2022 Week 8 MAC Conference Round-Up

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Results

Ball State def. Miami (OH) 41-40

Ohio def. Buffalo 15-0

Central Michigan def. UNLV 17-3

Akron def. Northern Illinois 27-20

Western Michigan def. Northwestern 28-10

Toledo def. Kent State 24-3

Eastern Michigan - Bye

Bowling Green - Bye

 

Best performance of the week: Western Michigan def. Northwestern 28-10

Western Michigan did what they needed to do here, they beat a solid out-of-conference foe and looked comfortable doing it. Scribner had a below-average day, only throwing for 414 yards (he average 462 ypg this season) and 3 TDs, but didn't turn the ball over. The gameball should probably go to the WMU defense for stepping up when needed. The Bronco D recorded 3 sacks and 3 turnovers against a good Northwestern offense. Western Michigan's defense has gone a little under the radar this season, playing in the shadow of QB Theo Scribner, but they've performed well all season, leading the MAC in yards-allowed and points-allowed per game.

 

Worst performance of the week: Ohio def. Buffalo 15-0

Buffalo will be very disappointed with their performance against Ohio this week. Ohio has easily the worst offense in the conference, combined with the 10th best defense. Buffalo has a very one-dimensional offense, but it isn't a bad offense, they lead the MAC in rush yards per game. Still they were shut out by a bad Ohio defense. On top of that, 15 points is the 2nd most Ohio has scored this season in a game, behind 16 against Syracuse. Given that Buffalo is the 3rd team behind Bowling Green and Akron in the East Division, they had to have the expectation to win this game and all they did was lay an egg.

 

Offensive Player of the Week: Ball State RB Garett Cordier; 30 carries, 105 rush yards, 16 recs (MAC record), 154 rec yards, 3 rec TDs vs Miami (OH)

 

Defensive Player of the Week: Western Michigan DE Will Lee; 11 tackles, 6 TFLs (MAC record), 1 sack vs Northwestern

 

Special Teams Player of the Week: Ball State K Alex Parker; 2-2 FGs, 5-5 XPs vs Miami (OH)

 

MAC Snapshot

West Division

Team	Conference	Overall	Next game
Western Michigan	4-0	8-0	Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan	3-1	4-3	at Western Michigan
Central Michigan	2-2	5-2	at Northern Illinois
Ball State	2-2	4-3	at Middle Tennessee
Toledo	2-2	3-5	BYE
Northern Illinois	1-3	3-5	at Central Michigan

The only real movement in the division this week is at the bottom of the standing. Ball State's win helps them move up and things are looking brighter for them in terms of bowl eligibility. Toledo continues to outperform last season getting just their 3rd MAC win of all-time. Western vs Eastern has more importance than I think most people would have guessed coming into the season with Western having the opportunity to put some distance between themselves and 2nd place.

 

East Division

Team	Conference	Overall	Next game
Bowling Green	3-0	5-2	at Akron
Akron	4-1	5-3	Bowling Green
Buffalo	2-3	3-5	Miami (OH)
Ohio	1-3	2-5	at Kent State
Miami (OH)	1-4	3-5	at Buffalo
Kent State	0-4	0-6	Ohio

The most important matchup in the East comes this week as Bowling Green heads to Akron. The winner of this game will have a vital head-to-head tiebreaker when it comes to deciding who will make it to the MAC Championship. The bottom 4 of the division are probably the worst-4 teams in the conference so I don't expect them to be in play for the division and frankly any of them will be lucky to reach bowl eligibility.