The Mid-American Conference got off to a solid start this season, going 6-6 in non-conference play, highlighted by Bowling Green, the preseason MAC East favorite, traveling to Pittsburgh and upsetting the 25th-ranked Panthers, 27-17.
Also among those turning in strong opening week performances were the Temple Owls who started out the season with a 35-7 triumph over Army in the Owls' lid lifter. The 28-point margin of victory was the largest by any Temple squad since the Owls defeated Rutgers 48-14 in 2000.
Joining the Owls in an historic opening night win were the Buffalo Bulls who downed UTEP 42-17, which represented the Bulls' largest margin of victory over a 1A (FBS) squad since moving up to 1A status in 1999, topping the previous best of 23 points in a 34-11 win over Rutgers in 2002.
The MAC also took care of business against FCS competition, posting a 3-0 mark with wins by Ball State, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan.
A close call was had by Northern Illinois which came within twenty-seconds of pulling a mild upset at Minnesota, falling to the Gophers 31-27 on a late Minnesota touchdown.
Not everything was rosy of course. Miami was upset at home by Vanderbilt in rather convincing, and somewhat shocking fashion, 34-13 while Western Michigan, Kent State, and Akron all went down to defeat -- although each was an underdog heading into their season openers.
Meanwhile Ohio must be feeling a sense of déjà vu after falling to Wyoming by one point for the second straight year in a tough 21-20 setback on the road.
Let's take a look into each game this past weekend, plus we name our players of the week and take a look at how our first week predictions turned out:
Around The Conference BallState 48, Northeastern 14.
Quick Take: The Cardinals opened the season with a dominating home performance against FCS-member Northeastern, downing the Huskies 48-14. Ball State, behind 290 yards passing and three touchdowns from quarterback Nate Davis, built a 28-0 lead before Northeastern got on the board late in the first half followed by a BSU field goal that gave the Cardinals an insurmountable 31-7 at the break, coasting to an easy win.
Notable:
** Ball State tailback MiQuale Lewis rushed for 95 yards and one touchdown on only eleven carries in his first action since sustaining a knee injury last season at Nebraska.
**Cardinals WR Dante Love caught nine passes for 171 yards and added a two-yard rushing touchdown.
**BSU scored a touchdown on each of its first four possessions and was a perfect 5-5 in the red-zone.
Quotable:
** "It felt good just being out there. I was nervous at first, but I just had to go back to high school. If I hit the hole, they can't stop me." Ball State tailback MiQuale Lewis told the Star-Press.
** "I think there were good things, especially offensively. If you can run the ball with the passing game we have, it can really help." Ball State head coach Brady Hoke.
** "They wanted to get me mismatched on a linebacker and do whatever we could to get me the ball," Cardinals WR Dante Love told the Star-Press.
Buffalo 42, UTEP 17.
Quick Take: If there was any lingering doubt that the Bulls were prepared to leave their MAC doormat status behind, much of that doubt was likely removed after Buffalo throttled UTEP 42-17 in the season opener at UB Stadium. The Bulls broke open a close contest that was tied 14-14 in the second quarter by outscoring the Miners 21-3 in the second half. The Bulls were led quarterback Drew Willy's 221 yards and four touchdowns, a career-best for Willy and the most touchdown passes in a single game by a Buffalo quarterback since the Bulls moved up to Division 1A on a night when the Bulls set several team and individual marks.
Notable **The 42 points scored by the Bulls were the most in any home opener in the 1A era for Buffalo.
**RB James Starks rushed for 179 yards, the seventh time in his career that he has rushed for 100 yards or more. Fellow RB Brandon Thermilus added 102 yards rushing giving the Bulls their first 100-yard rushing tandem since Aaron Leper and Dave Dawson each topped 100-yards against Marshall on October 12, 2002.
**WR Naaman Roosevelt caught four passes for a career single-game high of 154 yards.
**QB Drew Willy became the Bulls' all-time leader in career completions (546).
Quotable: ** "That's a great win…and it shows everyone that our program is moving forward definitely in the right direction." Buffalo head coach Turner Gill.
** The offensive line did a great job protecting me, giving James (Starks) and Brandon (Thermilus) holes. They were physical all night, they were telling us in the huddle, ‘keep running that rock, keep running that rock.’” Buffalo QB Drew Willy.
** "We have the biggest game in the history of the school coming up (against Texas next week) and, damn, I hope they are not as good as Buffalo.” UTEP head coach Mike Price.
Central Michigan 31, Eastern Illinois 12.
Quick Take: Central Michigan opened the season with a balanced effort in defeating FCS-member Eastern Illinois in the Chippewas home opener, 31-12. After a slow start that saw the teams battle to a 3-3 stalemate through the opening quarter, the Chips broke out on top for good on Ontario Sneed's second-quarter 23-yard run followed by the first of Dan LeFevour's three TD passes, an 18-yard strike to Jean Pitts as the Chips entered the break with a 17-3 lead. LeFevour added two more second half TD passes while CMU held the Panthers to 83 net yards rushing and sacked QB Bodie Reeder four times in securing the opening night victory. Next up for the Chips is a trip to Georgia.
Notable: **CMU junior WR Bryan Anderson has now caught a pass in all 29 games of his career. Additionally, with nine catches for 66 yards against EIU, Anderson passed the 2,000 yard receiving mark.
**Chippewas QB Dan LeFevour became the all-time leader at CMU in passing attempts (962) and tossed three touchdowns in a single game for the ninth time in his career..
**CMU DE Frank Zombo recorded a career high 2.5 sacks.
Quotable: ** “The thing I liked about Ontario tonight was he played physical. Everyone was talking about his running but he picked up a couple blitzes that were critical to some of our completions down the field. I thought he caught the ball well, he ran well and he really gave us a spark.” Central Michigan head coach Butch Jones discussing the play of RB Ontario Sneed who accounted for 127 total yards and one touchdown.
** “It was one of our most focused games. There was not a lot of rah-rah before the game. Everyone was very focused, locked in and ready to go.” Central Michigan LB Nick Bellore who had tied his career-high with 16 tackles against Eastern Illinios.
** “He’s a great player. He keeps his eyes downfield and he lets the game come to him. When plays break down, he can make things happen with his legs and that’s what good players do." Eastern Illinois head coach Bob Spoo discussing CMU QB Dan LeFevour.
Eastern Michigan 52, IndianaState 0.
Quick Take: Eastern Michigan scored on four of its first five possessions, opening up a 28-0 lead by halftime and were never challenged by the overwhelmed Indiana State Sycamores who play in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Five different players scored for Eastern Michigan in their opener with a trio of players recording two touchdowns, paced by TB Terrence Blevins who rushed for 176 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown run that put EMU up 14-0 in the first quarter, and backfield mate Dwayne Priest who also crossed the goal line twice. QB Andy Schmitt, one of three EMU signal callers who saw game action, was 15-20 for 160 yards and contributed a rushing and passing score. The Sycamores, who have now lost fifteen straight games, were held to 132 yards of offense by the Eagles' defense which also picked off three passes and recorded four sacks.
Notable: **Eastern Michigan set a pair of new school single game records with 637 yards of total offense and 413 yards net rushing.
**The Eagles recorded their first shutout since defeating Akron 45-0 in 1997.
**EMU TB Terrence Blevins nearly equaled his career total of 190 yards rushing with his 176 yard rushing performance against Indiana State.
Quotable: ** "I felt like our defense really showed up and did a great job. We have a lot more (depth) with our defensive line and were able to keep guys fresher late in the game. Eastern Michigan head coach Jeff Genyk.
** "We'll enjoy this (win) tonight and watch the films in the morning and then it's over. We got our first taste, now let's keep it going and get ready for Michigan State." Eagles senior TB Terrence Blevins.
** "Eastern Michigan has good speed and you can't simulate that in practice. It was an eye-opener for some of (the players). Obviously the score isn't what we wanted but just to get out there and compete at this level is good for them and will make them better." Indiana State head coach Trent Miles.
Vanderbilt 34, Miami 13.
Quick Take: Miami welcomed Vanderbilt, the first team from the SEC to ever visit Yager Stadium, and the RedHawks proved to be generous hosts, turning the ball over three times in a 34-13 setback. The visiting Commodores were paced by quarterback Chris Nickson's game-leading, and career-best, 166 yards rushing. Nickson rushed for a pair of scores and passed for another. Vandy opened a 17-3 lead by the end of the first quarter helped too by a 91-yard punt return by DJ Moore that set Vandy up at the one-yard line for their second touchdown of the opening quarter. The RedHawks were able to close to 17-10 on Eugene Harris' thirty-yard TD reception but ten more unanswered second-quarter points by the Commodores gave Vanderbilt a 27-10 lead by halftime. QB Daniel Raudabugh had a rough opening night for Miami, completing only 19-42 passes and tossing three interceptions.
Notable:
** Miami LB Joey Hudson had a game-high 14 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss.
** DJ Moore's 91-yard punt return was the second-longest in Vanderbilt history.
** Miami is now 79-36-6 all-time in season openers however current head coach Shane Montgomery now stands at 1-3 in season openers.
Quotable: ** “It is tough to judge anything from this game until we go back and look at the film. It seems like all we really gave up were a few big plays.” Miami LB Joey Hudson.
** "We knew that they would be tough defensively. Being an SEC team, you know that they have quality athletes and they showed that tonight. We just did not take advantage of any opportunities that we had." Miami head coach Shane Montgomery.
** "It (the win) meant a lot. We wanted to make a statement. I can't down Miami, they are a really good team and they are going to do well this season." Vanderbilt LB Reshard Langford.
Temple 35, Army 7.
Quick Take: The Owls secured their first season opening road win since the 2000 season, downing Army on the road, 35-7. Temple used an opportunistic offense set up by a defensive unit that held the Cadets' option offense in check for most of the contest. The Owls were able to turn three Cadets' turnovers into 21 points, including Morkeith Brown's 17 yard return of an Army fumble for a touchdown that put the Owls up 21-0 early in the second quarter. The Owls extended their lead to 28-0 on Jamal Schulters 98-yard punt return. Temple QB Adam DiMichele, in his first game back from a season-ending leg injury in 2007, passed for 159 yards and two touchdowns.
Notable: ** The seven points surrendered by Temple were the fewest points allowed since the Owls defeated Florida A&M 38-7 in 2004.
** Temple CB Jamal Schulters recorded his first career touchdown with his 98-yard punt return.
** Owls WR Bruce Francis has now recorded a reception in 27 straight games.
Quotable: ** "Last year's team was a selfish team and this year's team is less selfish. This year's team also had a training camp, and I think that showed tonight." Temple head coach Al Golden.
** "Last year, Army had the better special teams. We were tough on offense and defense, but they had us on special teams and we had to emphasize that coming into this game." Temple CB Jamal Schulters.
** There was no question we had too many turnovers. You have to give Temple some credit for coming up with them, but there was 21 points that we gave them. As long as they are not due to a lack of effort, you can always make corrections." Army head coach Stan Brock.
(12)Wisconsin 38, Akron 17.
Quick Take: Akron battled back from an early 17-0 deficit to make the score 17-10 by halftime including a three-yard touchdown pass from Zips' QB Chris Jacquemain to TE Merce Poindexter but the Badgers were too much to overcome at Camp Randall Stadium For the game the Badgers outgained the Zips 479-297 yards, led by junior TB PJ Hill who rushed for 210 yards and two touchdowns.
Notable: ** Akron's Andre Jones played both cornerback and wide receiver Saturday against Wisconsin and was credited with six tackles on defense and forced a fumble that at the goal line in the second quarter.
** Zips JUCO transfer WR Bryan Bowser led al receivers with five catches for 75yards.
** Wisconsin gained 404 of its 479 total yards on the ground.
Quotable: ** They took that opening drive and ran it right down our throats, and we’ve got to be able to handle it better than we handled it.” Akron head coach JD Brookhart.
** “Obviously during the course of the week you have a certain emphasis as a coaching staff; one of the things we talked about was starting fast. We wanted to hit the ground running and I do feel that we did that." Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema.
** 'We were excited at the half. We closed out the first half pretty well. We were excited coming out for the second half. It kind of fell apart for us. We didn't execute the way we wanted to, and you can't have the mistakes that we did against a good football team like that." Akron QB Chris Jacquemain
Bowling Green 27, (25)Pittsburgh 17.
Quick Take: The Pitt Panthers broke out on top early, taking a 14-0 lead over Bowling Green however the Falcons responded with a pair of touchdown passes to Jimmy Scheidler to erase the deficit before a late field goal put the Panthers back on top 17-14 by the break. Bowling Green however dominated second-half play, shutting out Pitt 13-0 and came away with the upset win. Four different players scored for the Falcons whose multiple formations frustrated the Panthers' defense. BG QB Tyler Sheehan passed for two touchdowns while Freddie Barnes also tossed a scoring strike.
Notable: ** The victory by BG was their first win over a ranked team since the Falcons defeated a pair of ranked opponents in 2003, defeating No. 16 Purdue 27-26 and Northern Illinois 34-18.
**Falcons TE Jimmy Scheidler, who caught three passes for thirty yards and a pair of touchdowns Saturday against Pittsburgh, entered the game with one career catch for minus-4 yards
** BG DB Jahmal Brown had a game-high, and career-best, 14 tackles.
Quotable: ** "Our kids. they relish these games. They thrive on being the underdogs and going on the road and having people jeering them before pregame and telling them they can't do this and they can't do that. That's the wrong thing to say to these guys." Bowling Green head coach Gregg Brandon.
** "Our goal the whole time we were preparing for this, just play as one, play as a unit, one heartbeat and one team. Once we were settled in, getting the butterflies out and everything ....then we got comfortable and it was guys just knew their jobs and we were attacking." Bowling Green LB John Haneline.
** We have a whole bunch of different plays for him. It's nice to have a big guy like that to throw it. He probably has the best hands on the team." Bowling Green QB Tyler Sheehan discussing the play of TE Jimmy Scheidler.
Wyoming 21, Ohio 20.
Quick Take: For the second straight season, Ohio suffered a heartbreaking one-point setback against Ohio, this time falling to the Cowboys 21-20in Laramie. Last season the Bobcat dropped a 34-33 decision to Wyoming in Athens. The teams engaged in a back-and-forth affair throughout the most recent contest with Ohio holding a 20-14 lead until Wyoming scored midway through the fourth quarter, recording the game's deciding touchdown on a 23-yard pass from Dax Crum to Dontae Morgan. The loss overshadowed Donte Harden's 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for Ohio in the second quarter which tied the game at 14-14.
Notable: **Ohio WR Taylor Price had a career high 14 receptions for 139 yards. His 14 receptions also set a school single-game record.
**The Bobcats recorded only 39 yards net rushing, averaging 1.9 yards per carry.
**Ohio LB Noah Keller recorded a career-best 15 tackles.
Quotable: ** "It was a hard-fought second half by both teams. We had our opportunities. The game was filled with opportunities for us in all aspects, whether you look at special teams, defense or offense and some of those we capitalized on and played very good football. We made a few errors and mistakes that were very costly along the way. I think that was across the broad and that goes for us coaches too" Ohio head coach Frank Solich.
** "Coming into the season, we were trying to find ways to get me the ball and a couple of our tight ends the ball and make things happen with our playmakers." Ohio WR Taylor Price.
** "It's a big game. We have a lot to prove to these Buckeyes. A lot of us come from the Columbus area so we are going to come out and give it our all and pull out all of the stops." Price discussing the Bobcats' upcoming game at Ohio State on Sept 6.
Minnesota 31, Northern Illinois 27.
Quick Take: Northern Illinois fell on the road at Minnesota, surrendering a late 27-24 lead when the Gophers scored the winning touchdown with twenty-two seconds remaining on Duane Bennett's one-yard plunge into the end-zone, spoiling Huskies' head coach Jerry Kill's debut. The Huskies battled back from a 24-13 third quarter deficit thanks to a pair of long-distance touchdowns from QB Chandler Harnisch to Nathan Palmer as the duo connected on scoring strikes of 91 and 52 yards to stun the Gophers but NIU could not hold on as Minnesota mounted their game-winning drive with just over five minutes remaining, which included converting a crucial fourth-and-one from the NIU three-yard line.
Notable: **NIU redshirt QB Chander Harnisch made his debut a memorable one, passing for 326 yards, no interceptions and two touchdowns.
**Huskies' WR Nathan Palmer had three catches for 170 yards and two touchdowns in his NIU debut.
**The last Northern Illinois head coach to win his debut was Jerry Pettibone in 1985 when the Huskies opened the season by defeating Western Michigan 17-0.
Quotable: ** "I can't fault the effort, the kids played well. We had a chance to win several times. There are a lot of good things we can take away from the game. We did some things well enough to win, that's what is disappointing." Northern Illinois head coach Jerry Kill.
** “There was no question [that we were going for it], and we converted when we really needed to. I feel that this is something we can build off going into the future.” Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster on the decision to go for a fourth-down conversion on the game's winning drive..
** "The win felt great and it gives us some momentum heading into Bowling Green (next week)." Minnesota LB Lee Campbell.
Nebraska 47, Western Michigan 24.
Quick Take: The Broncos traveled to Lincoln in their season opener and were unable to climb out of an early hole that saw them trailing 14-0 after the opening quarter and 34-10 by halftime as Nebraska rolled to a 47-24 win. Western Michigan settled down in the second half outscoring the 'Huskers 14-13 but were never able to draw closer than twenty points. WMU QB Tim Hiller passed for 342 yards and two touchdowns.
Notable: **Nebraska has not suffered a season-opening setback since dropping a 17-13 decision to Florida State in 1985.
**Broncos' TE Brandon Ledbetter had a game-high nine receptions for 123 yards to along with one touchdown.
**Nebraska scored on seven consecutive possessions after punting on its opening drive.
Quotable: ** "The tough part about the fourth straight year where you go into an environment like this is that it's a little bit hard. The kids get all geeked up, being ready to go. We didn't handle it as well." Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubit.
** "I guess it was a little bit of jitters, a little bit of lack of execution. We did not start fast, and we needed to get started from the get-go, and weather that storm of emotion that they had, and we failed to do that, so that was frustrating. But once we got going, there were a lot of positive things." Western Michigan QB Tim Hiller.
** "The scheme they were doing, we went over it every day in practice throughout the whole week. We just didn't execute it the way we should have." Western Michigan safety Louis Delmas.
Boston College 21, Kent State 0.
Quick Take: Boston College pitched a shutout, shutting down the Golden Flashes in the second-annual Patriot Bowl game played at Cleveland Browns Stadium Saturday night. The Eagles opened up a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and then used a staunch defensive effort that didn't allow Kent State inside its own 45-yard line until the fourth quarter.
Notable: **Kent State TB Eugene Jarvis was limited to 51-yards rushing but did surpass the 2500 yards rushing career mark and now has 2518 yards, moving into fifth-place all-time at Kent State.
**The shutout by Boston College was their first opening day shutout since defeating Temple 45-0 in 1973 and their first road shutout since downing Pittsburgh 33-0 in 1993.
**Kent State LB Derek Burrell recorded a game-high 14 tackles.
Quotable: ** “Boston College’s defense was as good as advertised.” Kent State head coach Doug Martin.
** “Yeah they are very stout. Their d-line is very big. I had a little trouble picking up their twists and blitz, we had to scramble with that stuff. They would bend, but they didn’t break. They took away our big plays. We didn’t get that one play we needed that would have helped set a tempo for the game." Kent State QB Julian Edelman on BC's defense.
** “The thing that impressed me the most about my team tonight was no turnovers, and no penalties.” Boston College head coach Jeff Jagodzinski.
Players of the Week MAC Report Online announces its choices for offensive and defensive players of the week for the opening week of the MAC season.
Offensive Player of the Week Drew Willy, QB, Buffalo. 10-16, 221 yards passing, four touchdowns. Comment: Willy led the Bulls to a 42-17 opening night win over UTEP. It was the Bulls' largest margin of victory since moving up to Division 1A status in 1999. Willy also became Buffalo's all-time leader in career completions and currently owns a streak of 251 consecutive attempts without an interception.
Defensive Player of the Week Kenny Lewis, DB, Bowling Green, six tackles, forced fumble, fumble recovery, interception and one pass break-up. Comment: Lewis was a key part of the Bowling Green defense that shutdown the Pittsburgh Panthers' offense in Bowling Green's 27-17 upset, including a critical forced fumble and recovery on Pitt WR Cedric McGee that halted a fourth-quarter Pitt drive.
Prognosticating Prowess Well, here we go again as we attempt another season of trying to predict the sometimes wildly unpredictable world of MAC football but after the opening week we are pretty pleased with ourselves, posting a 9-3 mark.
The highlight of our picks was somehow nailing the exact score on the Ball State - Northeastern score, proving the old "blind squirrel" adage We also came within twenty-two seconds of correctly picking the NIU-Minnesota score if not for some last minute heroics by the Gophers. Our worst pick? Clearly it was the Miami game.
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BallState 48, Northeastern 14.
Buffalo 42, UTEP 17.
Central Michigan 31, Eastern Illinois 12.
Eastern Michigan 52, IndianaState 0.
Temple 35, Army 7.
Bowling Green 27, (25)Pittsburgh 17.
Offensive Player of the Week