Nicks Picks 2009 – Week #1 (September 1, 2009)

September 3rd, 2009 by Carissa Rossi

Nine MAC Teams on television this week as the 2009 MAC football season kicks off. Ball State will begin their season in the national spotlight with a Thursday night showdown against North Texas on ESPNU. Bowling Green will also launch their season Thursday night as they host Troy. On Saturday, the MAC will start the season against six BCS schools; four of these six opponents are from the Big Ten. Miami will begin their season on the national stage as they face the Kentucky Wildcats in the “Battle of the River” at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.

A complete summary of this week’s TV schedule is listed below.

TV Schedule — All Times ET

September 3rd 7:00 pm Troy @ Bowling Green BCSN
September 3rd 7:30 pm North Texas @ Ball State ESPNU
September 5th 12:00 pm Kentucky @ Miami ESPNU
September 5th 12:00 pm Toledo @ Purdue Big Ten Network
September 5th 12:00 pm Akron @ Penn State Big Ten Network
September 5th 3:30 pm Western Michigan @ Michigan ABC/ESPN 2
September 5th 7:00 pm Connecticut @ Ohio ESPN360.com
September 5th 7:00 pm Northern Illinois @ Wisconsin Big Ten Network
September 5th 9:00 pm Buffalo @ UTEP CBS College Sports

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Troy at Bowling Green

Game time: 7 p.m.

2008 Records: Troy 8-5 losing in OY to Southern Miss in the New Orleans Bowl; BGSU 6-6

Dave Clawson replaces Gregg Brandon who went 44-30 in six years at the helm of the Falcon program. First year Falcon head coaches have not lost a season opener since Harry Ockerman and the Falcons lost 12-0 in 1935. Robert Whittaker (1941), Doyt Perry (1955), Bob Gibson (1965), Don Nehlan (1968), Denny Stolz (1977), Moe Ankney (1986), Gary Blackney (1991), Urban Meyer (2001) and Gregg Brandon (2003) are 8-0-1 in games that begin their Falcon careers.
Senior quarterback Tyler Sheehan is the career leader in BGSU history to date in completion percentage at 64.5%; Sheehan is 14-11 in his two years as a starting quarterback and for his career he has thrown for 6,066 yards and 43 touchdowns and added 10 rushing and three receiving scores
Safety P.J. Mahone has become one of the best DBs in Falcon history. He emerged as a starter midway through the 2007 campaign and has recorded 10 interceptions and 242 return yards on those 10 picks (24.2 avg.), both ranking near the top of BG’s record book.
BGSU is 8-1 against non-conference teams at home in the last eight years while Troy, the preseason favorite to win the Sun Belt Conference, is 2-6 in road openers since 2001 and 0-1 lifetime against the MAC.

Nick’s Pick: Bowling Green 24 – Troy 21

Thoughts: Clawson keeps the tradition going of first year BG coaches getting off to a quick start against a very good Troy team that will once again be in a post season bowl.

Coastal Carolina at Kent State

Game time: 7 p.m.

2008 Records: Coastal Carolina 6-6; Kent State 4-8

This marks just the fourth time in the past two decades that KSU has opened the season at home and the 16^th night game since lights were added to Dix Stadium in 1990. KSU is 18-9-1 lifetime when opening at home.
Coach Doug Martin is 4-0 against teams from the FCS ranks winning by an average margin of 25-points per contest. Coastal Carolina is in its 7^th year of fielding a football team and lost at Penn State last year 66-10.
Senior RB Eugene Jarvis is just 721 yards shy of becoming the program’s all-time leading rusher.
Sophomore Giorgio Morgan replaces three-year starter Julian Edleman, now with the New England Patriots.
Brian Lainhart and Cobrani Mixon lead what is expected to be a much improved defense.

Nick’s Pick: Kent State 33 – Coastal Carolina 13

Thoughts: A good warm up game for KSU to get an early victory and build confidence.

Villanova at Temple

Game time: 7 p.m.

2008 Records: Villanova 10-3; Temple 5-7

This is the inaugural Mayor’s Cup game against cross-town rival Villanova. Mayor Michael Nutter and comedian Bill Cosby will participate in the coin toss and Nutter will present the Mayor’s Cup trophy to the winning team following the contest.
Temple recorded the program’s most wins in 18 years last fall while Villanova is ranked as #5 nationally in preseason FCS polls.
This is the 30th meeting between the Owls and the Wildcats renewing a 101-year old cross-town rivalry after a six-year hiatus. The game is the first in a series of four Mayor’s Cup games playing every year through 2012. The Wildcats hold a 15-12-2 series advantage.

Nick’s Pick: Temple 14 – Villanova 13

Thoughts: Expect a very good, physical and hard fought game. Give the nod to Temple who needs this game to spring board what could be a very special season for the Owls.

North Texas at Ball State

Game time: 7:30 p.m.

2008 Records: North Texas 1-11; Ball State 12-2; lost in the MACC & GMAC Bows

Coach Stan Parrish is in his fifth season at Ball State and first year as the school’s head coach; Parrish became the first Ball State assistant coach to be promoted to head coach since Wave Myers in 1968. He owns a 57-42-3 career head coaching record, which includes stints at Wabash (1978-82), Marshall (1984-85) and Kansas State (1986-88).
North Texas Head Coach Todd Dodge is entering his fourth season as the head coach at North Texas and owns a 3-21 career collegiate coaching record; Dodge came to North Texas after posting a 79-1 record at Southlake Carroll High School in Texas winning four state titles.
MiQuale Lewis is one of the top returnees to the 2009 Cardinals after rushing for a single-season school record 1,736 yards and earning 2008 All-Mid-American Conference First-Team honors while Brandon Crawford returns to lead the Ball State defense after earning All-MAC Second-Team honors a year ago
Ball State is 4-2 versus current SBC teams while NTU is 1-3 versus the MAC. NTU was outscored 47-20 in 2008 and 45-24 in 2007.

Nick’s Pick: Ball State 38 – North Texas 17

Thoughts: This is a good game to open with for the new coaching staff as NTU is rated by most publications as either the #119 or #120 ranked team in the FBS ranks (out of 120 total).

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Toledo at Purdue

Game time: 12 p.m.

2008 Records: Toledo 3-9; Purdue 4-8

Purdue’s Hope and Toledo’s Tim Beckman take over FBS programs for the first time in their respective coaching careers; at Purdue, senior QB Joey Elliott makes his first career start while seniors Jason Werner and Jaycen Taylor and junior Kyle Adams return after missing the 2008 season with injuries.
Toledo returns 20 starters, 11 of whom are seniors; among them are four seniors who are official national award nominees for the best player at his position: safety Barry Church, receiver Stephen Williams, running back DaJuane Collins and kicker Alex Steigerwald. UT’s offense is led by senior QB Aaron Opelt, a four-year starter.
Receiver Stephen Williams (thanks Icon SMI)
The Boilermakers return 13 starters but must find replacements for QB Curtis Painter and 1000-yard rusher Kory Sheets. Among their top returnees are wide receiver Keith Smith (49 receptions) and free safety Torri Williams (83 tackles, two interceptions).
This will be Toledo’s second appearance on the Big Ten Network. The first was a 13-10 victory at Michigan last year.

Nick’s Pick: Purdue 34 – Toledo 21

Thoughts: Don’t expect another 52-24 beat down like the last time these two teams played (in Toledo) back in 2007. Toledo’s new staff has much more discipline than the previous regime and will have the Rockets playing to their highest level. Purdue has more talent.

Akron at Penn State

Game time: 12 p.m.

2008 Records: Akron 5-7; Penn State 11-2; lost to USC in the Rose Bowl

The Nittany Lions lead the series with the Zips, 3-0. The teams last met in the 2006 season opener, with the Lions winning, 34-16. Penn State won the 2004 opener between the schools in J.D. Brookhart’s first game as head coach.
Penn State is 49-5-1 all time against the MAC and Paterno has lost only once; a 24-6 set back to Toledo in 2000.
Akron returns 17 starters with nine on offense and six on defense while PSU returns five starters on each side of the ball.
Last season Penn State beat MAC member Temple 45-3. One common non-conference opponent from the 2008 campaign was Syracuse; PSU beat the Orange 55-13 while Akron won 38-24.

Nick’s Pick: Penn State 45 – Akron 20

Thoughts: Akron is a very good team with high expectations this fall but Penn State may be the very best team in Big Ten and certainly a top-10, if not top-5 team in the nation.

Kentucky versus Miami (O) <Cincinnati, OH>

Game time: 12 p.m.; Paul Brown Stadium

2008 Records: Kentucky 7-6 and won the Liberty Bowl over East Carolina; Miami 2-10

This marks the head coaching debut of Miami’s Michael Haywood. The 2009 season marks Miami football team’s 62nd as a member of the MAC. Miami has won more MAC games than any other league program (255) and its all-time MAC winning percentage is far and away the best (.663). Miami has won or shared 14 MAC titles, four more than any other conference school.
The Miami-Kentucky football series dates back 115 years to 1894 with Kentucky holding a 6-4-1 series lead. The RedHawks are 4-1-1 over last six meetings though.
Three true freshmen are listed in Miami’s starting lineup.
Since 2006, Kentucky has won 14-straight non-conference games and by an average scoring margin of 20-points per game. Miami is 11-13-1 all-time v. the SEC.

Nick’s Pick: Kentucky 28 – Miami 16

Thoughts: RedHawk fans will see a much better product this season with the coaching change but too much youth on the Miami side of the ball will be the difference.

Western Michigan at Michigan

Game time: 3:30 p.m.

2008 Records: Western 9-4 including a 38-14 loss to Rice in the Texas Bowl; UM 3-9

Western Michigan is 6-26 lifetime against the Big Ten including 0-4 against Michigan. The latest game was a 35-12 loss in 2002. Michigan is 24-1 lifetime against the MAC losing for the first time ever to 3-9 Toledo in 2008.
Michigan has lost back to back season openers during the past two seasons; 25-35 to Utah and 34-32 to Appalachian State. Rich Rodriguez is 1-3 in non-conference games as Michigan head coach.
Entering his senior year, WMU QB Tim Hiller has thrown for more than 8,000 yards, 76 TDs with 28 INTs.

Nick’s Pick: Michigan 26 – Western Michigan 24

Thoughts: The Michigan program is a mess right now with more negative publicity reported by ESPN earlier this week. Western Michigan may never have such ripe opportunity to beat the boys from Ann Arbor and are clearly a better team than last year’s Toledo squad that pulled the trick. It’s not out of the question for the Broncos to win in a mild stunner this weekend and make it three straight years that Big Blue has started 0-1.

Army at Eastern Michigan

Game time: 7 p.m.

2008 Records: Army 3-9; Eastern Michigan 3-9

EMU’s Ron English’s is set to begin his first season with the Eagles returning 45 lettermen, including eight starters to an offense that scored 309 points in 2008. It was the fifth most points scored in a season. EMU returns eight starters on defense.
Army’s offense features WR Ali Villanueva who is 6-10; 283 pounds. This is no typo; he is 6-foot ten inches playing wide out.
EMU has historically fared exceptionally well in home-opening contests going 71-41-4 (.629) all-time in its openers. Eastern is 6-3 in home openers this decade.
Army leads the series 2-0 and won 17-13 last season. Rich Ellerson is Army’s new head coach coming over to West Point after having much success at I-AA/FCS Cal-Poly.

Nick’s Pick: Eastern Michigan 35 – Army 27

Thoughts: EMU QB Andy Schmitt put up huge numbers at the end of last season and leading the offense to score over 100-points during their final two games, including a big win over Central Michigan. Look for EMU to outscore the Black Knights in a close contest.

NIU at Wisconsin

Game time: 7 p.m.

2008 Records: NIU 6-7 and lost to La Tech in the I-Bowl; Wisconsin 7-6 and lost to Florida St in the Champs Sports Bowl

NIU has lost five straight season openers which includes four straight to Big Ten teams. Wisconsin is 29-3 against the MAC including 10-1 vs. NIU. UW has won 13 straight home openers and by an average margin of 20 points per game.
Wisconsin beat MAC member Akron 38-17 to open the 2008 season while NIU lost a heartbreaker at Minnesota 31-27 to begin the 2008 campaign.
The Huskies return 6 starters on offense and four on defense while Wisconsin returns seven and five accordingly.

Nick’s Pick: Wisconsin 31 – NIU 17

Thoughts: There is pressure on the Wisconsin staff to produce now after last season’s disappointing finish where down the stretch of the 2008 season they barely beat Minnesota (35-32) and Cal Poly (36-35) to become bowl eligible only to get bombed by FSU. The Huskies return talent and are clearly building a nice program but this year’s team has a lot of question marks returning, unlike last season when 21 starters came back.

Connecticut at Ohio

Game time: 7 p.m.

2008 Records: UConn 8-5 and beat Buffalo in the International Bowl; Ohio 4-8

Ohio has gone 5-1 over the past six seasons in home openers including a win over Pitt in 2005. UConn defeated OU in their only meeting back in 2002, 37-19. UConn has won 13-straight against the MAC which includes two bowls.
Historically known as a running school, the Ohio offense set school records in 2008 for total passing yards in a season (2,795), single-season passing yards per game (232.9) and single season
touchdown passes (21).
Ohio struggled last season on third down efficiency from both sides of the ball. The Ohio offense converted 39.6 percent (67-169) of its third downs while the opposition converted 48.3 percent (84-174).

Nick’s Pick: Ohio 23 – UConn 21

Thoughts: This publication has tremendous respect for UConn coach Randy Edsall and the entire Huskie football program. Since 2004 UConn has not only consistently beat MAC teams but for the most part, they beat them up badly. This year’s Ohio team is quite intriguing and this publication believes the Bobcats will get a rare win over UConn.

Two-Time 1st team All-MAC player, Dan LeFevour (thanks Icon SMI)

Game time: 9 p.m.

2008 Records: Central 8-5 losing to FAU in the MCB; Arizona 8-5 beating BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl

This is Central’s first ever game against a PAC-10 team. The ‘Chips are 0-15 recently against their first road BCS team losing by an average of 31-points per contest.
Arizona has won eight straight home openers and is 4-0 lifetime against the MAC. AZ beat Toledo last season 41-16. Central beat Toledo last year 24-23.
Entering the season, Central’s Dan LeFevour has pass for over 6,600 yards and rushed for over 1,800. He is a two-time 1^st team All-MAC performer.

Nick’s Pick: Arizona 41 – Central Michigan 24

Buffalo at UTEP

Game time: 9 p.m.

2008 Records: Buffalo 8-6 and lost to UConn in the International Bowl; UTEP 5-7

Since joining the FBS ranks, UB is just 1-11 in road openers and has lost six straight.

Buffalo is 3-13 lifetime against C-USA but did beat UTEP at home last season 42-17.

UTEP is 1-4 lifetime against the MAC but is considered by many preseason publications to win their division (C-USA West).

Last week UB announced that 1^st team All-MAC RB James Starks is out for the season due to an injury. Brandon Thermilus is listed as the starter entering the season.

Nick’s Pick: UTEP 37 – Buffalo 17

Thoughts: UB received some very bad news when it was announced that Starks would be out for the year. With so many changes due to graduation on offensive side of the ball, Starks was to be the glue and the focus early in the year. UTEP was totally pounded by the Bulls last season in Buffalo and should deliver a similar welcome to UB this fall.

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