with each passing week of the football season, this conference gets tougher and tougher to cap. make no mistake about it, theres not a lot of good football being played in the mac right now. the best team on either side of the conference right now wouldnt hang within 10 of the last couple division winners.
miami at western michigan
miami playing out the string for the first time in a long time. ryne robinson's career has come full circle. as a freshman, hes catching passes from roethlisberger and playing for a juggernaut miami team that was one of the mac's best teams of the last decade. now as a senior hes catching passes from mike kokal and playing for a 1-8 miami team that could conceivably go winless the rest of the season. pretty remarkable. redhawks are young. the program hasnt turned to complete shit but they better hope this is a one year bump in the road. western michigan has far and away the best defense in the mac. but their offense is lame. and thats what makes miami a semi-appealing dog here. but miami's pass protection is dog shit and its becoming increasingly difficult for kokal to get the ball to his playmakers. miami has far better offense weapons than wmu. but the broncos have too much at stake to slip up. wmu isnt 14 better than miami on paper, but given the way the seasons are going for these two, miami mailing it in if they encounter early adversity is a possibility.
ohio at eastern
very few teams can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory the way emu can. this team is definitely better than their record. and they should have won outright as a 15 point underdog at western michigan last week. but they just seem to collapse when it gets to crunch time. ohio coming off a big win in kent. for some reason, genyk seems to think their merry-go-round at quarterback between jones and scmitt is a good thing. theyd probably be better off with some stability. they have the best receiver in the mac on their team and they cant consistently get him the ball. easterns defense has actually played well lately. earlier in the season is was a sieve. but theyve held 5 of their last 6 to 24 or less. thats not going to evoke images of the 85 bears but its allowing them to stay within striking distance in the 4th qtr of almost every game they play. ohio starting to look like the team to beat in the east. but road chalk with the bobcats isnt anything to get excited about. lean to the dog here but nothing strong.
bowling green at akron
bg is amazing. bullock rushes for almost 200 yards last week, the falcons have a better than 2/1 edge in first downs, they dominate temple in almost every area of the game .. and lose outright to the owls in the embarrassment of the season. bg's special teams are rivaled only by kent in terms of ineptitude. within the last 2 weeks, bg has allowed 1 kick return for a touchdown, 1 kick return for a near-TD where central scored one play later, they've missed two field goals in the red zone, they've had an 8-yard punt, and they've had a punt blocked. when bg takes the snap from center and runs the football, they're as good as anyone in the mac. the problem is they are a comedy of errors in other phases of the game. true freshman tyler sheehan played the 2h of the temple game and could take over for turner in the near future. bg is just impossible to cap right now. they are capable of winning every game they play the rest of the season .... or not winning another game the rest of the season. they're that enigmatic. akron has been a disaster themselves, going from preseason mac favorite to 1-3 in the conference. it seems like an eternity ago that they dominated ncstate on the road. getsy is only hitting 51% of his passes for the zips. the lone akron bright spot right now is dennis kennedy, who is starting to emerge as a big time back capable of dominating this conference in the next 2 years. but not much else is impressive about akron right now. bg would be another live dog if there was any reason to believe they wouldnt be shanking punts left and right and giving akron free points. if anyone drops significant money on this game, they need their dome examined. bg could win by 14 and it wouldnt be a surprise. akron could win by 24 and it wouldnt be a surprise.
more in a bit.
miami at western michigan
miami playing out the string for the first time in a long time. ryne robinson's career has come full circle. as a freshman, hes catching passes from roethlisberger and playing for a juggernaut miami team that was one of the mac's best teams of the last decade. now as a senior hes catching passes from mike kokal and playing for a 1-8 miami team that could conceivably go winless the rest of the season. pretty remarkable. redhawks are young. the program hasnt turned to complete shit but they better hope this is a one year bump in the road. western michigan has far and away the best defense in the mac. but their offense is lame. and thats what makes miami a semi-appealing dog here. but miami's pass protection is dog shit and its becoming increasingly difficult for kokal to get the ball to his playmakers. miami has far better offense weapons than wmu. but the broncos have too much at stake to slip up. wmu isnt 14 better than miami on paper, but given the way the seasons are going for these two, miami mailing it in if they encounter early adversity is a possibility.
ohio at eastern
very few teams can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory the way emu can. this team is definitely better than their record. and they should have won outright as a 15 point underdog at western michigan last week. but they just seem to collapse when it gets to crunch time. ohio coming off a big win in kent. for some reason, genyk seems to think their merry-go-round at quarterback between jones and scmitt is a good thing. theyd probably be better off with some stability. they have the best receiver in the mac on their team and they cant consistently get him the ball. easterns defense has actually played well lately. earlier in the season is was a sieve. but theyve held 5 of their last 6 to 24 or less. thats not going to evoke images of the 85 bears but its allowing them to stay within striking distance in the 4th qtr of almost every game they play. ohio starting to look like the team to beat in the east. but road chalk with the bobcats isnt anything to get excited about. lean to the dog here but nothing strong.
bowling green at akron
bg is amazing. bullock rushes for almost 200 yards last week, the falcons have a better than 2/1 edge in first downs, they dominate temple in almost every area of the game .. and lose outright to the owls in the embarrassment of the season. bg's special teams are rivaled only by kent in terms of ineptitude. within the last 2 weeks, bg has allowed 1 kick return for a touchdown, 1 kick return for a near-TD where central scored one play later, they've missed two field goals in the red zone, they've had an 8-yard punt, and they've had a punt blocked. when bg takes the snap from center and runs the football, they're as good as anyone in the mac. the problem is they are a comedy of errors in other phases of the game. true freshman tyler sheehan played the 2h of the temple game and could take over for turner in the near future. bg is just impossible to cap right now. they are capable of winning every game they play the rest of the season .... or not winning another game the rest of the season. they're that enigmatic. akron has been a disaster themselves, going from preseason mac favorite to 1-3 in the conference. it seems like an eternity ago that they dominated ncstate on the road. getsy is only hitting 51% of his passes for the zips. the lone akron bright spot right now is dennis kennedy, who is starting to emerge as a big time back capable of dominating this conference in the next 2 years. but not much else is impressive about akron right now. bg would be another live dog if there was any reason to believe they wouldnt be shanking punts left and right and giving akron free points. if anyone drops significant money on this game, they need their dome examined. bg could win by 14 and it wouldnt be a surprise. akron could win by 24 and it wouldnt be a surprise.
more in a bit.
