Tag it:

?

Photo: Brian Golden

With Eastern Michigan's 52-28 loss to Toledo Saturday night, the Chippewas are one win away from securing the MAC West title. With the loss the Eagles, Broncos and Rockets all have two losses within the MAC West while the Chippewas remain undefeated in divisional play. A win against rival Western Michigan Saturday would improve the Chips' divisional mark to 4-0 which means at worst the Chips would finish 4-1 in the MAC West.

At 4-1, the Chippewas could potentially finish in a tie with Ball State, the only team with one divisional loss in the MAC West, but Central Michigan owns the tiebreaker over the Cardinals by virtue of CMU's earlier 58-38 victory over Ball State. Essentially, it would take a total meltdown by the Chips in their final two divisional games for any of the other MAC West squads to sneak in and claim the divisional crown.

In the MAC East things are a little less clear, but the RedHawks with only one loss in the MAC East after their 31-28 win over Buffalo Saturday, now find themselves in a situation similar to Central Michigan in the MAC West. If Miami wins its remaining divisional contests, at home November 14 against Akron and on the road November 24 at Ohio, they would advance to the MAC title tilt at Ford Field on December 1.

The Bulls, the only other MAC East squad with one divisional loss, would need the RedHawks to lose at least one of their remaining divisional games and win out themselves to finish ahead of Miami as a tie in the standings in the MAC East between the Bulls and RedHawks would keep Buffalo on the sidelines with Miami holding the tie-breaker edge on Buffalo.

Elsewhere in the East, Ohio and Bowling Green, with two losses apiece are still mathematically alive but will need both Buffalo and Miami to lose in order have a shot.

MAC East contenders' remaining schedules:
Miami plays Akron at home November 14 and at Ohio on November 24.
Buffalo hosts the Falcons on November 17 and close out the season on the road at Kent State on November 24.
Ohio plays this Wednesday at Akron and finishes the season November 24 at home against Miami.
Bowling Green plays at Eastern Michigan Friday; at Buffalo on November 17 and then home against Toledo on November 23.

MAC West contenders' remaining schedule:
Central Michigan travels to Western Michigan on November 6; hosts Eastern Michigan on November 16 and finishes the season at Akron on November 23.
Ball State hosts Toledo November 13 and travels to Northern Illinois on November 24.

Three MAC Punters Named Ray Guy Finalists
It's been a stellar year for punters in the Mid-American Conference and MAC punters make up nearly one-third of the list of ten players named as finalists this past week for the Ray Guy Award.

Presented annually to the nation's top collegiate punter, the Ray Guy Award is named for Ray Guy, a 2004 College Football Hall of Fame Inductee and perennial candidate for the National Football League Hall of Fame. Guy played with the Oakland Raiders from 1973 to 1986. A national voting body of Division I-A coaches, sports information directors, national media, and former punters will decide the three award finalists, and ultimately the winner of this year's award. The winner will be announced live on ESPN during the Home Depot College Football Awards show, Thursday, December 6, 2007. The winner will again be honored at the Greater Augusta Sports Award Gala in early 2008.

Below are the three MAC finalists with their average and national ranking:

Frosh Record in Peril
Antonio Brown continues to be the leading contender for MAC Freshman of the Year and can probably cement his chances this weekend by gaining only ten all-purpose yards; the exact number needed to set the all-time MAC freshman mark for all-purpose yards in a season. Brown has recorded 1,540 all-purpose yards through Central Michigan's first nine games and can break the record of 1,550 yards set by former Chippewa Jerry Seymour in 2003. Brown will go for the record Tuesday night in Central Michigan's nationally televised contest (ESPN2) at Western Michigan.

Quick Stat Check
This week we take a quick look at the MAC leaders in three offensive categories:

Here is our recap of the past week's action, with notes and quotes from each game. Also be sure to keep reading for our choices for MAC offensive and defensive players of the week.   

Around The Conference
Ohio 23, Temple 7.
Quick Take:  Kalvin McRae rushed for 151 yards and a touchdown and the Bobcats' defense limited Temple to 48 net rushing yards in a 23-7 win in Athens over the Owls. Ohio jumped out to a 10-0 lead on the strength of a first quarter 47-yard field goal from Michael Braunstein and McRae's 30-yard TD run early in the second quarter before the Owls put up their only points of the game when QB Vaughn Charlton connected with Bruce Francis on a 42-yard scoring strike before halftime to close the gap to 10-7. The Bobcats responded in the second half with 13 unanswered points and kept alive their slim divisional title hopes while moving to within one game of bowl eligibility, evening their overall record at 5-5. Ohio QB Theo Scott left early in the second half with an injury and was replaced by Brad Bower.

Notable:
**Ohio, with 404 yards in offense, topped the 400-yard mark for the fourth consecutive game, and sixth time overall this season.
**Temple QB Vaughn Charlton recorded career highs by completing 17-25 attempts for 161 yards passing.
**Ohio RB Kalvin McRae has topped 100 yards rushing in four straight contests.
**Temple's Alex Joseph recorded a career single-game high of 18 tackles.

Quotable:
** "It was just another situation where we had our backs against the wall and we had to come out and win. It was a great job with the team sticking together." Ohio RB Kalvin McRae.
** "I think that we got out-toughed by a tough team, a mature team, a physically strong team and their goal obviously was to get back to 5-5, try to get back to the post season, and they were more physical than we were today." Temple head coach Al Golden
** "I can't think of a game where we played as well on both sides as we did. I think it's been a team that has been improving and a team that's been getting better every week. They've found ways to get better." Ohio head coach Frank Solich.

Bowling Green 44, Akron 20.
Quick Take: Bowling Green, like Ohio, kept its slim MAC West title hopes alive with a dominating performance, defeating Akron 44-20 Friday night. The Falcons never trailed, opening the scoring on Chris Wrights' 33-yard reception from Anthony Turner who also accounted for BG's second touchdown on a seven-yard run to open up a 14-3 lead. The Zips would close to within 14-6 but the Falcons responded with 27 unanswered points, building a 41-6 lead before the Zips added a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns with the game out of reach.

Notable
**BG's Anthony Turner led all Falcons' rushers with 12 carries for 104 yards; threw a 33-yard TD pass and recovered an Akron onside kick in the fourth quarter.
**Falcons' DB PJ Mahone recorded two interceptions for the second time this season and returned one of his picks 51-yards for a touchdown.
**Akron QB Carlton Jackson, who started in place of suspended QB Chris Jacquemain, led all players with 133 yards rushing.

Quotable:
** "P.J. Mahone did a great job for us tonight. He got the interception for a touchdown, which was a nice play. That was at the start of the second half and just a huge play for us. It put the dagger in, so to speak." Bowling Green head coach Gregg Brandon.
** "It felt good to be involved with things but the offensive line and Tyler Sheehan made everything the way it was." Bowling Green QB/WR/RB Anthony Turner
** "Bowling Green has a great offense. They came out and executed. I don't doubt our defense, but it happens. It was just one of those nights. They played well and hustled hard." Akron head coach J.D. Brookhart

Indiana 38, Ball State 20.
Quick Take: Ball State, playing a Big Ten opponent on the road for the second straight week, opened up a 10-3 first quarter lead but couldn't hang on and dropped a 38-20 decision to Indiana Saturday. The Cardinals grabbed the early lead on a 19-yard field goal and then broke a 3-3 tie on Chris Clancy's 4-yard first quarter TD run but the Hoosiers answered with a 60-yard Kellen Lewis to Ray Fisher TD strike and then IU's Chris Phillips returned an errant Nate Davis pass 58 yards for a touchdown. The Hoosiers would strike again before halftime on another Kellen Lewis TD pass to hit the halftime locker room up 24-10. Lewis added two more TD passes in the second half to seal the victory for the Hoosiers.

Notable:
**Indiana QB Kellen Lewis set a single-game career high with 354 yards passing and 406 total yards.
**The victory made Indiana (6-4) bowl eligible for the first time since 1994.
**Ball State was held to 67 net yards rushing.

Quotable:
** "It was a disappointing performance for us. As coaches, we have to pay attention to all the details, and we have to coach better." Ball State head coach Brady Hoke.
** "As the play was going, I saw them blitzing, so I knew I had them right there. I just needed to get to the middle of the field and make the safety miss." Indiana WR Ray Fisher on his 60-yard TD reception.
** "Our kids are playing hard, but we did not play hard enough to win." Hoke.

Miami 31, Buffalo 28.
Quick Take: Miami took control of the MAC East with a hard-fought 31-28 victory over Buffalo in Oxford Saturday afternoon. The Bulls opened the scoring when James Starks ran 92 yards for an opening quarter TD to give the Bulls an early 7-0 lead but Miami responded with 17 straight points including a 17 yard TD pass from Dan Raudabaugh to Cory Jones and a 9-yard Thomas Merriweather scoring jaunt. The Bulls responded right back with a pair of back-to-back scoring plays of their own, including Naam Roosevelt hauling in a 13-yard TD from Drew Willy and AJ Principe's 33 yard field goal which tied the game at 17-17 as time expired in the first half. The RedHawks struck again for a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter as Merriweather scored for the second time and Eugene Harris caught a 6-yard TD pass from Raudabaugh as the Bulls only managed a field goal in the third quarter. Buffalo closed to within 31-28 with 2:54 remaining when Roosevelt caught his second TD pass and the Bulls successfully converted a two-point conversion. The Bulls had a chance late but a sack and fumble of QB Drew Willy sealed the win for the RedHawks.

Notable:
**Miami registered more than 400 yards (475) of offense for the fourth time this season.
**Buffalo RB James Stark's 92-yard TD run was his longest run from scrimmage and the longest run from scrimmage in the MAC this season.
**Miami is now 10-0 all time vs. Buffalo

Quotable:
** "It's a good feeling to be in this position. We wanted to come in today and take back the MAC East." Miami quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh.
** "We were able to put some pressure on (Buffalo QB Drew) Willy and, even though he completed a lot of balls, they just did not get many big plays. To have 33 completions and only 217 yards, that means we did not give up any big plays in the passing game." Miami head coach Shane Montgomery.
** "I am proud of our football team. They definitely are competing until the last play. These guys have a lot of heart." Buffalo head coach Turner Gill.

Toledo 52, Eastern Michigan 28.
Quick Take: The MAC's top offense made quick work of an overmatched Eagles' defense as the Rockets throttled Eastern Michigan Saturday night at the Glass Bowl, 52-28. The Rockets stormed out to a 28-7 halftime edge on the strength of two Jalen Parmele touchdown runs of 31 and 29 yards to go up 14-0 and quarterback Aaron Opelt connected twice in the second quarter with WR Stephen Williams on scoring plays of 20 and 64 yards as the Rockets piled up 337 yards in offense before halftime. The Eagles and Rockets then combined for 45 second half points after EMU QB Andy Schmitt took over at QB at the start of the third quarter but the Rockets were able to counter each Eagles scoring effort, including a third rushing touchdown from Jalen Parmele. EMU RB Pierre Walker also accounted for a career-high three touchdowns.

Notable:
** Toledo RB Jalen Parmele rushed for 168 yards, the sixth straight game that he has topped the 100-yard rushing mark.
** Toledo WR Nick Moore caught a career high 10 passes for 119 yards.
** The two squads combined for 1,017 yards in offense (Toledo: 600; EMU: 417) and the Rockets have racked up 1,412 yards in offense alone in their past two games.

Quotable:
** "Our offense is really coming together. We've been working hard in practice and it's showing on the field." Toledo RB Jalen Parmele.
** "I'm ready to go at all times and coach told me to stay ready. We had a big second half and came out fired up. We felt confident that we were going to comeback but unfortunately it did not work out." Eastern Michigan QB Andy Schmitt on coming off the bench in the second half.
** "He's the heart and soul of our offense." Toledo head coach Tom Amstutz on RB Jalen Parmele.
 
Players of the Week
MAC Report Online announces its choices for offensive and defensive players of the week for week ten of the MAC season.

Offensive Player of the Week

Jalen Parmele, RB, Toledo: 22 carries, 168 yards rushing, three touchdowns.
Comment Parmele tied his career high with three rushing touchdowns in a single game and rushed for over 100 yards for the sixth straight contest, helping to lead Toledo in its 52-28 victory over Eastern Michigan as the Rockets recorded their third straight win and are now within one victory of reaching bowl eligibility. Parmele averaged 7.6 yards per carry and had touchdown runs of 31, 29 and 4 yards.

Prognosticating Prowess
Well, at least we have had two straight wining weeks after going a mediocre 3-2 this past week. Shame on us for assuming that Ball State would break their BCS losing streak (which now stands at 37 games) and for picking against the Rockets at the Glass Bowl where they are 43-6 since 1999. For the season our picks now stand at 55-32.

The week's breakdown: