Mac

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Over the past few seasons, no Division 1A football conference has produced as much offensive firepower as the Mid-American Conference. Just last season the league produced ten running backs who had more than 1,000 yards rushing, four quarterbacks who passed for over 3,000 yards and five receivers who tallied over 1,000 yards receiving. The MAC also had three teams ranked in the Top 10 in the NCAA in total offense. Thanks to this offensive output and the fact that the league also had three teams ranked in last season?s Top 25 (tops among so-called ?mid major? conferences), the league will be garnering even more national attention with the addition of at least six televised games on the ESPN networks.

There was even a touch of the absurd last year during the thrill-packed contest pitting Miami against Marshall in Huntington, WV which produced wild accusations of locker room bugging and saw a coach decking an on-field celebrant after the game (Miami coach John Waufford was later terminated from his position after charges of assault were brought against him. These charges were later dropped). It may not be the kind of publicity MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst wants, but it did generate several days? worth of exposure on all of the national sports highlight shows.

Attendance remains an issue within the Mid American Conference. While the much debated proposed NCAA Division 1A attendance requirement of 15,000 fans per game has yet to be finalized, there are reasons for concern. The league itself averaged fewer than 18,000 fans per game and several programs fell below the 15,000 benchmark with Akron, Buffalo, Ball State and Eastern Michigan all averaging 13,000 or fewer. One concern continues to be the lack of media coverage the MAC receives in its home territory, which also happens to be home to the Big Ten. It is ironic that the MAC seems to generate more media attention outside of the Midwest.

2003 MAC Projected Standings

MAC EAST

1. Miami
2. UCF
3. Marshall
4. Akron
5. Kent State
6. Ohio
7. Buffalo

MAC WEST

1. Northern Illinois
2. Bowling Green
3. Toledo
4. Western Michigan
5. Ball State
6. Eastern Michigan
7. Central Michigan

MAC Championship:
Northern Illinois over Miami

Offensive Player of the Year:
Ben Roethlisberger, QB (Miami)

Defensive Player of the Year:
Nick Duffy, LB (Northern Illinois)

Coach of the Year:
Terry Hoeppner, Miami


Team By Team Analysis

MAC East Division

Akron Zips (2002 record: 4-8; 3-5)
The Zips were practically left for dead last season when they started out 0-6. Their season began to show some signs of life when the Zips defeated Marshall 34-20 and the Zips? defense showed great improvement as the season wore on. However, this year the Zips have to replace two starters in the secondary as well as three big contributors from last year?s defensive line. One player who will be counted on to make a contribution this year will be Eastern Michigan transfer LB Ryan Robinette who missed several games last year due to injury.

On offense, QB Charlie Frye will be counted on to produce a strong season. Last season he posted very respectable numbers (including 416 yards rushing) despite playing most of the season with a broken thumb. Frye will be passing to a very experienced core of receivers as all of last year?s top performers return including Toledo transfer Miquel Irvin who set a school record last year of 53 receptions. Akron?s top returning running back, Bob Hendry, will again be counted on to be the main force out of the backfield.

Bottom Line: If the Zips? defense holds up during the year, Akron should have a shot a finishing in the top half of the East Division.


Buffalo Bulls (2002 record: 1-11; 0-8).
Buffalo continues to struggle in making the transition from 1AA to 1A. Last year the Bulls were the youngest team in the MAC and they played like it, including a home loss to 1AA Lehigh, 37-26. Progress though has been steady if slow. The Bulls had several losses on defense and were forced to start several freshmen and allowed 4.5 yards per carry rushing. A big contribution will be anticipated from LB Sagan Atuatasi, a transfer from USC.

Randall Secky returns as the Bulls? quarterback and will need to improve on his performance from last season when he completed less than 50% of his passes and threw 13 interceptions and only 12 touchdowns. Sophomore RB Aaron Leeper had a surprisingly strong freshman season in 2002 falling just short of 1,000 yards rushing and accounting for 10 touchdowns. Leeper will need to continue to post big numbers for the Bulls offense to have success.

Bottom Line: Buffalo has a daunting schedule this season, playing at UCF, Miami and Toledo as well as drawing Northern Illinois and Marshall at home. It looks like another last place finish for the Bulls.


Central Florida Golden Knights (2002 season: 7-5; 6-2).
By now everyone familiar with the MAC is familiar with UCF?s foot-in-mouth syndrome from last season. The coach, administration and players entered their inaugural MAC season with talk of domination and little respect for their conference foes. It appears that UCF may have learned to let their play do their talking as such talk has been rare this season.

UCF features one of the nation?s premier quarterbacks in Ryan Schneider who last season passed for 3,770 yards and 31 touchdowns. Schneider has the makings of a future NFL star and the Golden Knights look for Schneider to lead them to a conference title and a bowl bid this season. To do so, he will have to overcome the loss of his top two receivers from last season (Doug Gabriel and Jimmy Fryzel) who accounted for a combined 2,853 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns as well as last year?s starting tight end, Mario Jackson. Last year?s top RB, Alex Haynes will be expected to have another good season after amassing 1,104 yards rushing for an average of 5.1 yards per carry.

Bottom Line: UCF is expected to contend for the MAC East title and is aided by a favorable schedule as they draw Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan as their cross-over opponents and play host to their top divisional rivals, Miami and Marshall. Out of conference, UCF has the daunting task of playing at Virginia Tech, at Syracuse and at West Virginia.

 

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Kent State Golden Flashes (2002 season: 3-9; 1-7).
Kent State has a lot of deficiencies to overcome if they want to avoid another losing season. This may be a rather daunting task as the Flashes had 22 seniors on last year?s squad. This year the Flashes are expected to switch to a 3-4 defense with several defensive starters needing to be replaced.

The Flashes do, however, possess one of the more exciting players in the conference in QB Joshua Cribbs. Despite playing most of the season with hamstring and wrist injuries, Cribbs rushed for 1,189 yards and passed for 1,014 yards and accounted for 14 touchdowns. He will need to improve on his passing efficiency (49% completion rate and a miserable 4-14 ratio) to become a complete player, but if he remains injury free he should easily improve his numbers. Last year, the running back position was a mess for Kent State as starting RB Eddie Beccles suddenly quit the team. This year, Senior RB David Alston will get the starting nod and KSU?s top receiver, Darrell Dowery also returns.

Bottom Line: Cribbs will need to remain injury free while a young defense learns a new scheme. It will be Cribbs? team to carry, but others must step up and provide support and the defense will need to mature for Kent State to show much improvement this season.


Marshall Thundering Herd (2002 season: 11-2; 7-1).
Once again Marshall starts the season with the proverbial bullseye on it?s back. The difference this year is that a couple of MAC teams appear to have the talent to hit that bullseye. The biggest area of concern this year for Marshall may be the defensive secondary as they lose three starters in CB Yancey Satterwhite, CB Terrance Tarpley and FS Chris Crocker who combined for over 150 tackles.

For Marshall to have success this season they will need to see the continued development of QB Stan Hill who takes over for the record-setting Byron Leftwich. Hill remains fairly untested in the long haul of a full collegiate football season as he started only two games last year in place of the injured Byron Leftwich. RB Franklin Wallace will be back for his senior season after he rushed for 630 yards and accounted for seven touchdowns in 2002. Hill will likely need a stronger running attack this year to be an effective weapon.

Bottom Line: Marshall will have another strong season but it may not be strong enough to overcome a very tough Eastern Conference and an equally difficult schedule that has Marshall traveling to Miami and UCF on consecutive weekends in November.


Miami Redhawks (2002 season: 7-5; 5-3).
Miami possesses the MAC?s top quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger who is also being hyped in some circles as a potential Heisman candidate. As is the case with most MAC schools, however, it will be the success or failure of their defense that will be key. Miami has a new defensive coordinator this season in Pat Narduzzi who came over from Northern Illinois where he was the linebackers coach for the past three seasons. Narduzzi hopes to see some improvement in Miami?s run defense which allowed 4.2 yards per carry last season and for the defensive secondary to step up and improve upon last year?s averages of 273 yards passing per game and giving up twenty touchdowns and accounting for only thirteen interceptions.

The Redhawks, however, appear loaded on offense with Roethlisberger leading a veteran corps. Roethlisberger shredded opposition last year completing over 63% of his passes while amassing 3,238 yards in passing, 22 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions. Roethlisberger will lose his favorite target from least season, Jason Branch, but has Jr. WR Michael Larkin and Sr. WR Korey Kirkpatrick returning. The running game looks solid behind returning senior Luke Clemens who rushed for 1,054 yards last season and recorded 16 touchdowns.

Bottom Line: It has been 17 years since Miami last paid a visit to a bowl game. That drought ends this year.

Ohio Bobcats (2002 season: 4-8; 4-4).
Ohio appeared to be a program on the rise after completing a 7-4 season in 2000. Then the bottom fell out. Since then the Bobcats have gone 1-10 and 4-8. Head coach Brian Knorr will be feeling the heat with another disappointing season.

The Bobcats? offensive scheme last year went from a spread offense and back to the wishbone with quarterback Fred Ray only passing for 712 yards with five touchdowns. Ray also managed 466 yards rushing and 9 touchdowns, but the Bobcats will have to throw the ball this year to have any success as they lose their top running back from last season, Chad Brinker, and will likely need to rely on Stafford Owens who had 389 yard rushing in 2002. Owens was also the Bobcats? leading receiver last year with a paltry 259 yards receiving. A bright spot for the Bobcats is an experienced group of linebackers who should be more comfortable in the 3-4 defense that was implemented last season.

Bottom Line: If there is one school that is happy to have Buffalo in the division, it has to be Ohio. Without the Bulls, the Bobcats would be predicted for the cellar.


MAC WEST DIVISION

Ball State Cardinals (6-6; 4-4).
It?s the start of a new regime as Bill Lynch was ousted last year and gives way to Brady Hoke who will be making his college football head coaching debut after coming over from Michigan where he was the Wolverines? defensive line coach for the past six years. Hoke will need his defensive background to improve on a defense that allowed 4.6 yards per carry while only recording 15 sacks.

The Cardinals return over 40 lettermen from last season but will be missing their biggest threat, record-setting RB Marcus Merriweather who rushed for 1,643 yards last season and accounted for 14 touchdowns. Junior RB Scott Bair appears to be the choice to assume the starting duties from Merriweather but Bair is relatively untested and is a sizeable step down from Merriweather. QB Andy Roesch had a decent season last year passing with a solid 15-7 touchdown to interception ratio. Roesch will need to have improved play from wide-outs Dante Ridgeway and Ryan Hahaj to offset the loss of Merriweather.

Bottom Line: With a new coaching staff in place, it will likely take the Cardinals most of the season to acclimate themselves to each other. It could be a long year in Muncie.


Bowling Green State Falcons (2002 season: 9-3; 6-2). The Falcons in 2002 had one of their most successful seasons in school history, including being ranked in the Top 25 for several weeks. However, a poor finish and rumors of the impending departure of head coach Urban Meyer doomed the Falcons title hopes and ended without a bowl bid.

Meyer has now moved on and BG?s offensive coordinator from last season, Gregg Brandon takes over. Brandon takes over an experienced team that sees 11 senior starters returning. One of those returning seniors is QB Josh Harris, one of the most exciting players in college football who, if he were playing for a BCS school, would likely be hyped for the Heisman. Harris is a deadly threat both in his rushing and passing abilities where he used both to gain a combined 3,287 yards and 39 touchdowns. PJ Pope is the Falcon?s top returning RB from last season after Joe Alls graduated.

Bottom Line: With a solid offensive unit and a defensive squad that should be more experienced, the Falcons should have no problem finishing in the upper half of the West division and with a few breaks may contend for a title.


Central Michigan Chippewas (2002 season: 4-8; 2-6).
The Chips have not experienced the success that they had hoped for when they brought in Frank DeBord from Michigan to be their head coach. In three seasons the team has recorded only nine victories and DeBord faces a make or break year. It will be a tough task as CMU suffers significant losses this season in both the defensive line and their linebacking corps and their secondary has only one returning senior starter.

Senior QB Derrick Vickers returns but has to deal with the loss of top RB Robbie Mixon who gained over 1400 yards last season. Terrance Jackson will take over for Mixon, but Jackson will need to improve on last season average of 3.9 yards per carry to be an effective offensive weapon. The receiving corps also loses its top performer from last season.

Bottom Line: It?s hard to get excited about Central Michigan?s prospects for the upcoming season, as they will need to offset significant losses from last year?s squad. A last place finish would not be surprising.

 

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Eastern Michigan Eagles (2002 season: 3-9; 1-7).
Eastern Michigan had a record setting season in 2002. Unfortunately it was not a record that a school would boast about as they set both MAC and NCAA records for most points allowed in a season (566) and most total yards allowed (6,239). The upside is that most of the defense returns this year, but they will need to show major improvement to be competitive.

If there was one bright spot for EMU last season it was on offense, however, the Eagles lose their top quarterback, running back and wide receiver from last season. It appears that senior Jeff Crooks will take over the helm at quarterback but he has had little game experience as last year he passed for 185 yards in spot duty. The RB duties will likely fall to senior Ashantti Watson who played behind Ime Akpan last year, but again, in only a limited role. The receiving corps will need to overcome the loss of All-MAC WR Kevin Walter (a 7th round draft choice of the New York Giants). Senior Chris R. Roberson does bring experience to the position as the converted running back accounted for 7 touchdowns receiving last season. Also returning is TE Kevin Zureki who had three touchdowns in 2002.

Bottom Line: Head Coach Jeff Woodruff guaranteed during MAC media day that the Eagles would not finish last this year. To avoid another cellar finish he will need the defense to step up for a very inexperienced offensive unit.

Northern Illinois Huskies (2002 season: 8-4; 7-1).
The Huskies are coming off their third consecutive winning season and appear poised to capture their first MAC West title. MAC Coach of the Year Joe Novak will guide an experienced unit that features one of the nations? top running backs in Michael ?The Burner? Turner. All Turner did last year was step in after RB Thomas Hammock had to end his college career due to a heart ailment, was gain 2,027 yards while racking up 19 touchdowns. Those are serious Heisman numbers. Also returning will be QB Josh Haldi who came on later in the 2002 season when defenses keyed on stopping Turner. Haldi had an excellent touchdown to interception ratio of 15-6. The wide receivers will likely be led by Junior Dan Sheldon who comes off a 783 yard, 5 touchdown season.

Defensively, the Huskies? defense was outstanding last season allowing only 3.5 yards per carry rushing and recorded 47 sacks. While they do have some losses to replace on the defense, this looks to be the strongest unit in the MAC.

Bottom Line: NIU has all of the tools to finish on top of the MAC West and, barring serious injuries, should finish atop the division. The Huskies open at home against Maryland and an upset here could be the catalyst to a great season.


Toledo Rockets (9-5; 7-1).
The Rockets, over the past several seasons, have emerged as one of the MAC?s top programs and nearly a perennial competitor to Marshall for the MAC Championship. The Rockets surprised many people last season as they overcame significant losses and still captured the MAC East title. Toledo returns eight starters this year on defense but will need to improve on their average yield of 27 points per game last season as the offense has some holes to fill.

Last season, QB Brian Jones stepped in nicely for departed QB Tavares Bolden. This year junior QB Cedric Stevens will inherit the starting spot, but he has even less experience than Jones had coming into last season and this could be a major weakness for the Rockets. TB Astin Martin and RB Trinity Dawson do return from last year?s squad and need to post good numbers again to provide some passing room for Stevens especially since the receiving corps takes some major hits from graduation losing starters Carl Ford and Donta Greene.

Bottom Line: Toledo will need to rely on their defense this season while the offense takes time to mesh. The Rockets should have a solid season, but it may be too much to expect another division title.


Western Michigan Broncos (2002 season: 4-8; 3-5).
The Broncos are coming off of consecutive losing seasons after once being the undisputed kings of the MAC West Division. This season WMU looks to have a solid defensive unit, especially in the secondary where it is expected that BYU transfer Eugene Childs will be able to rebound from last season?s injury and add depth to an already strong secondary. The defensive line, despite some losses looks strong, and should continue to build upon their stingy run defense (allowed 3.7 yards per carry in 2002) while the pass rush, which accounted for 31 sacks last season, looks solid again.

The major concerns for the Broncos look to be on offense. Senior QB Chad Munson will have to improve on a fairly abysmal season in which he threw 17 interceptions against only 14 touchdowns. This may be difficult as the Broncos, for the second straight year, suffer heavy losses in the offensive line which was already weak having allowed 50 sacks in 2002. On the plus side, 1000 yard rusher Phil Reed does return. Last year?s top WR, Jermaine Lewis has departed and Antonio Thomas and Kendrick Mosley will need to step up their game to counter the loss of Lewis.

Bottom Line: There are too many questions on offense for the Broncos this season. A middle of the pack finish appears to be likely.

 

[ND2002HORNS]

Thanks Anthony, good stuff!

HORNS

 

[taoist]

...thank, buddy. I see that you're trying to fill in for Omar while he is away.... He will be grading your write-up when he returns....