Week 4 PASS/FAIL Report: MAC

MID AMERICAN CONFERENCE

PASS: Ball State, Bowling Green, Toledo, Akron

Ball State may have been beaten by Northwestern 24-19, but the Cardinals showed more fight than they have all season in that loss. Nobody has challenged Northwestern like the Cardinals did.

Bowling Green has only two wins in four played, but both wins have come against the Big 10, and beating Purdue was something that they needed to do. Still, the Falcons defense may betray the, in the MAC race.

Toledo is playing better than anyone in the MAC right now, and it’s hard to see who is going to beat them in league play. The Rockets are by far my favorite in the league now.

Akron picked up a huge win against UL-Lafayette, 35-14, which ought to do wonders for their overall outlook on their season moving forward. ULL may be  little down this season, but this was still a terrific win.

FAIL:  Western Michigan, Central Michigan, U Mass, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Miami (Ohio), Kent State, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan

Western Michigan has not been as I had expected them to be this season. Of course, Ohio State was never a game I thought the Broncos could win, but I certainly never saw them as struggling as they are to find an identity.

Central Michigan never had a shot in reality against Michigan State, and overall, I didn’t think they played badly. That being said, they have had a rough non con slate, and it is time to pick it up heading into MAC play.

U Mass played Notre Dame tough for a half, but the game is two halves, and U Mass fell apart after halftime. The Minutemen just keep losing, and the losing is getting old.

Northern Illinois has no offense right now. They are averaging just 13.5 points per game in losses to BC and Ohio State, and despite only giving up 18.5 per game in those games, they are 0-2.

Ohio has bene strong in the non con portion of their schedule, but where they fail is that they had Minnesota on the ropes late, and they let them get away with a win.

Same can be said for Kent State, who drove Marshall to OT and let the beatable Herd off the mat in a 36-29 loss in OT.

Buffalo was a favorite at home, but fall to Nevada 24-21, making it a close loss Saturday in the MAC. If this conference wants respect, these are games these teams must win to make that happen.

I was just starting to give Chris Creighton some credit, but now Eastern Michigan has gone completely off the rails, losing to a terrible Army team 58-36. As of now, especially on defense, the Eagles don’t have a clue.

Miami (Ohio) joins that party, as they got blasted by Miami (Ohio) 56-14. Don Treadwell’s days have to be numbered at this point.