points in 6:31 finished off with a 36-yard Trevor Cook field goal with :11 to play to send it into overtime.

MAC Player of the Week
Ohio RB Kalvin McRae ran 20 times for 84 yards and three touchdowns and caught three passes for 52 yards and a score in the 31-23 win over UL Lafayette.

Conference Roundup
Akron … Ohio State's defense might be among the best in the country, but there's still reason to be concerned. Very concerned. The Zips haven't gotten any decent play from the quarterbacks yet, and the running game has been non-existent. It wasn't like the O line gave up a ton of sacks to skew the stats, it only allowed three for 22 yards, the rushing just wasn't there. The O line needs to make some huge improvements over the next few weeks, and QB Chris Jacquemain has to make more plays, or this will be a long season.
Ball State … The Cardinals did a great job of never letting Eastern Michigan in the game. Nate Davis seemingly hit every third down conversion (with the Cardinal converting 11 of 20), but the big key was the offense's ability to hold on to the ball late. When you control the clock for 13:16 in the fourth quarter, and 22:04 in the second half, you're going to win a lot of games. Not turning the ball over was a big plus; BSU never gave EMU the big break.
Bowling Green  … The Falcons have to quickly figure out how to hold up against the run in the second half. Minnesota ran well in the second half, and started getting into the backfield on defense, and almost pulled off the comeback. Michigan State ran well in the second half, got to QB Tyler Sheehan, and pulled away. The offense is all Sheehan at the moment, and he'll win plenty of games, he needs time and he the O line has to be more consistent in the second half.
Buffalo … Where the heck did this come from? Yeah, it's Temple, but yeah, it's Buffalo. The Bulls had one big game last year in the win over Kent State, but this still came from out of nowhere. It all started with a swarming defense that never let the Owls breathe, and was helped by an all-timer (for UB) of a game from QB Drew Willy, who went 20 of 22. Once it appeared in the bag, he didn't make mistakes and he kept the chains moving. This wasn't a program-changer for Turner Gill's team, but it was certainly impressive.
Central Michigan … The blueprint has basically been written for CMU. The defense isn't going to stop anyone, so the offense is going to have to be balanced, explosive, and timely all season long. Kansas did what it wanted to on the Chippewa defense, and Toledo bombed away for 381 yards. The offense owned the fourth quarter with 21 points while holding on to the ball for 10:30. Keep an eye on the Purdue game next week; the two teams should combine for close to 1,000 yards of offense.
Eastern Michigan … The Eagles can't seem to make their own offensive breaks, and they weren't able to come up with any big second half drives to change the momentum against Ball State. The secondary couldn't stop Nate Davis and Dante Love, having a hard time getting the Cardinals off the field, and the running game didn't do nearly enough to force BSU to do anything drastic. Basically, the offense has to start going on longer drives and has to start giving the defense some breaks.
Kent State … Kentucky's offense is going to light up everyone like a Christmas tree, so there's no need to be too concerned about the blowout score, especially since the defense didn't do an awful job yardage-wise. Four turnovers were a major problem that killed key drives; that can't happen for the Golden Flashes against the better teams. Julian Edelman and Eugene Jarvis proved once again that they'll be a nasty twosome to deal with all season long. If there can be a little more from the passing game, KSU will be unstoppable against the average defenses.
Miami University … After beating Ball State in the final minutes and taking Minnesota to three overtimes, Miami games are certainly going to be fun. The offense was humming in the second half with the combination of Mike Kokal and Daniel Raudabaugh bombing away, but the defense couldn't handle Minnesota when it started to get physical. That could be a big problem over the next two weeks against Cincinnati and Colorado teams that aren't afraid to pound the ball. Even so, the safety combination of Jordan Gafford and Robbie Wilson were excellent, combining for 25 tackles and two tackles for loss.
Northern Illinois … Choke. It's an ugly word, but that's the only way to describe what happened to Northern Illinois against Southern Illinois. The offense basically turned off the production over the final 20 minutes, while the defense couldn't get a stop on a key 15-play, 84-yard SIU drive to get within striking distance. The Huskies have to immediately put this game behind them and focus on what's important. This loss doesn't mean anything if NIU can get hot in MAC play from the start, and it begins next week against Eastern Michigan.
Ohio … The defense had major issues with the UL Lafayette running game and didn't do much of anything to slow down the attack until the fourth quarter. That's why RB Kalvin McRae was so valuable, as he did a little of everything to keep Ohio in the game before taking over in the fourth quarter. Brad Bower came up with a good, efficient day throwing the ball, and now he'll need to be even better with a trip to face an angry Virginia Tech team ahead.
Temple … Just when it appeared Temple was starting to turn a little bit of a corner with a tough showing in a loss to Navy, it gets crushed by Buffalo. The Owl offensive line got destroyed, while the defense didn't do much of anything on short passes; UB was razor-sharp on third downs. Now it's back to the drawing board for the young team before going on the road for three straight games. There won't be any improvement until the lines start to play much, much better.
Toledo … Toledo's defense has now fallen off the map late in two straight games. That's not a plus with the suddenly high-powered Kansas team ahead. The quarterback situation appears to have been settled, at least for now, with Aaron Opelt having a whale of a game against Central Michigan, but he'll have to be better in the second half considering the way the defense has melted down. Getting more out of the running game to crank out some long late drives would be a plus.
Western Michigan … The Broncos aren't bringing the pressure they were able to throughout last year, and it's killing the defensive back seven. The offense took a while to get going against the Hoosiers, and it was helped by IU letting up, but QB Tim Hiller still came through with a strong 343-yard performance with Jamarko Simmons showing why he's one of the MAC's elite offensive playmakers with 14 catches. To have any shot against Missouri, the offense has to be bombing away from the word go, but there has to be decent pass protection for Hiller, who was sacked eight times by IU.

East	Conference				Overall					Home		Away
	W	L	PF	PA	W	L	PF	PA	STR	W	L	W	L
Buffalo	1	0	42	7	1	1	45	45	W1	0	0	1	1
Miami University	1	0	14	13	1	1	49	54	L1	0	0	1	1
Ohio	0	0	0	0	2	0	67	37	W2	1	0	1	0
Bowling Green	0	0	0	0	1	1	49	59	L1	0	0	1	1
Kent State	0	0	0	0	1	1	43	70	L1	0	0	1	1
Akron	0	0	0	0	1	1	24	34	L1	1	0	0	1
Temple	0	1	7	42	0	2	26	72	L2	0	2	0	0

West	Conference				Overall					Home		Away
	W	L	PF	PA	W	L	PF	PA	STR	W	L	W	L
Central Michigan	1	0	52	31	1	1	59	83	W1	1	0	0	1
Ball State	1	1	51	30	1	1	51	30	W1	0	1	1	0
Western Michigan	0	0	0	0	0	1	24	62	L1	0	0	0	1
Northern Illinois	0	0	0	0	0	2	34	50	L2	0	2	0	0
Toledo	0	1	31	52	0	2	55	104	L2	0	1	0	1
Eastern Michigan	0	1	16	38	0	2	19	65	L2	0	1	0	1

Saturday, September 8
12:00 PM	at Ohio State 20 ... Akron 2 CFN Prediction: OSU 45-10  OSU -28.5
12:00 PM	at Michigan State 28 ... Bowling Green 17 CFN Prediction: MSU 38-20  MSU -15
12:00 PM	at Minnesota 41 ... Miami Univ. 35 3OT CFN Prediction: Min 31-16   Min -11
1:00 PM	Buffalo 42 ... at Temple 7 CFN Prediction: Temple 23-19   TU -2
3:00 PM	Ball State 38 ... at Eastern Michigan 16 CFN Prediction: BSU 31-21   BSU -7
6:00 PM	at Kentucky 56 ... Kent State 20 CFN Prediction: UK 35-20   UK -14
7:00 PM	Ohio 31 ... at UL Lafayette 23 CFN Prediction: ULL 27-24   Ohio -4
7:00 PM	at Central Michigan 52 ... Toledo 31 CFN Prediction: Toledo 30-27   CMU -6
7:30 PM	Southern Illinois 34 ... at Northern Illinois 31 CFN Prediction: NIU 20-17
8:00 PM	Indiana 37 ... at Western Michigan 27 CFN Prediction: IU 31-30   WMU -3

Past MAC Games of the Week
Sept. 1 - Bowling Green 32 ... at Minnesota 31 OT
Sept. 8 - Minnesota 41 ... Miami Univ. 35 3OT

Past MAC Players of the Week
Sept. 1 - Bowling Green QB Tyler Sheehan
Sept. 8 - Ohio RB Kalvin McRae