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Mac Notes - Before the Games
By Nick Gerogosian | August 28, 2008
General Notes:
Akron return the league’s top kick returners and 8 line starters (4 off; 4 def)
Bowling Green has won last seasons opener Big Ten opponent Minnesota
Buffalo has their second straight season with a home game vs. a Texas based foe (Baylor in ‘07)
Kent State is "hosting" Boston College in second annual Patriot Bowl game at Browns Stadium
Miami has wins vs. six different SEC teams in their history (Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, USC, Vanderbilt)
Ohio has their first-ever game at Wyoming; Bobcats started last two seasons 2-0
Temple return 21 starters; the Owls are after first season-opening win since 2002
Ball State is 2-3 in season openers under Brady Hoke
Central Michigan is shooting for it’s third straight MAC title; both CMU and EIU had 8 wins in 2007
Eastern. Michigan begin their 40th season at Rynearson Stadium; Genyk 2-2 in home openers
NIU Coach Jerry Kill’s first game as Huskie mentor; Kill 50-14 last 5 years at SIU
Toledo is idle Saturday; opens at Arizona Sept. 6; coming off of back-to-back 5-7 seasons
Western Michigan goes up against the Bo Pellini era at Nebraska; WMU won at Iowa last year
Will kickoff its 62nd season of football with five games Thursday, a single game Friday, and six games on Saturday. All MAC teams except Toledo will open this weekend. The Rockets are idle until their Sept. 6 contest at Arizona.
All 13 MAC teams will bring back their starting quarterback from 2007. Buffalo’s Drew Willy is the league’s lone fourth-year starter at QB and is one of seven QBs in the nation at the FBS (I-A) level as a four-year starter.
Two MAC teams will face ranked opponents on the opening weekend. Akron is at Wisconsin (12 AP/13 USA TODAY) and Bowling Green is at Pittsburgh (25/nr). MAC schools will host opponents from the SEC (Vanderbilt at Miami); ACC (Boston College vs. Kent State at Cleveland Browns Stadium) and C-USA (UTEP at Buffalo) this weekend.
The Patriot Bowl Game at Browns Stadium - Is between Kent State and Boston College will be the fifth game played in Cleveland involving a MAC team. Previous games were Bowling Green vs. Wisconsin (2005) and Akron vs. Army (2007) at Browns Stadium; and Western Michigan vs. Toledo and Bowling Green vs. Kent State in a 1975 doubleheader at old Municipal Stadium. In 2009 Toledo will host Ohio State at Browns Stadium.
MORE MAC QUICK HITS
The Mid-American Conference celebrates its 62nd year of gridiron competition and will hold its 12th championship game in 2008. This year’s Marathon MAC Championship football game will be played Friday, Dec. 5, at Ford Field in Detroit. This year’s title game will be the fifth played at Ford Field.
EIGHT FOR ALL: Unlike 2007 when MAC teams played an unbalanced schedule, each MAC school will play eight conference games in 2008. Due to seven teams compiling the East Division and six teams in the West Division, two East Division match ups will not occur [Akron vs. Miami; and Bowling Green vs. Temple]. This format is reflective of the 199 season when two East Divisions match ups also did not occur [Akron vs. Marshall; and Bowling Green vs. Buffalo] in order to facilitate an eight-game conference schedule for the 13-team league.
SUPER SOPHS RETURN: The three MAC teams that went to a bowl game last year all were led by sophomore quarterbacks and each signal caller returns for 2008. Two-time defending league champion Central Michigan (Motor City Bowl) has Dan LeFevour returning to add to his career numbers of 6,683 passing yards and 53 touchdown passes. Bowling Green (GMAC Bowl) welcomes Tyler Sheehan after his first year as a starter that produced 3,123 passing yards and 23 scoring strikes. Ball State (International Bowl) will send out third-year starter Nate Davis and his numbers of 5,642 passing yards and 48 touchdown passes.
THE BEST ARE BACK:
Northern Illinois defensive end Larry English, voted by MAC head coaches as winner of the Vern Smith Leadership Award as a junior last year, returns to anchor the Huskie defense. English became just the second defensive player in 26 years to win the award, joining Central Michigan linebacker Ray Bentley (1982) in that category. English is also the first non-senior since Byron Leftwich in 2001 and 2002 to win the award and to return for the next season. Coupled with Huskie running back Garrett Wolfe capturing the honor in 2006, NIU is the only school in MAC history to have different players win the award in back-to-back years. English led the MAC with 10.5 sacks last season. In addition, MAC Defensive Player of the Year, linebacker Clayton Mullins of Miami, returns to the RedHawk defense. Mullins topped the league in tackles with 11 tackles per game while leading the RedHawks to the Marathon MAC Championship game. He also had 13 tackles for a loss. On the other side of the ball, Offensive Player of the Year in Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour is back for his junior season. LeFevour completed 355-of-543 pass attempts last year for 27 touchdowns and 3,652 yards. He led the Chippewas to their second consecutive MAC title and berth in the Motor City Bowl. CMU also was the recipient of the Freshman of the Year talent in 2007 with Antonio Brown capturing that honor. Brown accounted for 2,267 yards of total offense and eight touchdowns (6 receiving, 1 receiving and 1 via kickoff return). His total offense yards established a league
record for freshmen. Brown gained 1,003 yards on 102 receptions, 1,048 yards on 40 kickoff returns and 142 yards on 13 punt returns.
Topics: College Football, MAC, Nick Gerogosian, Preview |
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