2022 Week 3 MAC Conference Round-Up

[PoopyRhinoPickle]

Results

UConn def. Ohio 25-0

Cincinnati def. Miami (OH) 31-27

Ball State def. New Mexico State 24-13

Northern Illinois def. #13 Arizona 23-3

#11 Western Michigan def. #14 Washington 42-10

Toledo def. #7 Pitt 30-6

Northwestern def. Bowling Green 50-35

Wisconsin def. Akron 14-13

Middle Tennessee def. Buffalo 13-10

#24 Michigan State def. Eastern Michigan 48-34

#3 Central Michigan - Bye

Kent State - Bye

Best performance of the week: Toledo def. #7 Pitt 30-6

I was tempted to put WMU here given their impressive dismantling of a highly ranked team, but I think we need to acknowledge what Toledo was able to pull off over the weekend. The Rockets are by far the least talented team in the MAC and not only did they beat the #7 team in the country, it wasn't particularly close. QB Eric Diekman easily had the best game a Toledo QB has ever had, going 25-37 for 282 yards, 2 TDs and 1 Int, and it was only the 2nd time that a Toledo QB has thrown for more than 200 yards. The run game looked good too, going for 186 yards at almost 7 yards a carry. Toledo's defense playing well doesn't really surprise me, they returned a lot of defensive productivity from last year despite the players not looking that good on paper. Give it up for the Rockets for the biggest win in their history (only their 3rd).

 

Worst performance of the week: Northwestern def. Bowling Green 50-35

You could probably make the argument that Ohio belongs here, but I'm going to own up to this disappointing performance. The 15 point loss is the worst in program history and giving up 50 points is the 2nd worst ever in the MAC. The defense had a pathetic performance allowing Northwestern to both throw and run the ball at will, giving up almost 600 yards of offense, a far departure from the typical performance fans are used to from the Falcons D (was #1 in the conference in yards allowed per game in 2021 and through Week 2 of this season). Not the kind of momentum you want to have going into the start of the conference season.

 

Offensive Player of the Week: WMU WR Andy Anderson; 11 recs, 235 rec yards, 5 rec TDs (conference record) vs #14 Washington

 

Defensive Player of the Week: WMU ILB Niko James; 17 total tackles (conference record), 3.5 TFLs vs #14 Washington

 

Special Teams Player of the Week: Toledo K Ryan Tunsil; 3-3 FGs, 3-3 XPs vs #7 Pitt

 

MAC Snapshot

West Division

Team	Conference	Overall	Next game
Western Michigan	0-0	3-0	at Miami (OH)
Central Michigan	0-0	2-0	Buffalo
Ball State	0-0	2-1	at Toledo
Northern Illinois	0-0	2-1	at Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan	0-0	1-2	Northern Illinois
Toledo	0-0	1-2	Ball State

We're seeing the West Division really stand head and shoulders above the East now. Last week I pointed out that the West teams were about to play 5 teams who hadn't lost yet and whaddya know they went 4-1 in those games. Western Michigan's win was a bit of a wake up call to the rest of the nation that the Broncos and QB Theo Scribner are for real. Don't count out Ball State though as they got back on track with a good win over New Mexico State. Northern Illinois is a little more difficult to figure out, they have (by far) the #1 rusher in the conference and the #1 defense in yards allowed, so that tracks with their talented roster. Eastern Michigan is pretty plucky with the #2 offense in the MAC and they put up a solid fight against a good Michigan State team last week. All of this is without discussing the elephant in the room: Central Michigan. Ranked #3 in the country going into the week and easily the most talented roster in the conference was on a Bye.

 

East Division

Team	Conference	Overall	Next game
Miami (OH)	0-0	2-1	Western Michigan
Akron	0-0	1-2	at Ohio
Bowling Green	0-0	1-2	Kent State
Buffalo	0-0	1-2	at Central Michigan
Ohio	0-0	1-2	Akron
Kent State	0-0	0-2	at Bowling Green

Oof, a rough week for the division, going 0-5. The good news is that they largely get to start beating up on each other now? Miami can hang their hat on keeping it close with a 3-0 Cincy team, but it won't get any easier this week as Western Michigan comes to town. Buffalo has an above average defense but I don't think that will make up for the wide gap in talent against Central Michigan. Bowling Green should be comfortable against Kent State, if things don't go according to plan we might be seeing an offensive change for the Falcons. An interesting case study is Ohio WR Jerald Paulsen. The guy had Yusei Asencio throwing him the rock last year and all he did was have 117 catches for 2,341 (!) receiving yards and 15 TDs in 15 games. This year without Asencio? 11 catches, 146 yards and 1 TD in 3 games. Poor guy.