 Last season at this time MAC Report Online was lamenting the fact that the MAC went 0-6 against the Big Ten on opening week of the football season. This season however Mid-American Conference teams delivered big wins on the front and back end of the opening week of 2007.
Starting with the early openers on Thursday night, Kent State got things going in the right direction with a road win at Iowa State, downing the Big 12 Conference school 23-14, living up to early season expectations that have some predicting a MAC East title for the resurgent Golden Flashes who have not claimed a MAC title since 1972. Finishing up the weekend, Bowling Green claimed a second MAC road victory over a BCS school, downing Minnesota, 32-31 in overtime in dramatic fashion, pulling out the OT victory when the Falcons went for two points in the first overtime instead of settling for a PAT that would have forced a second overtime session. If you missed the game, and most did since it was on the Big Ten Network, check out the finish here.
In total the MAC claimed four out-of-conference wins with Akron defeating Army and Ohio defeating Gardner-Webb and before anybody shrugs about Ohio's win being over a FCS team, just ask Michigan about playing Appalachian State.
If the Mountaineers Come-A-Calling...
Just say no.
At least that is what several Mid-American Conference schools did this past offseason when Appalachian State came looking to fill open dates on its schedule.
The Mountaineers were looking to fill three open slots with games against MAC schools but were not successful in securing dates with any of the MAC squads. The Mountaineers are two-time defending 1AA champions and are hardly considered pushovers and it would have likely served no useful purpose for the MAC to schedule Appalachian State especially if you consider that if the Mountaineers had played and defeated one or more MAC squads, the MAC would have been derided for not being able to compete with a team from the FCS. Now, instead, everybody just marvels at how good the Mountaineers are and how their victory over Michigan is considered one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
Our thinking? Better that Michigan has to deal with the fallout than the MAC.
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| Photo: Jim Klapthor/MAC Report Online |
Record Opening Day Attendance
The Mid-American Conference set a new conference record this past week by averaging 28,254 fans for the six games in which the MAC was host. A single-game conference record of 61,500 was set when Northern Illinois hosted Iowa at sold-out Soldier Field in Chicago. Temple had a solid opening day crowd of 30,368 for its home opener against Navy while Toledo announced a sell-out crowd of 26,100 at the Glass Bowl opener against Purdue. Rounding out MAC home attendance, Ohio attracted 19,823 for its opener against Gardner-Webb while the Akron-Army tilt at Cleveland Browns Stadium brought in 17,865 and Ball State had 15,488 in attendance for its conference opener against Miami at newly renovated Scheumann Stadium.
See: Soldier Field Photo Gallery
Around The Conference
Kent State 23, Iowa State 14.
Quick Take: The Golden Flashes held a 9-7 halftime lead and then came back from an early 14-9 third quarter deficit on a pair of two-yard rushing touchdowns, one each from tailback Eugene Jarvis and quarterback Julian Edelman. Jarvis was not expected to play, or at least see much time, after being slowed by an ankle injury during the week leading up to the game but his replacement, Darren Rogers, had to leave the contest himself due to injury. Jarvis finished with 113 yards rushing while Edelman passed for 162 yards, including a 48 yard touchdown strike to Leneric Muldrow. KSU's final touchdown was set up when Brian Lainhart picked off ISU's Brett Meyers, returning it 50 yards to the Cyclones' 8-yard line.
Notable:
**The victory by Kent State over Iowa State was the Golden Flashes' first road win over a BCS team since defeating Kansas in 1987.
**The win was also Kent State's first opening game non-conference road victory since defeating Northeast Louisiana, 31-29, in 1975.
**Redshirt freshman WR Leneric Muldrow's first career reception went for a 42-yard touchdown.
Quotable:
** "Eugene Jarvis is a winner, and we knew that when we recruited him in high school. You know he was playing on a bad ankle and only three days of practice." Kent State head coach Doug Martin.
** "Kent State football is tight knit family and we showed that tonight. Our players and coaches believed in each other. The elite Mid-American Conference teams have experienced wins like this, but before tonight our program had not.” Martin.
** "This is a huge win for our program. We set a foundation last year with six wins. We felt that was a good start for where we had to go. This shows Kent State will do some good things this year.” Kent State QB Julian Edelman.
Miami 14, Ball State 13.
Quick Take: In a surprisingly defensive battle, Miami spoiled Ball State's Scheumann Stadium grand opening party when tailback Brandon Murphy scampered six yards for the winning touchdown with 17 seconds remaining to give the RedHawks a 14-13 victory in the season and conference opener for both teams. The winning touchdown drive was set up by Eugene Harris' 56-yard punt return to the Ball State 23-yard line with 1:54 remaining in the fourth quarter. Ball State appeared to have potentially sealed a 13-7 victory when RedHawks' QB Mike Kokal's pass into the Cardinals' end zone was picked off by BJ Hill with just over four minutes remaining, however the RedHawks forced Ball State to punt, setting up the late game heroics.
Notable:
**Miami's Brandon Murphy rushed for 123 yards, his sixth career 100-yard game.
**The victory was the first season-opening win for Miami under head coach Shane Montgomery.
**RedHawks' LB Caleb Bostic recorded a career-high 17 tackles.
**Ball State DB BJ Hill's 4th quarter end-zone interception was the first of his career.
Qutoable:
** “It was a hard-fought game on both sides. They did what they had to do to win, and we didn’t. We have to do a better job of executing and getting the job done.” Ball State head coach Brady Hoke.
** "We lost a lot of close ones like that last year, and I thought for us to turn the corner we needed a close one like that early. To open with a league game makes it that much more important." Miami head coach Shane Montgomery.
(16) Rutgers 38, Buffalo 3.
Quick Take: Rutgers' Hesiman Trophy candidate Ray Rice rushed for 184 yards as the Scarlet Knights opened at home with a 38-3 victory over Buffalo. The Bulls fell behind early after Rice crossed the goal line just 1:21 into the game, scoring on a 34-yard run set up by a 56-yard kickoff return to open the game as Rutgers opened a 28-0 lead by halftime. Buffalo QB Drew Willy connected on 19-32 passes for 165 yards but the Bulls were not able to cross the goal-line, settling for their lone points on a third-quarter 35-yard field goal that trimmed the deficit to 28-3.
Notable:
**Rutgers QB Mike Teel passed for a career-best 328 yards and tossed a pair of touchdown passes of 65 and 66 yards to WR Tiquan Underwood.
**Ray Rice scored on touchdown runs of 34, 12 and 41 yards for the Scarlet Knights.
** After redshirting last season, Bulls WR Brett Hamlin returned and led all Bulls receivers with four catches for 54 yards.
Quotable:
** "That's what happens when the running game is going. We can obviously get better this season. What you saw today was us hitting on both cylinders." Rutgers RB Ray Rice.
** "We had a few busts in our coverage. Some guys kind of messed up in where they were supposed to be lined up. Teel put it on the money, (Underwood) made the catches and the plays and they made big-play opportunities." Buffalo head coach Turner Gill.
** "To have a great running attack with Ray (Rice) in the backfield, it just opens it up for the passing game." Rutgers WR Tiquan Underrwood.
Navy 30, Temple 19.
Quick Take: Temple dropped a hard-fought home opener to Navy, 30-19 despite 199 yards passing and two touchdowns from QB Adam DiMichele. After Navy jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, the Owls answered with 10 straight points to make it 14-10 in the second quarter but Navy answered back with 10 straight points of its own to lead 24-10 at halftime. The Owls closed to within eight points, 27-19, with four minutes remaining after Matt Balasavage caught a 23 yard TD pass. The Owls however had their PAT attempt blocked and Navy capped the scoring with a 43-yard field goal with just over one minute remaining to seal the victory.
Notable:
**Friday night's attendance of 30,368 was the largest crowd to witness a Temple football game at Lincoln Financial Field. **Temple started 15 freshman in its opener.
**The victory by Navy represented the 100th career win for head coach Paul Johnson.
Quotable:
** "We've obviously 25 points better than we were a year ago against Navy. We're still young. Those guys have to grow up fast. I can't tell you how disappointed I am that we didn't win." Temple head coach Al Golden, whose Owls lost 42-6 to Navy last season.
** "Our football team right now is not close to where we were a year ago. We've got a lot of growing to do." Navy head coach Paul Johnson.
** "Our team definitely needed a game like this that is close and tough," Navy QB Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada.
Iowa 16, Northern Illinois 3.
Quick Take: In front of a MAC home record crowd of 61,500 at Chicago's Soldier Field, the Huskies' offense was held in check as Iowa defeated Northern Illinois 16-3. After a scoreless opening quarter, Iowa got on the scoreboard first when Iowa RB Albert Young scored on a 7-yard TD run set up by Andy Brodell's 56-yard punt return to NIU's 20-yard line. Iowa made it 13-0 before NIU got on the board before halftime on a 33-yard Chris Nendick FG to make it 13-3 at the half. The Huskies and Hawkeyes offenses were kept in check in the second half.
Notable:
** Northern Illinois was held to 21 yards net rushing and averaged 1 yard per rushing attempt.
** Iowa's Albert Young (144) and Damian Sims (110) each rushed for over 100 yards.
** NIU WR Brit Davis topped all receivers Saturday with six catches for 75 yards.
Quotable:
** "This was a tremendous opportunity for our program to play in an NFL atmosphere and hopefully we get an opportunity to do this again next year." Northern Illinois head coach Joe Novak.
** "It's a historic moment for the league. Northern Illinois took a risk on a game like this and have it play out the way it did is great. This is like a bowl game in September.” MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst
** "This was our test pilot. No question, we have proven that there is a demand and market and a tremendous experience for us to come to Soldier Field and Chicago." Northern Illinois athletic director Jim Phillips.
(3) West Virginia 62, Western Michigan 24.
Quick Take: The combination of quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton, both legitimate Heisman hopefuls, proved to be too much of a potent combination for the Broncos who fell to third-ranked West Virginia 62-24 in Morgantown. White passed for 192 yards and two touchdowns in addition to rushing for 97 yards and two scores while Slaton rushed for 109 yards and three touchdowns and was on the receiving of a 50-yard pass from White. The Broncos made it interesting early, closing to within 7-6 in the first quarter until the Mountaineers reeled off three unanswered touchdowns and never looked back.
Notable:
** Western Michigan WR Jamarko Simmons led all receivers with 144 yards receiving on 14 catches, including 2 TD's. It was also Simmons' first multiple touchdown game of his career.
** WR Herb Martin tossed the first touchdown on his career when he connected with Simmons on a 14-yard scoring play.
** West Virginia nearly doubled the Broncos' in yardage, outgaining WMU 542-277 yards.
Quotable:
** "Pat White saved us a bunch of times. There were guys unblocked and he makes you miss. Steve (Slaton) did the same thing. But Pat, he was his same old self. Everybody wants to have that special player, the guy that not only makes plays when they are there, but makes them when they are not there." West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez.
** "They've got great talent, great speed and I guess that's why they are expected to finish so high." Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubit.
** "I can't recall playing against a backfield like that. Their speed makes a difference. White's a quarterback but he is extremely athletic. He can run and throw. Then they have Slaton, who when he gets it, he's special." Western Michigan safety CJ Wilson.
Pittsburgh 27, Eastern Michigan 3.
Quick Take: Eastern Michigan was held to 39 yards rushing and only eight first downs as it struggled offensively in a 27-3 loss at Pittsburgh. The Panthers spotted Eastern Michigan an early 3-0 lead when PK Sean Dutcher connected on a 27-yard field goal but Pitt quickly answered with a 65-yard drive culminating in a Shane Brooks 1-yard TD run. Pittsburgh extended the lead to 14-3 by halftime and Brooks scored again from 1-yard out early in the third quarter to extend Pitt's lead to 21-3. A pair of fourth quarter field goals provided Pitt with its final margin of victory.
Notable:
** The loss extended Eastern Michigan's non-conference road futility streak. EMU has not recorded a non-conference road win since defeating Youngstown State 17-12 in 1988.
** Dating back to last season, the Eagles have now gone three straight games without scoring a touchdown.
** Pittsburgh starting QB Bill Stull left the game in the third quarter after tearing a ligament in his right thumb.
Quotable:
** "A game like this is significant because you can only replicate so much in practice. We have two wide receivers with tremendous hands, who dropped passes tonight. We have an excellent ball-hawking middle linebacker who dropped an interception at the end of the second quarter. That's not something that's going to happen every week, but you need to play a game like this so you can get up to speed and get the mistakes out of your system." Eastern Michigan head coach Jeff Genyk.
** "I was fired up after we scored the first points of the game. I really wanted a touchdown but even after settling for a field goal, I thought we were looking good and were in a good position to challenge in the game. For whatever reason we just couldn't make the plays down the stretch when we needed to." Eastern Michigan QB Andy Schmitt.
** "There's no big strategy for recuperating after this. You just look at the film, correct your mistakes and try to get back to basics." Eastern Michigan RB Pierre Walker.
Kansas 52, Central Michigan 7.
Quick Take: The Chippewas ventured into Kansas with thoughts of an upset but came away on the wrong end of a 52-7 thrashing at the hands of the Jayhawks. Central Michigan fell behind early and could never recover as Kansas blitzed to a 35-0 halftime lead as QB Todd Reesing tossed four first-half touchdowns and Raim Pendleton scored on a 77-yard punt return. The Chips did not get on the board until late in the contest when QB Dan LeFevour connected with WR Bryan Anderson on a 16-yard touchdown pass to make the score 45-7 before Pendleton crossed the goal line again for the Jayhawks on a 21-yard pass from backup QB Kerry Meier.
Notable:
** Central Michigan has now lost five straight season openers.
** The 52 points were the most allowed in regulation by Central Michigan since losing to Navy 63-34 in 2003.
** Pendleton's 77-yard TD punt return was the first against Central Michigan since 2004.
** Brandon McAnderson and Jake Sharp each rushed for 100 yards for Kansas.
Quotable:
** "When you play a team the caliber of Kansas, you cannot beat yourself. Obviously, giving up the 70-yard punt return, dropping too many balls and too many missed assignments on both sides of the ball, especially on the defensive side of the ball hurt us.” Central Michigan had coach Butch Jones.
** “Coming off the Motor City Bowl and the MAC Championship we were thinking we were going to come in here and be great. It was our mind set. It wasn’t that they were any better or that we were worse. It was when adversity came we didn’t capitalize. We just fell over and we folded.” Central Michigan DT Steven Friend.
** My opinion of Dan LeFevour has not changed since this game. I think he is an awfully talented guy, and our players have good respect for him. After the game some of our kids were saying when he threw the ball, he put it on the money. They had a couple drops, but he is talented guy.” Kansas head coach Mark Mangino.
Akron 22, Army 14.
Quick Take: In the inaugural Patriot Bowl played at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Akron recorded its first-ever win against Army, defeating the Black Knights, 22-14. Akron opened the scoring after Bryan Williams returned the opening kick 63 yards but the Zips had to settle for a 23-yard field goal. The Zips defense came up with Akron's first touchdown of the game as Reggie Corner returned an interception 74 yards to make it 9-0 after the PAT failed. Army countered on a 3-yard TD but Akron answered back when Chris Jacquemain found Jabari Arthur for a 19 yard TD strike to send Akron into halftime leading 19-7. Akron led 22-7 late when Army blocked a punt and recovered the ball in the end zone with 38 seconds, accounting for its lone second half points.
Notable:
** Akron WR Jabari Arthur had a career-high 11 receptions for 125 yards.
** Army QB David Pevoto had career highs of 23 completions, 43 attempts and 184 yards passing.
** Army is winless (0-7) all time in season-opening road contests.
** JD Brookhart recorded his first opening game win as head coach of the Zips.
Quotable:
** ''He's a competitive kid, and he's capable of having those big games. We took advantage of certain matchups, and he capitalized on it.'' Akron head coach JD Brookhart on WR Jabari Arthur.
** ''Obviously it was a great win. I think we grew up a little bit in some areas we needed to grow up in.'' Brookhart.
Purdue 52, Toledo 24.
Quick Take: Toledo made a game of it early but the Boilermakers, and QB Curtis Painter were just too much to overcome down the stretch as the Boilermakers routed Toledo, 52-24 at the Glass Bowl. The Rockets took a 7-0 lead on DaJuane Collins' 35-yard TD run and then answered a pair of Purdue touchdowns with a Jalen Parmele four-yard run to tie the score at 14-14. Purdue however would go on a 24-0 run and put the game away. Painter threw four TD passes and Dorien Bryant added a 91-yard kickoff TD return for the Boilermakers who led 52-17 before the Rockets added a late TD on a 1-yard DeAndre Ware run.
Notable:
** The loss was the first home non-conference setback for Toledo under head coach Tom Amstutz.
** The 52 points surrendered by Toledo were the most scored against the Rockets at the Glass Bowl since losing 52-16 to Kent State in 1973.
** The Rockets were whistled for 10 penalties and 94 yards.
Quotable:
** “We’ve had teams that have lost games like this in the past and come back to win a championship. Our goals are still in front of us. We are going to stay focused and play hard.” Toledo head coach Tom Amstutz.
** “We were able to control the game on offense, defense and special teams. As a team all three of those areas contributed to our win. Anytime that you go on the road and are successful particularly here and come away with a win you have to be happy." Purdue head coach Joe Tiller.
** “I thought we made some good strides. We had some injuries and the young guys stepped in and did a good job. We have to look at the film and perfect what we’re doing well and fix what we’re doing wrong." Toledo OL John Greco.
Bowling Green 32, Minnesota 31 (OT).
Quick Take: Bowling Green sprinted out to a 21-0 lead over the homestanding Minnesota Golden Gophers and then rallied back after Minnesota scored 24 straight second half points to take the lead for the first time with just over two minutes remaining. The Falcons however responded as Sinisa Vrvilo's 35-yard FG with three seconds remaining sent the game into overtime. After Minnesota scored on their first possession of the overtime, Bowling Green responded when QB Tyler Sheehan tossed his second TD pass of the game, connecting with Marques Parks, however the Falcons secured victory by eschewing the PAT effort and converting on a two point conversion when Sheehan found Freddie Barnes in the end-zone. Sheehan also caught a TD pass from WR Corey Partridge earlier in the game.
Notable:
** BG QB Tyler Sheehan passed for 388 yards and two touchdowns, going 34-51 and caught a 24-yard TD pass from WR Corey Partridge.
** The Falcons snapped Minnesota's 14-game home winning streak.
** The teams combined for 946 yards of offense with BG racking up 412 yards passing.
Quotable:
** "It (the victory) is great coming off of last year, but I maintained all of last year because of our inexperience and youth. We played a lot of kids last year that were not ready to play. This is just one game. We have Michigan State next week." Bowling Green head coach Gregg Brandon.
** "I was trying to show my leadership and execute the plays that I was given. We work on that situation all the time and I knew we had a good kicker." Bowling Green QB Tyler Sheehan on the game-tying drive in the fourth quarter.
** "I thought he was outstanding. He is a true sophomore. I thought he was remarkably poised for the situation. In a hostile environment he was great. We talk about character in the face of adversity, that kid's character showed up today." Brandon discussing QB Tyler Sheehan.
Ohio 36, Gardner-Webb 14.
Quick Take: Behind a pair of Kalvin McRae rushing touchdowns and three blocked punts by Josh Abrams, who also scored on a 1-yard run, the Bobcats downed visiting Gardner-Webb 36-14. The Bobcats used the contest against Gardner-Webb to get game time for three quarterbacks, with Brad Bower playing the majority of the time under center, going 15-25 for 180 yards, including a 34-yard TD pass to WR Chido Nwokocha. McRae rushed for 142 yards as the Bobcats never trailed in the contest. Abrams' third blocked punt resulted in the Bobcats' final points of the game as the blocked punt rolled out of the back of the Gardner-Webb end-zone for a safety.
Notable:
** Kalvin McRae surpassed 3,000 career rushing yards and moved past Tim Curtis as Ohio's all-time career rushing leader.
** Josh Abrams' three blocked punts were one short of the all-time NCAA record of four in a single game.
** QB Brad Bower's 180 yards passing were a career single-game best for the signal caller.
Quotable:
** "I've never ever seen it done. Never had it done by any team I've been associated with. There have been a couple of guys who have blocked 4, so Josh did not set a record, but he had a great game." Ohio head coach Frank Solich on Josh Abrams blocking three punts.
** "I felt like we had some chances we gave away, and they're too good of a team to do that." Gardner-Webb head coach Steve Patton.
** "It was one of those games when at the beginning you're frustrated a little bit. You want to separate yourselves from them but we never quite did that. I think they're a bit better than what most people give them credit for, we probably did not play as well as we had hoped to play for the first game." Solich.
Players of the Week
MAC Report Online announces its choices for offensive and defensive players of the week for week one of the MAC season.
 Offensive Player of the Week
Tyler Sheehan, QB, Bowling Green, 34-51, 388 yards, 2 TD's passing; 1 TD receiving
Comment: Sheehan, named the starter at the end of fall camp by Bowling Green head coach Gregg Brandon, set career highs in passes, completions and touchdowns in leading Bowling Green to a 32-31 overtime upset win at Minnesota. Sheehan also caught a 24-yard touchdown from WR Corey Partridge.
 Defensive Player of the Week
Reggie Corner, CB, Akron, 4 tackles and 74-yard interception TD return
Comment: Corner accounted for the Zips first touchdown against Army when he intercepted QB David Pevoto's pass and returned it 74 yards for a touchdown; the first TD of his career and ninth career interception.
Prognosticating Prowess
Below is a recap of our picks for the opening and the actual results. For the week our picks went 9-3 with a couple of solid selections (i.e. Kent State over Iowa State) and one that we would rather forget about (Central Michigan over Kansas…ouch).
| Prediction |
Actual |
| Kent State 27, Iowa State 20. |
Kent State 23, Iowa State 14. |
| Ball State 31, Miami 23. |
Miami 14, Ball State 13. |
| Rutgers 38, Buffalo 10. |
Rutgers 38, Buffalo 3. |
| Navy 42, Temple 17. |
Navy 30, Temple 19. |
| Iowa 28, Northern Illinois 16. |
Iowa 16, Northern Illinois 3. |
| West Virginia 45, Western Michigan 27. |
West Virginia 62, Western Michigan 24. |
| Pittsburgh 33, Eastern Michigan 14. |
Pittsburgh 27, Eastern Michigan 3. |
| Central Michigan 31, Kansas 28. |
Kansas 52, Central Michigan 7. |
| Akron 17, Army 13. |
Akron 22, Army 14. |
| Purdue 38, Toledo 26. |
Purdue 52, Toledo 24. |
| Minnesota 35, Bowling Green 24. |
Bowling Green 32, Minnesota 31 (OT). |
| Ohio 31, Gardner-Webb 3. |
Ohio 36, Gardner-Webb 14. |
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