Mid-American Conference Football Weekly Release October 22, 2018
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Mid-American Conference Football Weekly Release October 22, 2018 Football Contact: Ken Mather, Associate Commissioner for Media & Public Relations ([email protected]) Mid-American Conference, 24 Public Square, 15th Floor, Cleveland, Ohio 44113, 216-566-4622, GetSomeMACtion.com Become a fan of the Mid-American Conference on Facebook (GetSomeMACtion). Follow the MAC On Twitter @MACSports, Snapchat (MACSports) and Instagram (MACSports) MAC Standings MAC Storylines Conference Overall • Week 9 features the start of midweek MACtion with two games WEST DIVISION W L Pct. Stk H A W L Pct. Stk H A on Thursday, Oct. 25th at 7:00 pm with a key West Division Western Michigan 4 0 1.000 W4 1-0 3-0 6 2 .750 W6 2-1 4-1 contest with Toledo traveling to Western Michigan (ESPN2) and Northern Illinois 4 0 1.000 W4 2-0 2-0 4 3 .571 W3 2-1 2-2 a crossover game with Ball State at Ohio (CBS Sports Network). Ball State 2 2 .500 L1 1-2 1-0 3 5 .375 L1 2-3 1-2 Eastern Michigan 2 3 .400 W2 1-1 1-2 4 4 .500 W2 2-1 2-3 • In MAC crossover games this season, the West Division leads Toledo 1 2 .333 L2 1-1 0-1 3 4 .429 L2 3-2 0-2 the East Division, 5-3. In each of the last eight consecutive years Central Michigan 0 4 .000 L4 0-3 0-1 1 7 .125 L4 1-4 0-3 (2010-2017), the MAC West Division has topped the East Division in regular season head-to-head crossover games. Conference Overall EAST DIVISION W L Pct. Stk H A W L Pct. Stk H A • The MAC will feature its final two non-conference games this Buffalo 4 0 1.000 W4 2-0 2-0 7 1 .875 W3 3-1 4-0 Saturday, Oct. 27 against FBS Independents. Army will travel to Miami 3 1 .750 W2 1-1 2-0 3 5 .375 L1 1-3 2-2 Eastern Michigan at Noon ET (CBS Sports Network) and Northern Ohio 2 1 .667 W1 1-0 1-1 4 3 .571 W1 3-0 1-3 Illinois will visit BYU at 3:30 pm ET/2:30 pm CT (ESPNU). The Akron 1 2 .333 W1 0-1 1-1 3 3 .500 W1 1-1 2-2 MAC has seven FBS wins this year. Kent State 0 4 .000 L4 0-2 0-2 1 7 .125 L6 1-2 0-5 Bowling Green 0 4 .000 L4 0-2 0-2 1 7 .125 L5 1-3 0-4 • Western Michigan (6-2) joins Buffalo (7-1) as teams from the MAC already bowl eligible after Week 8. Western Michigan’s 35-10 win at Central Michigan marked the Broncos sixth consecu- MIDWEEK MACTION BEGINS THURSDAY, OCT. 25TH tive win. The Broncos are bowl eligible for a program-record fifth Midweek MACtion begins this week with two games on Thursday, Oct. 25th at straight season. 7:00 pm ET with Toledo at Western Michigan (ESPN2) and Ball State at Ohio • Buffalo earned its first-ever win in the Glass Bowl in Toledo (CBS Sports Network). The MAC began midweek football in 1999 and this sea- with a 31-17 win. Buffalo improved to 7-1 overall on the season son marks the 20th year of playing during the week. During the 2018 season, the and 4-0 in the MAC East Division. MAC will have 16 games nationally televised on either ESPN2, ESPNU or CBS Sports Network on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday during the last five weeks This Week’s MAC Schedule of the regular season. Thursday, October 25 *Ball State at Ohio, 7:00 pm ET (CBS Sports Network) MAC WEEKLY NOTES *Toledo at Western Michigan, 7:00 pm ET (ESPN2) • Western Michigan earned a 35-10 win at Central Michigan to extend its winning Saturday, October 27 streak to six games and are tied for first-place in the West Division with NIU at Army at Eastern Michigan, Noon ET (CBS Sports Network) 4-0. Western Michigan rushed for 305 yards as a team as LeVante Bellamy led *Central Michigan at Akron, Noon ET (ESPN3) with 145 yards and one touchdown, while Jamauri Bogan added 97 yards and a NIU at BYU, 3:30 pm ET/2:30 pm CT (ESPNU) score and became the seventh player in school history to top 3,000 career rushing Tuesday, October 30 yards. This marks the third time in the last four years that Western Michigan has *Kent State at Bowling Green, 8:00 pm ET (ESPNU) begun MAC play 4-0. The Broncos are bowl eligible for a program record fifth *Miami at Buffalo, 8:00 pm ET (ESPN2) straight season. Wednesday, October 31 • With Western Michigan’s win at Central Michigan, the Broncos regain posses- *Ball State at Toledo, 7:30 pm ET (ESPN2) sion of the Cannon Trophy, claiming the trophy between the rivals for the fourth Thursday, November 1 time in the last five years. Western Michigan also won back theMichigan MAC *NIU at Akron, 7:00 pm ET (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network) Trophy, which is a trophy competed for between Western Michigan, Central *Ohio at Western Michigan, 7:00 pm ET (ESPNU/CBS Sports Michigan and Eastern Michigan and is awarded to the team with the best record Network) among the Michigan-based MAC schools. Saturday, November 3 • Buffalo defeated Toledo 31-17 for the program’s first-ever win at the Glass *Central Michigan at Eastern Michigan, Noon ET (ESPN3) Bowl. Buffalo turned a 17-7 first half deficit into a 31-17 final by scoring the game’s final 24 points. Buffalo quarterback Tyree Jackson threw for 326 yards Last Week’s MAC Games and two touchdowns and running back Jaret Patterson rushed for 90 yards and *Buffalo 31, Toledo 17 two touchdowns to lead the Bulls and improve to 7-1 overall. Army 31, Miami 30 (2OT) • Eastern Michigan earned a 42-20 win at Ball State to improve to 4-4 overall, 2-3 *Ohio 49, Bowling Green 14 in the MAC. Eastern Michigan quarterback Tyler Weigers led by throwing for *Eastern Michigan 42, Ball State 20 257 yards and three touchdowns on 22-28 passing. His 78.6 completion percentage *Western Michigan 35, Central Michigan 10 ranks second highest in a single-game in school history. Earlier this year Weigers *Akron 24, Kent State 23 (OT) set the single-game school record with a 85.7% clip on 18-21 passing in a 51-17 Bye: Northern Illinois win over Monmouth on Aug. 31, 2018. *Mid-American Conference contest • Ohio quarterback Nathan Rourke accounted for five touchdowns in a 49-14 win over Bowling Green. Rourke had 193 yards passing for a career-high four touchdowns, while rushing for 101 yards and one score. • Akron captured its fourth consecutive Wagon Wheel trophy with a 24-23 (OT) win at Kent State. Akron’s senior class has never lost a game to Kent State (4-0) The MAC has partnered with collegepressbox.com to continue and the four-game winning streak in the rivalry is the second-longest since the media services and provide access to information on the confer- Wagon Wheel competition began in 1946. Akron quarterback Kato Nelson led ence and our membership including rosters, bios, game notes, with 219 yards passing and one touchdown. depth charts, stats, quotes, flipcards, media schedules and more. Mid-American Conference Football OCTOBER 22, 2018 MAC PROGRAMS WITH SUSTAINED FOOTBALL SUCCESS Three MAC programs – NIU, Ohio and Toledo -- have sustained success over MAC Players of the Week a 10 and 15-year period and currently rank among the FBS leaders in the MAC and college football, while a fourth program, Western Michigan, joins these East Division MAC programs among the FBS leaders in college football and the MAC over the recent five-year period. Nathan Rourke, Offensive Player of the Week Ohio, Junior, Quarterback All four programs have been no stranger to college football’s postseason bowl system. NIU has received a bowl invitation in nine of the last ten seasons, Ohio junior quarterback Nathan Rourke (Oakville, while Ohio has been bowl eligible for each of the last nine consecutive years, Ontario, Canada) accounted for five total touch- with eight bowl invitations. Toledo has been bowl eligible for the last eight downs, throwing a career-high four touchdown consecutive years, with seven bowl invitations. Western Michigan has been passes and adding another on the ground in a 49- bowl eligible in each of the last four straight years, with three bowl invitations. 14 win over Bowling Green. Rourke completed of 8-of-12 passes for 193 yards and carried 10 times Most Wins in FBS – 15 years (2004-18) for 101 yards. FBS Rank MAC Program No. Wins t-23rd NIU 120 wins note: Toledo (111 wins) and Ohio (105 wins) during this time frame. Brad Koenig, Defensive Player of the Week; Miami, Senior, Linebacker Most Wins in FBS – 10 years (2009-18) Miami senior linebacker Brad Koenig (Ann Arbor, FBS Rank MAC Program No. Wins Mich.) had 23 tackles, one tackle for loss and a 14th NIU 89 wins forced fumble in a 31-30 (2OT) loss at Army. His t-24th Toledo 80 wins 23 tackles rank 11th all-time in Miami history as Note: Ohio (78 wins) during this time frame. the RedHawks held Army to zero passing yards for the game.