FoSat Week Two MAC Football Recap: The Eagles are Flying High

Eastern Michigan snagged a big win on Saturday at Purdue. Ball State looks like a challenger in the MAC West now while Buffalo looks like the team to beat in the MAC East.

What Happened?

• Ball State did what Michigan couldn’t do in week one: get to Brandon Wimbush. The Cardinals forced the Notre Dame quarterback into three interceptions and made things uncomfortable in South Bend down to the wire. The Cardinals fell 24–16 to the Irish but look every bit a contender in the MAC West right now.
• Western Michigan ran into an angry buzz saw of a football team in Ann Arbor, losing 49–3 to the Michigan Wolverines. The Broncos are dreadful on defense, especially against the run. Michigan amassed 308 rushing yards on nearly nine yards per carry.
• Eastern Michigan beat Purdue on the road 20–19 in one of the biggest wins in program history. Chad Ryland’s game-winning chip shot sent the Eagles to 2–0, capping off a strong day in West Lafayette where EMU got more great quarterback play out of Tyler Wiegers and Mike Glass.

• Central Michigan took a bad loss at home to Kansas 31–7. It’s probably time to officially declare this a rebuilding year for the Chippewas. CMU just couldn’t get it going on offense against a team that lost to FCS Nicholls just a week ago. Tony Poljan threw four interceptions and is clearly going through some growing pains in his first year under center for the Chips.
• Buffalo took care of business in Philadelphia, beating Temple 36–29. It was another big day for Tyree Jackson as the Buffalo quarterback racked up 275 yards and three touchdowns. Also, extend a warm welcome to running back Kevin Marks, who ran all over the Owls for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 5.5 yards per carry. Oh, and Jackson’s got a cannon, if you didn’t already know:

• Kent State did the opposite of what Ohio did last week. The Flashes took care of Howard easily at home, winning 54–14 behind a strong day in the running game led by Justin Rankin. Rankin averaged over 12 yards per carry, ending with 147 yards and a touchdown. Jo-El Shaw was no slouch either, racking up 105 yards on 8.8 yards per carry.
• Akron finally got to play. The Zips blew out Morgan State at home 41–7 led by quarterback Kato Nelson’s 232 yards and three touchdowns. Akron’s defense had a strong showing as well, holding the Bears to just 192 total yards.
• Bowling Green started hot against Maryland but collapsed in the fourth quarter, losing to the Terps 45–14. The Falcons actually led 14–10 at halftime and trailed just 17–14 headed into the fourth quarter, but a 28-point quarter from Maryland sank the Falcons’ chances at an upset at the Doyt.
• Northern Illinois still couldn’t get the offense going in week two, dropping their home opener to Utah 17–6. The Huskie defense played well, especially against the run, holding the Utes to fewer than two yards per carry on the ground. A late interception return for a touchdown by Utah sealed the deal in the fourth quarter, putting the then four-point game out of reach for good.
• Miami will have to wait another year to stop the losing streak against Cincinnati. The Bearcats shut out the RedHawks in Paul Brown Stadium 21–0. Miami only gained 198 total yards on offense, though the defense still played well, holding Cincinnati to just 233.

What We Think We Know After Week Two

Western Michigan Has the MAC West’s Worst Defense (and it Should Worry Bronco Fans)

Who has the worst defense in the MAC West? Ask me two weeks ago and the answer would be, without hesitation, Ball State. But that was then and this is now. Welcome to misery, Bronco fans. The early 2010’s are back, baby!

Western Michigan is currently allowing 52 points per game to Syracuse and Michigan combined, and while you can probably expect that number to fall as the offensive lines get a bit smaller and the skill positions less deep, it’s not a great sign. WMU’s big issue is in stopping the run. Why wouldn’t it be? They lost all three starting linebackers from a year ago, so some regression is expected. The problem is the Broncos seem to have regressed from decent to downright awful, surrendering 5.5 and 8.8 yards per carry on the ground respectively the past two weeks.

The defense not showing signs of improvement or fight comes at a very bad time for the Broncos, who are now looking at a MAC West that looks a lot better in the middle to top than it did a month ago.

Eastern Michigan and Ball State Look Ready to Take on the MAC’s Best

The reason the middle to top of the MAC West seems better is because Ball State and Eastern Michigan look ready to spoil everyone’s fun at the moment. The Eagles ran into West Lafayette and beat Purdue this week and now the only question for EMU now is can they compete at the top of the MAC West? Depending on what you think of Purdue, that answer is probably yes. Why not Eastern Michigan, the way Tyler Wiegers is playing?

With Ball State, it’s beginning to look more and more like this is the breakout year Mike Neu is looking for. The Cardinals played a one-score game in South Bend a week after Michigan did the same thing. Imagine how weird the world looks in a few weeks if Ball State is three touchdowns better than Western Michigan? With each of these teams turning the corner, someone in the MAC West better be secretly head and shoulders better than the rest (maybe unfair to consider Toledo a secret) or else we could be in for a really wild multi-team tie at the top of the division.

Buffalo is The Best Team in the East Until Proven Otherwise

With Buffalo, it feels uncomfortable just declaring them ready to win the MAC East after beating an FCS school and then an FBS school that lost to an FCS school. But the Bulls look the part right now while Ohio doesn’t, and that’s good enough for me at present.

The Bulls are good at every position. They have a quarterback that looks better than anyone right now. They have the best linebacker in the MAC. They have the best wide receiver in the MAC. They can plug anyone in at running back and find success it seems like, and while that’s not the only way to judge an offensive line I feel like that unit definitely has something to do with it. Another point for the offensive line: 72 straight drop backs without a sack to start the season. Don’t pencil in the Bobcats just yet.

What to Look Out For Next Week

• Buffalo vs Eastern Michigan has become an extremely important MAC game all of a sudden. Winner of this game could be the best team in the MAC aside from Toledo. Who knew?
• Ball State travels to Bloomington as a two-touchdown underdog against Indiana. If what the Cardinals showed against Notre Dame is no fluke, they should be headed back to Muncie with a win.
• Toledo plays host to Miami coming off a bye. Current lines show Toledo as a 10-point underdog. Could be quite a night in the Glass Bowl.
• Ohio heads to Virginia and can calm a lot of nerves with a win. The favorites to win the MAC should be better than this Virginia team, and the Bobcats need to prove they still deserve that title.