Scout.com: MAC Conference Roundup

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
Buffalo 30 ... Kent State 23 OT
Brandon Thermilus ran for a one-yard touchdown on Buffalo's overtime possession, and Kent State couldn't answer with Anthony Mazazu getting sacked on fourth down to give the Bulls a share of the MAC East title. Drew Willy threw two second half touchdowns and A.J. Principe nailed field goals from 21, 23 and 23 yards out, while the Golden Flashes got two touchdown passes from Anthony Magazu and a two-yard Andre Flowers touchdown run. Derrek Burrell made 16 stops and forced a fumble for Kent State, while Buffalo's Davonte Shannon made 15 stops with two forced fumbles for the Bulls.

MAC Player of the Week
Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour completed 33 of 54 passes for 382 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions, and ran 16 times for 132 yards and two scores in the win over Akron.

Conference Roundup

Akron … At least Akron can say it had the two MAC title combatants on the ropes. After losing to Miami late in last week's game, the Zips blew it against Central Michigan by not being able to hang on in the final seven minutes. The offense, outside of two huge runs from Bryan Williams, failed to consistently gouge a lousy Chippewa defense, but on the plus side, Jabari Arthur capped off a great career as the team's all-time leading receiver after making eight grabs for 111 yards.
Ball State … It was a struggle, but the Cardinals got past a NIU team that fought hard on Senior Day to cement its bowl plans. At 6-6 the Cards would likely have been left out, but they're in at 7-5. Nate Davis was his typical fantastic passing self, but it took way too long to put the game away. The defense isn't going to be a rock, but it had a knack over the second half of the year of coming up clutch in MAC play. Forget about the D; in the expected bowl game, it'll be all about Davis bombing away.
Bowling Green … And now the Falcons are bowling. With seven win, they had a shot, but now they'll get an extra game after stomping Toledo for the eighth win of the year to close out a sliding year with a strong November winning four straight games. The emergence of the running game to help out Tyler Sheehan and the passing attack has proved to change things around while the defense stepped up over the past few weeks. The defense did a fantastic job against a high-powered Rocket attack.
Buffalo … The amazing turnaround season for Buffalo might not have resulted in a winning season or a MAC title, 5-7 is still impressive after years of being awful. A share of the MAC East title is more than the program could've ever dreamed of, while the team showed it could not only be competitive, but successful. Drew Willy came up with a tremendous game throwing the ball against Kent State, but there could've been more from James Starks and the running game. No matter; a season-ending win is still going to be sweet for the rising program.
Central Michigan … CMU can breathe a sigh of relief. The last thing it wanted to do was go into the MAC title game on a two-game losing streak and needing a win to avoid a losing regular season, and it came through in the clutch with Dan LeFevour saving the day to beat Akron. It shouldn't have come down to a late rally. CMU outgained the Zips 639 yards to 323, but three turnovers and ten penalties were killers. Outside of giving up two huge runs, the defense didn't do an awful job, and it came through when it had to in the fourth quarter. Now the team can finally focus on Miami and a second straight MAC title.
Eastern Michigan … Didn’t Play This Week
Kent State … The Golden Flashes never seemed to catch the right break over the second half of the season and over the final six-game losing streak. The quarterback injuries were a major part of the problem, but the defense didn't come through when it had to. Against Buffalo, Drew Willy was able to throw way too easily without much of a pass rush getting to him. There's a fine line between a 3-9 campaign and a winning season in the MAC. Last year the team got the right plays at the right time to finish 6-6. This year nothing went right over the second half of the season in crunch time.
Miami University … Did Miami actually need to beat Ohio? Maybe. Of course the RedHawks are already in the MAC title game and can achieve their ultimate goal with a win next week, but if they lose to Central Michigan, they'll be 6-7 and possibly out of the bowl picture. The MAC is still waiting on a ruling on whether or not a team with a losing record can play in a bowl this year. The defense came up with its second straight strong game, but the offense failed to close out drives with touchdowns in the second half. Yards won't be a problem against the Chippewas, so it'll be all about closing.
Northern Illinois … Talk about lousy timing, NIU head coach Joe Novak's contract is up coming off a disastrous 2-10 season. The offense never found anything it could rely on outside of RB Justin Anderson, who was held to nine yards on six carries. QB Ryan Morris got good experience and kept up the pace, for the most part, with Ball State's Nate Davis for extended stretches, but there will be several big battles for jobs this offseason.
Ohio … The loss to Akron last week ruined Ohio's realistic chances to go to a bowl, but the team closed out with a nice defensive game against Miami to close out strong. The offense might not have moved the ball much, but it didn't matter with the way the defense held time and again in the second half as the RedHawks couldn't get the ball in the end zone. This could've been a great year had the close losses to Wyoming and Toledo gone the other way, but it still wasn't too bad.
Temple … A week after playing so well against Kent State, QB Vaughn Charlton was awful against Western Michigan. While he has the potential to challenge for the starting job next year, accuracy will be his key. He has to be able to make the easy throws to keep the offense moving, and he has to show off a little more of his mobility. With four wins, this was a strong building block of a season for the young team, and now the expectations will be high going into next year.
Toledo … Missing starting QB Aaron Opelt to a foot injury proved to be a big problem for the Rockets as Clint Cochran was rusty and made too many mistakes against Bowling Green. The one-time red hot offense cooled considerably over the last two weeks just when a bowl game seemed inevitable. Now it's back to the drawing board for a defense that rarely came up with key stop and had way too many problems throughout the year against the run.
Western Michigan … Considering this was a disappointing year, closing out with wins over Iowa and Temple certainly eased the pain. The defense showed up and the team started winning again. With so many close losses, and with the way the team played against the Hawkeyes and Owls, there's some momentum generated into the offseason. It shouldn't take much work to get into MAC title contention next year.

Friday, November 23
11:00 AM	Central Michigan 35 ... at Akron 32 CFN Prediction: Akron 38-35 CMU -3
2:30 PM	at Bowling Green 37 ... Toledo 10 CFN Prediction: Toledo 34-30 BGSU -6.5

Saturday, November 24
1:00 PM	Buffalo 30 ... at Kent State 23 OT CFN Prediction: UB 24-20 KSU -1.5
2:00 PM	at Ohio 39 ... Miami Univ. 29 CFN Prediction: Ohio 31-17 Ohio -2.5
2:00 PM	at Western Michigan 16 ... Temple 3 CFN Prediction: WMU 27-17 WMU -11
4:00 PM	Ball State 27 ... at Northern Illinois 21 CFN Prediction: Ball State 34-24 BSU -8.5

Past MAC Games of the Week
Sept. 1 - Bowling Green 32 ... at Minnesota 31 OT
Sept. 8 - Minnesota 41 ... Miami Univ. 35 3OT
Sept. 15 - Ball State 34 ... Navy 31 OT
Sept. 22 - Toledo 36 ... Iowa State 35
Sept. 29 - Kent State 33 ... Ohio 25
Oct. 6 - Akron 39 ... at Western Michigan 38
Oct. 13 - Temple 24 ... at Akron 20
Oct. 20 - at Toledo 43 ... Ohio 40
Oct. 27 - Central Michigan 41 ... at Kent State 32
Nov. 3 - at Miami Univ. 31 ... Buffalo 28
Nov. 10 - Central Michigan 34 ... at Western Michigan 31
Nov. 17 - Eastern Michigan 48 ... at Central Michigan 45
Nov. 24 - Buffalo 30 ... at Kent State 23 OT

Past MAC Players of the Week
Sept. 1 - Bowling Green QB Tyler Sheehan
Sept. 8 - Ohio RB Kalvin McRae
Sept. 15 - Ball State QB Nate Davis
Sept. 22 - Northern Illinois DE Larry English
Sept. 29 - Kent State RB Eugene Jarvis
Oct. 6 - Akron DB Andre Jones and WR Alphonso Owen
Oct. 13 - Buffalo RB James Starks
Oct. 20 - Toledo RB Jalen Parmele
Oct. 27 - Toledo RB Aaron Opelt
Nov. 3 - Toledo RB Jalen Parmele
Nov. 10 - Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour
Nov. 17 - Eastern Michigan RB Pierre Walker
Nov. 24 - Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour

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