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This week, there are four conference games, including two interdivision match-ups as Akron travels to Eastern Michigan and Toledo heads to Temple.  Ohio hosts Kent State in an Eastern Division battle, while Northern Illinois heads up to Central Michigan for.a West Division tussle.

In non-conference action, Ball State takes its 3-1 mark to top-ranked Oklahoma, Buffalo looks to end a two-game losing streak as it travels to Tennessee, Western Michigan heads east to Connecticut, while Miami and Cincinnati renew their battle for the Victory Bell

Here is a look at the thirteen MAC teams as we begin Week No. 5

EASTERN DIVISION

AKRON (1-3, 0-1 MAC): The Zips picked up their first win of the 2011 season defeating the Keydets of VMI (Big South-FCS) 36-13 at InfoCision Stadium. UA had 534 yards of total offense that, along with the 36 points scored, were the most ever in Rob Ianello’s 16-game tenure as Zips head coach. Redshirt freshman RB Jawon Chisholm had his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game with 188 yards and a touchdown. Chisholm is fourth in MAC rushing with 410 yards…WR Keith Sconiers also had his second straight 100-yard receiving game with eight receptions for 154 yards and two scores…Sophomore QB Clayton Moore had his best  game in Akron Blue and Gold, completing 13 of 28 passes for 223 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions…Defensively, LB Brian Wagner had 10 tackles - the second time this season the junior has had ten or more tackles in a game while fellow LB Jamar Williams had six stops along with a fumble recovery…Wagner leads the MAC in total tackles with 42 (17 solo)…The Zips look to even their MAC record at 1-1 as they travel to Eastern Michigan where they won their last road game back in 2008.

BOWLING GREEN (3-1, 1-0 MAC): The Falcons opened MAC play last Saturday traveling down to Oxford and defeating the Miami Redhawks 37-23, bouncing back from the heartbreaking one-point loss at home to Wyoming the week before. QB Matt Schilz completed 14-of-24 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns…The game’s biggest play was a school record 96-yard touchdown run by RB Anthon Samuel that put the game out of MU’s reach. Samuel finished the game with 121 yards on 16 carries…WR Kamar Jordan had nine receptions for 91 yards and a score…Schilz leads the MAC in passing, averaging 292.2 yards per game and is second in total offense at 283.5…Ray Hutson was named MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week as he blocked a punt and recovered a fumble. Both were key in the victory over the Hawks…The Falcons head to Connecticut Saturday to face the Huskies in Hartford. This will be UCONN’s second straight MAC opponent as they beat Buffalo last week 17-3 in Amherst.

BUFFALO (1-3, 0-1 MAC): The Bulls went through a frustrating night falling to defending Big East Conference champion Connecticut 17-3 at UB Stadium...What made the night so frustrating for UB? They outgained UCONN statistically 319-293. However, they moved the ball into the red zone three times and came away with just one field goal. .QB Chazz Anderson completed just 18-of-39 passes for 193 yards and added 35 yards rushing…WR Marcus Rivers was Anderson’s main target on the evening with nine catches for 94 yards…RB Branden Oliver is second in MAC rushing with 442 yards…LB Khalil Mack leads the MAC in tackles for loss with nine (eight solo) and in forced fumbles with three…Terrell Jackson leads in punt returns, averaging 7.4 yards per return…UB’s task of breaking their two-game losing streak will be daunting as they travel south to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville to battle the SEC’s Tennessee Volunteers.

KENT STATE (1-3): The Golden Flashes defeated the South Alabama Jaguars 33-25 last Saturday at Dix Stadium as Darrell Hazell picked up his first win as a head coach….The Flashes built a 33-0 lead early in the third quarter, scoring on five consecutive possessions but then had to hold on for dear life as USA (playing just their second game against Football Bowl Subdivision opposition) scored 25 consecutive points and had a chance to tie the game on the last play of regulation, reaching the KSU 30 yard line as time expired…KSU rushed for 187 yards with Trevon Durham (72) and Anthony Meray (64) had 136 of the yards, with Meray scoring two touchdowns…S Luke Wollett was named MAC East Defensive Player of the Week with two interceptions and also a tackle on the final play of the game…The KSU defense forced four turnovers (three interceptions and a fumble)…Wollett and teammate Norman Wolfe are tied for the MAC lead in interceptions with two…DB Josh Pleasant is second in passes defended with seven…The Flashes begin MAC play this Saturday as they head into Athens to face an Ohio Bobcat team that suffered its first loss of the season last Saturday at Rutgers. They have won the last two games in this series, including a 28-6 win last year that knocked the Cats out of the MAC East title

MIAMI (0-3, 0-1 MAC): The defending MAC champ RedHawks spiraled back to earth, losing at home to Bowling Green, 37-23. QB Zac Dysert completed 25-of-40 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown. He also ran in for one. MU’s offense was stifled as it gained just 134 yards in the second half…Dysert is second in MAC passing averaging 261.3 yards per game and third in total offense at 264.7…The Hawks look to regroup this week in their annual battle with Cincinnati, who crushed MU last year at Nippert Stadium, 45-3.

OHIO (3-1): The Bobcats dropped their first game of the season last Saturday to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 38-26 in New Brunswick…QB Tyler Tettleton completed 28-of-36 passes for a career-best 339 yards and three touchdown on an afternoon that saw 814 yards of combined total offense (404 coming from the Cats). Tettleton found 10 different receivers in the contest, but four fumbles proved to be Ohio’s undoing… The Bobcats open MAC play this Saturday as Kent State comes into Peden Stadium. KSU has won the last two games in the series and the Cats remember their last meeting on the final week of the 2010 season a 28-6 loss that cost Ohio the MAC East title and a trip to the championship game in Detroit…KSU picked up its first win of the season last Saturday, defeating South Alabama 33-25

TEMPLE (3-1, 1-0 MAC): Last Saturday, the Owls rebounded emphatically from their heartbreaking home loss to Penn State, traveling down I-95 to College Park, Md. and totally dominating the Maryland Terrapins, 38-7, at Byrd Stadium. The win was TU’s first-ever triumph against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. RB Bernard Pierce had 149 yards on 32 carries, scoring five touchdowns to set a school and MAC record…For his performance Pierce was named MAC East Offensive Player of the Week (the second time he has garnered the award in 2011)…Pierce leads the MAC and FBS in touchdowns with 12. He also leads the MAC with 496 rushing yards…The Owls built a 21-0 first quarter lead. After fashioning a 31-0 halftime lead, the Owls never looked back…QB Chester Stewart, in his first start of the season, was a perfect 9-for-9 passing for 140 yards, with TE Evan Rodriguez catching five of them for a career-high 96 yards…Defensively LB Stephen Johnson had 11 tackles in the game as Maryland was held to just 240 yards of total offense…Temple returns to MAC play this Saturday as the Toledo Rockets come to Lincoln Financial Field

  WESTERN DIVISION

BALL STATE (3-1, 1-0 MAC): The Cardinals defeated the Black Knights of Army last Saturday 48-21 at Schuneman Stadium…The 3-1 start is BSU’s best since the 12-0 start in 2008… First year head coach Pete Lembo’s 3-1 start is the best for a first year Cardinal coach since Bill Lynch in 2005…QB Keith Wenning completed 24-of-30 passes for a career best 324 yards and three touchdowns…RB Jahwon Edwards had 64 yards on 11 carries and three scores, while WR Willie Snead had 10 catches for 180 yards as the Cards amassed 545 yards in total offense…Defensively, S Sean Baker was named MAC West Defensive Player of the Week  with eight total tackles -. He also registered a sack, and an interception. In addition, the BSU defense did not allow Army to complete a pass in the game - the first time that has happened in the FBS since 2008 (Houston vs Air Force)…DE Nathan Ollie leads the MAC in sacks with four (three solo)…The Cards get their toughest test of the season this Saturday, traveling to Norman, Oklahoma to face the Sooners, who narrowly defeated Missouri last week 38-28.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN (1-3, 0-1 MAC): The Chippewas lost for the third time in three weeks, this time to a Michigan State team still fuming after losing the previous week at Notre Dame, as well as two years ago to CMU on the final play of the game in Spartan Stadium.  Sparty made the Chips pay for it with a 45-7 thrashing…Both QB’s Ryan Radcliff and A.J. Westerhoff threw two interceptions. Radcliff completed just 11 of 29 passes for 87 yards and CMU’s lone score - a five-yard touchdown pass to David Blahern in the third quarter. WR Cody Watson was held in check by the MSU defense as he had three catches on the day for just 31 yards…CMU returns home to Kelly-Shorts Stadium this Saturday to battle the Northern Illinois Huskies, who defeated Cal Poly last week at home

EASTERN MICHIGAN (2-2): The Eagles two-game winning streak to start the 2011 campaign is in the past as they were totally dominated the last two weeks - first by Michigan in Ann Arbor and this past week by Penn State in ‘Happy Valley,” 34-6. EMU’s lone offensive weapon was QB Alex Gillett, who completed 18-of-31 passes in the contest for 201 yards and added 22 yards on the ground…Surprisingly, the EMU defense held the Nittany Lions to just 34 yards rushing in the first half before the flood gates opened up in the second ..EMU opens MAC play this Saturday as the Akron Zips come to Rynearson Stadium. UA picked up its first win of the season last Saturday, beating VMI, and has won the last two games in the series

NORTHERN ILLINOIS (2-2): After a heartbreaking loss at Kansas, followed by a crushing loss to Wisconsin in Chicago, the Huskies returned home and finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 47-30 win over Cal Poly (Great West-FCS) Saturday at Huskie Stadium…QB Chandler Harnisch completed 18-of-21 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown to WR Perez Ashford. He added 118 rushing yards on 13 attempts and a score…Harnisch leads the MAC in passer efficiency at 176.3 and in total offense at 286.5 yards per game…RB Jamir Hopkins had 143 yards on 22 carries all part of a Huskie offense that had 542 yards in the contest…Ashford was one of ten NIU players who caught at least one pass in the game…The Huskies head into MAC play this Saturday to face the Central Michigan Chippewas in Mount Pleasant. The Chips are 1-3 and have lost three consecutive games, with the latest being a 45-7 drubbing at Michigan State

TOLEDO (1-3): The end of the Toledo-Syracuse game has been well-documented over the past few days and the final record will show the Orange with a 33-30 win in overtime. In most MAC minds, Toledo won the game in regulation 30-29 but that will be debated for a long time to come. QB Austin Dantin completed 22-of-32 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown…WR Eric Page collected 13 of those passes for 138 yards and was named MAC West Co-Offensive Player of the Week ...PK Jeremiah Denton was named MAC West Special Teams Player of the Week as he averaged 67 yards on his five kickoffs in the game and also converted his first field goal attempt (from 52 yards)…After facing Ohio State, Boise State, and Syracuse, the Rockets open MAC play this week with a trip to South Philadelphia to meet Temple. The Owls are 1-0 in MAC play and 3-1 overall after defeating Maryland last week 38-7.

WESTERN MICHIGAN (2-2, 1-0 MAC): The Broncos saw their two-game winning streak come to an end last Saturday as the Fighting Illini of Illinois held on for a 23-20 win at Memorial Stadium in Champaign-Urbana…QB Alex Carder passed for 308 yards, completing 30-of-48 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns with one interception...WR Jordan White had 14 receptions for 132 yards as he garnered Co-MAC West Offensive Player of the Week….White leads the MAC in receptions with 43 and in total yards with 495…WMU completes its non-conference schedule this week as the Broncos head to Connecticut to face the Huskies in Hartford. This will be UCONN’s second consecutive MAC opponent, as last week they went to Buffalo and defeated the Bulls 17-3.