2022 Week 0/1 MAC Conference Round-Up

[PoopyRhinoPickle]

Results

Week 0:

Ball State def. Purdue 33-17

Week 1:

Akron def. Virginia 34-23

Cincinnati def. Ohio 30-10

Central Michigan def. Memphis 20-13

Western Michigan def. Minnesota 26-3

Florida def. Kent State 14-9

Texas A&M def. Northern Illinois 14-0

Tennessee def. Bowling Green 14-10

Texas Tech def. Buffalo 35-3

Maryland def. Eastern Michigan 23-13

Miami (OH) def. West Virginia 33-20

Texas def. Toledo 28-13

 

Best performance of the week: Ball State def. Purdue 33-17

We knew that Ball State was probably better than their 5-8 record indicated last year, largely due to their incredibly difficult out-of-conference schedule. Well to start this season all they've done is thoroughly beat a College Football Playoff team. They have to feel good about how they did it as well. If you remember from my preseason power rankings I said that the year would likely depend on how well QB Scott Romero would play. He played great, going 30-40 for 386 yards, 2 TDs and 0 Ints. That's good enough to lead the conference in QB rating after 1 game being played. RB Garrett Cordier, who I would argue is the best RB in the conference, hasn't quite found his groove on the ground but still had 8 catches for 133 yards and a TD. With an easier schedule than last season Ball State has to feel good about what they can accomplish this year.

 

Worst performance of the week: Texas Tech def. Buffalo 35-3

This can't feel good for Buffalo. First off, congrats to Texas Tech for their first win as a program. Not only will Buffalo forever be the first team to lose to Texas Tech, but they did it in pretty embarrassing fashion. QB Jeff Whitehead was on 11-25 for 76 yards with 1 pick and 90 yards rushing. One could be encouraged by his performance running the ball, but that's about the only thing Buffalo had going for them in this game. They play Rutgers next, who looked really good in their week 0 game, so it will likely get worse before it gets better for Buffalo.

 

Offensive Player of the Week: QB Scott Romero, Ball State, 30-40 386 pass yards, 2 TDs vs Purdue

 

Defensive Player of the Week: ILB Chase Britton, Kent State, 9 tackles, 5 TFLs (tied conference record) vs Florida

 

Special Teams Player of the Week: K Baker Gallegos, Miami (OH), 4-4 FGs, 3-3 XPs vs West Virginia

 

MAC Snapshot

West Division

 

Team	Conference	Overall	Next game
Ball State	0-0	1-0	at UConn
Central Michigan	0-0	1-0	Boise State
Western Michigan	0-0	1-0	UCLA
Eastern Michigan	0-0	0-1	at Middle Tennessee
Northern Illinois	0-0	0-1	Troy
Toledo	0-0	0-1	Louisville

No real surprises here in the sense that the 3 teams that won are probably the 3 strongest in the entire conference. WMU looked strong in a solid win over Minnesota where Scribner really flung the ball around but was only able to pass for 1 TD. It's tough to gauge CMU's win over Memphis since we don't really know how good Memphis will be this year. Toledo wasn't blown out by Texas, which they have to feel good about. It'll be interesting to see how well NIU fares this season given their talented roster, but with no coach it could fall pretty flat.

 

East Division

Team	Conference	Overall	Next game
Akron	0-0	1-0	at Northwestern
Miami (OH)	0-0	1-0	Temple
Bowling Green	0-0	0-1	Ohio State
Buffalo	0-0	0-1	Rutgers
Kent State	0-0	0-1	at Iowa
Ohio	0-0	0-1	Syracuse

Akron's win was in contention for performance of the week, especially considering Virginia played in the ACC Championship last year. Zips QB Quandre Quintanilla will be one to watch this year. He has a lively arm but he's only a Sophomore so there could be some similar performances where he tosses 3 picks. He has a couple weapons to get the ball to so look for Akron, like last year, to push a lot of teams and rack up some points. Miami really surprised me with a win over West Virginia. You may recall I had them last in my preseason power rankings so I really had no expectations of them this season, but they've already exceeded them! Bowling Green will be kicking themselves for losing the game against Tennessee, with costly mistakes hurting them and costing them points. They'll need to get it sorted quickly with a talented Ohio State team coming to town this week. Ohio is crashing back to reality in this post-Asencio world they now live in.