College Football Poll, MAC Previews, Week 12

MAC Previews - Week 12
Countdown To Championship Week Begins
Courtesy of The MAC
November 12, 2007

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
Tuesday – November 13
Toledo at Ball State, 7:30 pm – ESPN2

Wednesday – November 14
Akron at Miami, 7:30 pm – ESPN2

Friday – November 16
Michigan at Central Michigan, 7 pm – Comcast Local

Saturday – November 17
Kent State at Temple, noon
Bowling Green at Buffalo, 1 pm
Western Michigan at Iowa, 2:35 pm (CT) – Big Ten Network
Northern Illinois at Navy, 3:30 pm - CSTV

MAC QUICK HITS

LAST WEEK (Nov. 6-10)
Central Michigan’s 34-31 win over Western Michigan secured the Chippewas place in the Dec. 1 Marathon MAC Football Championship game. Ohio fell out of the running with a 48-37 loss at Akron. Temple set a MAC record for single game attendance with its audience of 69,029 against Penn State. Northern Illinois stopped its five-game losing streak with a 27-20 win over Kent State. Bowling Green became bowl eligible with its sixth win via a 39-32 triumph over Eastern Michigan.

THIS WEEK (Nov. 13-17)

Four playing dates for MAC teams dot the calender. Tuesday (Nov. 13) has Toledo at Ball State on ESPN2. Wednesday (Nov. 14) shows Akron at Miami on ESPN2. A Friday night (Nov. 16) contest has Eastern Michigan at Central Michigan (Comcast Local). Four games will be staged on Saturday (Nov. 17) with two East Division match ups in Bowling Green at Buffalo and Kent State at Temple. Non-conference action has Northern Illinois at Navy and Western Michigan at Iowa.

NEXT WEEK (Nov. 23-24)
The regular season concludes with two games on Friday and four games Saturday. Friday’s games are televised on ESPNU when Akron hosts Central Michigan at 11 a.m., and Bowling Green welcomes rival Toledo at 2:30 p.m. The Saturday contests have Buffalo at Kent State, Temple at Western Michigan, Miami at Ohio and Ball State at Northern Illinois.

IDLE THIS WEEK:
Ohio is the only MAC team not playing this week. The Bobcats close out the season Nov. 24 at home vs. rival Miami.

MAC Matchups - Games for Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007
Toledo (5-5, 2-2 MAC West, 3-3 MAC Overall) at Ball State (5-5, 2-1 MAC West, 3-2 MAC Overall)
SITE: Shuemann Stadium (22,500/Field Turf) - Muncie, Ind.
TELEVISION: ESPN2 (Clay Matvick, Ray Bentley, Rob Simmelkjaer)
SERIES RECORD: Toledo leads 16-15-1 ... the teams have split the last six meetings ... BSU won last year in Toledo, 20-17 ... the Rockets last won in 2005 in Muncie, 34-14.
COACHES: UT-Tom Amstutz (55-30, eighth season); BSU-Brady Hoke (20-36, fifth season).
GAME NOTES: The winner of this game becomes bowl eligible with what will be their sixth win of 2007 ... Ball State can grab a share of the West Division championship with a win over the Rockets, a win next week vs. Northern Illinois, and a loss by Central Michigan to Eastern Michigan on Nov. 16 ... the Rockets have won three in a row by a combined score of 155-89 ... UT hasn’t won four in a row since a six-game winning streak during the 2004 season ... Ball State has dropped back-to-back games, both to Big Ten opponents, Illinois and Indiana, on the road ... Toledo leads the MAC in scoring offense (36.5 ppg), total offense (464.2 ypg), rushing offense (223.0 ypg) and net punting (39.2) ... Rockets QB Aaron Opelt, in the three-game win streak, has completed 58-of-96 pass attempts for 867 yards, seven TDs and no interceptions ... TB Jalen Parmele, during that same three-game stretch, has rushed for 515 yards and six TDs on 76 attempts ... BSU signal caller Nate Davis leads the MAC in pass efficiency (134.4) by completing 208-of-374 attempts for 2,785 yards and 22 TDs with just six interceptions ... the Cardinals also top the MAC and rank fifth nationally in turnover margin at +1.3 per game ... a win by BSU would give the Cardinals their most wins since a 6-6 season in 2002 ... the last time the Cardinals had seven wins in a season was in 1996 when they went 8-4.

MAC Matchups - Games for Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007
Akron (4-6, 2-3 MAC East, 3-3 MAC Overall) at Miami (5-5, 3-1 MAC East, 4-1 MAC overall) - 7:30 p.m.
SITE: Yager Stadium (24,286)- Oxford, Ohio>
TELEVISION: ESPN2 (Rece Davis, Lou Holtz, Mark May, Rob Stone)
SERIES RECORD: Miami leads 12-5-1 ... the Zips 24-13 win last year ended a five-game losing streak to the RedHawks ... Miami has won eight of the last 10 meetings dating back to 1997.
COACHES: UA-J.D. Brookhart (22-24, fourth season); MIA-Shane Montgomery (14-19, third season). GAME NOTES: A win by Miamiand a Bowling Green loss to Buffalo on Saturday would propel the RedHawks into the MAC Championship game Dec. 1 vs. Central Michigan ... even with a loss Miami would remain alive for the Dec. 1 title contest depending on the outcome of the Bowling Green and Buffalo contest ... the RedHawks will have had an 11 day layoff since their last game, a Nov. 3 win at home over Buffalo (31-28) ... the Zips snapped a three-game losing streak Nov. 7 with a 48-37 triumph over Ohio ... in that triumph over Ohio, sophomore RB Alex Allen busted out for a career high 96 yards and three TDs on 14 rushing attempts ... Bryan Williams added 80 rush yard on 16 carries for an offense that is averaging only 132 rush yards per game ... the passing game was highlighted by Chris Jacquemain who passed for a season second-best 196 yards, and Jabari Arthur, who grabbed eight passes for 129 yards ... Miami also received solid performances from Cory Jones, who rushed for 124 yards on 19 carries and Dan Raudabaugh (20-26 passing, 259 yards, 2 TDs) in its win over Buffalo ... the RedHawks would be making their third appearance in the MAC Championship game (2003, 2004).

MAC Matchups - Games for Friday, Nov. 16, 2007
Eastern Michigan (3-8, 2-2 MAC West, 2-4 MAC Overall)at Central Michigan (6-4, 4-0 MAC West, 5-0 MAC Overall) - 7 p.m.
SITE: Kelly/Shorts Stadium (30,255/FieldTurf) - Mount Pleasant, Mich.
TELEVISION: Comcast Local (Ben Holden, Rob Otto)
SERIES RECORD: CMU leads 53-25-6 ... the last three meetings have went overtime ... CMU won last year 24-17 ... EMU was victorious in 2005, 23-20, and in 2004 in a four-overtime game at Ford Field 61-58.
COACHES: EMU-Jeff Genyk (12-33, fourth season); CMU-Butch Jones (6-4, first season).
GAME NOTES: The Chippewas look to go through the MAC season undefeated and could be the first league champion to be perfect since the 2003 Miami RedHawks (8-0) ... the Chippewas will have been idle for 10 days, last playing Nov. 6 with a 34-31 win over Western Michigan ... CMU has not lost a home MAC game since Nov. 5, 2005 to Northern Illinois ... the Eagles dropped a 39-32 decision to Bowling Green Nov. 9 (Friday) for their second consecutive loss ... Pierre Walker rushed for a career-best 155 yards on 31 carries vs. the Falcons ... Walker has rushed for 399 yards in the last three games and has scored a touchdown in each of the last three games ... EMU has a +7 turnover margin, second best in the MAC, aleague-best 49 ypg in penalties ... CMU QB Dan LeFevour leads the MAC in total offense (316.5 ypg) and is coming off a 235 yards passing and 72 yards rushing game at WMU ... LeFevour, just a sophomore, became CMU’s career leader in total offense (6,717 yards) ... Antonio Brown established a MAC freshman record for all-purpose yards (1,667).

MAC Matchups - Games for Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007
Kent State (3-7, 1-3 MAC East, 1-5 MAC Overall) at Temple (3-7, 2-3 MAC East, 3-3 MAC Overall) - Noon
SITE: Lincoln Financial Field (68,532/Natural Grass)
TELEVISION: None
SERIES RECORD: Kent State leads 1-0 ... the Golden Flashes won 28-17 last year in Philadelphia. COACHES: KSU-Doug Martin (15-29, fourth season); TU-Al Golden (4-18, second season).
GAME NOTES: Kent State suffered its fifth consecutive loss in a 27-20 defeat at Northern Illinois last week ... Temple dropped a 31-0 home game to No. 25 ranked Penn State, the Owls second straight loss after a three-game win streak ... the Owls lead the MAC in total defense (380.0 ypg allowed) and the Golden Flashes are second (386.8 ypg allowed) ... KSU’s offense is fueled by the league’s top rusher in Eugene Jarvis (142.9 ypg) ... the Flashes lost starting QB Giorgio Morgan in the first quarter and went with back up Jon Brown (16-34, 132 yards, one TD, one int.) ... Temple’s QB Vaughn Charlton completed 26-of-43 attempts for 238 yards and no interceptions last week vs. the Nittany Lions, who have the nation’s seventh ranked team in total defense ... a win for Temple would give the program four victories in a season for the first time since 2002.

Bowling Green (6-4, 3-2 MAC East, 4-2 MAC Overall) at Buffalo (4-6, 3-1 MAC East, 4-2 MAC Overall) - 1 p.m.
SITE: UB Stadium (29,013/Sportexe Momentum) - Buffalo, N.Y.
TELEVISION: None
SERIES RECORD: BG leads 3-1 ... UB won the first-ever meeting in 2000, 20-17 ... the Falcons have won the last three, including a 48-40, triple overtime contest last year.
COACHES: BGSU-Gregg Brandon (36-23, fifth season); UB-Turner Gill (6-16, second season).
GAME NOTES: Both teams need a win to stay alive in the competition for the MAC East Division Championship ... the Falcons have won their last two games and are looking for their first three-game winning streak since the middle of the 2005 season ... despite a 31-28 loss at Miami in its most recent (Nov. 3) game, the Bulls have a school-record four wins as a I-A program ... UB’s Drew Willy is third overall, and top among East Division QBs, in pass efficiency (133.9) by completing a league-high 68.1 percent (205-301) for 2,208 yards, 12 TDs and six interceptions ... his counterpart, Tyler Sheehan, is averaging 265 passing yards per game with 2,650 yards and 18 TDs ... UB ranks ninth in the MAC in passing offense (206.5 ypg) but tops the league in pass efficiency (153.3) ... the Bulls also offer the league’s No. 5 rusher in James Starks (91.2 ypg) ... BG is 5-1 when rushing for 100 yards in a game but is averaging 122 ypg rushing overall ... the Falcons lost the league’s leader in tackles LB John Haneline (10.7 tpg) and replaced him in the starting lineup with freshman Glenn Stanley, who responded with 18 tackles at EMU.

Western Michigan (3-7, 2-3 MAC West, 2-4 MAC Overall) at Iowa (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) -2:35 p.m. (CT) SITE: Kinnick Stadium (70,585/Natural Grass) - Iowa City, Iowa
TELEVISION: Big Ten Network (Mark Nelly, Glen Mason and Marshall Harris)
SERIES RECORD: WMU leads 1-0 ... the Broncos won 27-21 in 2000 in Iowa City.
COACHES: WMU-Bill Cubit (18-16, third season at school; 52-34-1, eighth season overall.); UI-Kirk Ferentz (61-48, ninth season overall; 73-69, 12th season overall).
GAME NOTES: The Broncos have lost three in a row but have a chance to stall the Hawkeyes bowl opportunities ... Iowa has won three in a row ... WMU is playing its second Big Ten foe this year, also having hosted Indiana on Sept. 8 ... Broncos QB Tim Hiller is coming off a 311 yard passing game and is fourth in the MAC in TD passes (16) and passing yards per game (237.7) ... Brandon West has 1,774 all-purpose yards and needs 166 yards to set a school record ... Jamarko Simmons needs 113 yards to reach 1,000 receiving yards for the season ... LB Boston McCornell is 13 stops shy of 100 for the season and would become the first WMU player since Jason Babin (115) and Kevin Ford (111) in 2003 to accomplish the feat ...Iowa’s Jake Christensen has 2,020 passing yards and 14 TDs this year and Albert Young leads the rushing game with 873 yards.

Northern Illinois (2-8, 0-4 MAC West, 1-5 MAC Overall) at Navy (5-4, Independent) - 3:30 p.m.
SITE: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000/Field Turf) - Annapolis, Md.
TELEVISION: CSTV (Pete Medhurst, Scott Zolak)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting.
COACHES:NIU-Joe Novak (62-74, 13th season); Navy-Paul Johnson (42-29 sixth season at school; 11th season 104-39 overall).
GAME NOTES: The Huskies snapped their five-game losing streak last week with a 27-20 win over Kent State last week ... the Midshipmen defeated North Texas 74-62 last week in the highest scoring regular season game in I-A/FBS history and have won two in a row, winning at Notre Dame, 46-44, Nov. 3 ... NIU’s Justin Anderson (1,096) extended the school’s streak of consecutive 1,000-yard rushers to nine, which is the longest in the country in I-A ... NIU rushed for 235 yards last week and did not allow a sack in 29 pass attempts ... Anderson picked up 98 yards and David Bryant added 110 yards on 28 carries ... Huskies QB Dan Nicholson had his best game of the season last week, completing 21-of-28 attempts for 275 yards, two scores and no interceptions ... Navy leads the nation in rushing with 357 yards per game and set school records with 572 rush yards and eight rush TDs at North Texas ... Navy has a 30-19 win over Temple and a 34-31 overtime loss to Ball State ... Sunday, Navy accepted a bid to the Dec. 20 San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego ... this will be the fifth consecutive bowl for Navy ... NIU played TCU in the 2006 Poinsettia Bowl.