no.illinois at iowa
no drew tate for iowa. but right now, northern just isnt good enough to comfortably back at anything less than 21. thats really saying something because this is what should have been the best team in the mac this year. but they just haven't gotten it done. to make matters worse, they've got quartback issues of their own. horvath is dangerously close to losing his job to nicholson. and the northern defense has been a disappointment, especially in the secondary. will iowa take advantage of it? we'll see. hawkeyes have issues of their own. but anyone backing northern should know what they're getting into. wolfe hasn't cracked 100 in back to back weeks and was kept in check by miami prior to that despite breaking a couple long ones. this team just hasn't met expectations and there's no reason to think it's going to start on saturday. even wolfe's darkhorse heisman campaign is now shot.
ohio at kent state
in a way, its good for mac football that these two are playing such a marquee game -- arguably the biggest of the mac season. but that also underscores the disappointing seasons of the teams that SHOULD be playing the big games -- toledo, northern illinois, and akron. kent coming off a true bye week. ohio coming off a quasi-bye week having played buffalo last saturday. fundamentally, ohio is better. but kent has more players capable of making big plays. if ohio can run the football, they win outright. if they can't, they don't cover. it sounds simple, but capping ohio university is pretty straightforward. so will they be able to run on kent? the flashes have improved their defense tenfold, but its still tough to ignore the way minnesota bludgeoned them in the season opener on the ground. ohio plays the same physical style as minnesota. theyre the one mac team who can really play smashmouth football. for that reason alone, they have to be worth a look. very hard game to cap, but the likelihood of ohio winning outright definitely greater than the likelihood that kent wins by double digits. bobcats, on paper, are a very live dog capable of winning straight up.
akron at toledo
this was supposed to be 'the game'. primetime game at the glass bowl. both teams contending for titles on their sides of the conference. but toledo has been mathematically eliminated before halloween while akron's mac ttle chances are all but shot as well. it's downright scary how far toledo has slipped. from a team who, coming into the season, had won 34 of their last 37 SU at home and been dominant in the process .... to now being installed as a 5 point home dog to an underachieving akron team in the same boat. rock bottom might have been last week against eastern michigan in a 17-13 loss. it might have been the strangest mac game of the year. emu up 9-0 at halftime. blown chances on both sides all afternoon. toledo rallies in the 4th with a score to cut it to 9-7. then scores with just 2:00 left to take a 13-9 lead. they try for the 2-point conversion. fumble it. let eastern run it back for their own 2 point score. now its 13-11. and then emu scores with 0:30 left for the outright win. pretty fu.cked up game to say the least. clint cochran came off the bench in the 4th quarter to lead toledo to 2 TDs so youd have to expect him to reclaim his starting position for this game. but you never know. the toledo troubles are/were hardly opelt's fault. the quarterback hasnt been the problem for this team. receiver drops, stupid penalties, and a surprisingly lame defense have all played a role in the decline of the rockets. normally, toledo as a home dog would be a no-brainer obligatory play. but akron is at least showing some fight and theyve got the weapons to really shred the toledo defense. amstutz is trying to stay optimistic but the reality is that toledo is just not good right now. they could tank the next few weeks before coming up with one season-saving effort in their rivalry game against bowling green.
ball state at miami
line finally starting to climb up to where it probably should be. these teams might have similar records but miami is significantly better than ball state. the redhawks are having trouble in pass protection but ball states defense is so bad they cant even exploit that weakness. davis was yanked at qb last week and joey lynch took over. the fact that ball state allowed western michigan, a team with a pedestrian offense, to score 40+ goes to show how lame they are on that side of the ball. miami's season is shot, but they are capable of 'getting well' this weekend.
no drew tate for iowa. but right now, northern just isnt good enough to comfortably back at anything less than 21. thats really saying something because this is what should have been the best team in the mac this year. but they just haven't gotten it done. to make matters worse, they've got quartback issues of their own. horvath is dangerously close to losing his job to nicholson. and the northern defense has been a disappointment, especially in the secondary. will iowa take advantage of it? we'll see. hawkeyes have issues of their own. but anyone backing northern should know what they're getting into. wolfe hasn't cracked 100 in back to back weeks and was kept in check by miami prior to that despite breaking a couple long ones. this team just hasn't met expectations and there's no reason to think it's going to start on saturday. even wolfe's darkhorse heisman campaign is now shot.
ohio at kent state
in a way, its good for mac football that these two are playing such a marquee game -- arguably the biggest of the mac season. but that also underscores the disappointing seasons of the teams that SHOULD be playing the big games -- toledo, northern illinois, and akron. kent coming off a true bye week. ohio coming off a quasi-bye week having played buffalo last saturday. fundamentally, ohio is better. but kent has more players capable of making big plays. if ohio can run the football, they win outright. if they can't, they don't cover. it sounds simple, but capping ohio university is pretty straightforward. so will they be able to run on kent? the flashes have improved their defense tenfold, but its still tough to ignore the way minnesota bludgeoned them in the season opener on the ground. ohio plays the same physical style as minnesota. theyre the one mac team who can really play smashmouth football. for that reason alone, they have to be worth a look. very hard game to cap, but the likelihood of ohio winning outright definitely greater than the likelihood that kent wins by double digits. bobcats, on paper, are a very live dog capable of winning straight up.
akron at toledo
this was supposed to be 'the game'. primetime game at the glass bowl. both teams contending for titles on their sides of the conference. but toledo has been mathematically eliminated before halloween while akron's mac ttle chances are all but shot as well. it's downright scary how far toledo has slipped. from a team who, coming into the season, had won 34 of their last 37 SU at home and been dominant in the process .... to now being installed as a 5 point home dog to an underachieving akron team in the same boat. rock bottom might have been last week against eastern michigan in a 17-13 loss. it might have been the strangest mac game of the year. emu up 9-0 at halftime. blown chances on both sides all afternoon. toledo rallies in the 4th with a score to cut it to 9-7. then scores with just 2:00 left to take a 13-9 lead. they try for the 2-point conversion. fumble it. let eastern run it back for their own 2 point score. now its 13-11. and then emu scores with 0:30 left for the outright win. pretty fu.cked up game to say the least. clint cochran came off the bench in the 4th quarter to lead toledo to 2 TDs so youd have to expect him to reclaim his starting position for this game. but you never know. the toledo troubles are/were hardly opelt's fault. the quarterback hasnt been the problem for this team. receiver drops, stupid penalties, and a surprisingly lame defense have all played a role in the decline of the rockets. normally, toledo as a home dog would be a no-brainer obligatory play. but akron is at least showing some fight and theyve got the weapons to really shred the toledo defense. amstutz is trying to stay optimistic but the reality is that toledo is just not good right now. they could tank the next few weeks before coming up with one season-saving effort in their rivalry game against bowling green.
ball state at miami
line finally starting to climb up to where it probably should be. these teams might have similar records but miami is significantly better than ball state. the redhawks are having trouble in pass protection but ball states defense is so bad they cant even exploit that weakness. davis was yanked at qb last week and joey lynch took over. the fact that ball state allowed western michigan, a team with a pedestrian offense, to score 40+ goes to show how lame they are on that side of the ball. miami's season is shot, but they are capable of 'getting well' this weekend.
