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If you were told in August that the biggest game of the MAC season would be the week 9 tilt between Kent State and Ohio, you'd question the sanity of the person giving you your information. You'd ask about Akron, last year's conference champion, or Miami, or maybe Bowling Green -- and while Ohio was on the radar as a sleeper to win the MAC East crown, Kent State wasn't even in the conversation. Then Julian Edelman came to the Kent State campus. The juco transfer from California brought with him confidence, and talent. The QB's clutch plays through the air and on the ground have Kent State perched atop the MAC East (5-2, 4-0) and riding a 5 game winning streak. The Bobcats are the only team with a real chance of upending Kent's title hopes. Ohio (5-3, 3-1), comes in on a 3 game winning streak of their own. Led primarily by the resurgence of Kalvin McRae, who has averaged 112 yards and 2 touchdowns during the three game streak, Ohio finds themselves back in contention. The Golden Flashes and the Bobcats boast the MAC's 1st and 2nd ranked scoring defenses respectively, so this game will likely be won by the team that can control the clock and win the field position battle. It's really this simple. As McRae goes, so goes Ohio University. If Ohio can manage to keep Kent honest and give McRae room to run and wear down the middle of the Flashes defense, Ohio will pull the upset. However, if Kent can load the box with 8 or 9 guys and force Ohio to pass, the game is over before it starts. Bottom line. Until Julian Edelman gives anyone reason to believe he can't make clutch plays, there's no reason to pick against a red hot Kent State team at home. Ohio will keep it close, but the lack of a passing attack will tilt the game in Kent State's favor in the final quarter. Prediction: Kent State 20, Ohio 13 Bowling Green @ Temple Last week, Temple's run defense held Garrett Wolfe to 45 rushing yards on 17 attempts. They still lost 43-21. This week they'll go up against a Bowling Green team that shows defenses a variety of different looks in the running game. Chris Bulluck, Dan Macon, and Freddie Barnes will all get their touches against the Owls. This Temple team has given up 40 or more points in 6 of their 8 contests this season, and that number should move out to seven this week. The Owls should be to improve upon the 70-7 drubbing they received at the hands of Bowling Green last season, but not by nearly enough to pick up their first win. While the game may be closer than expected at the half, the Bowling Green ground attack should control the latter half of the game and lead the Falcons to their 5th win of the year. Prediction: Bowling Green 44, Temple 20 Northern Illinois @ Iowa Drew Tate will miss this game because of a thumb injury sustained in last week's loss to Michigan. Too bad. Tate could've completely revitalized his season against the 117th ranked Northern Illinois pass defense. With that being said, this is probably the perfect game for Tate to miss. It seems that regardless of who is throwing the ball, the NIU secondary routinely rolls out the red carpet. Fortunately, the Huskies have managed to counter that sore spot with tremendous performances from Garrett Wolfe. However, teams have finally decided that stopping Wolfe and making the Huskies beat you with the passing game is the best decision. Western Michigan laid that blueprint in their 16-14 win over NIU, holding the star back to 25 yards on 18 carries. To make matters worse, lowly Temple managed to follow suit, limiting Wolfe to only 45 yards. Iowa's run defense showed last week against Mike Hart that when their plan is to stop the run, they can have success. Don't expect Northern Illinois' offensive line to wear down the Hawkeyes the same way Michigan's did last week. Unfortunately for Northern Illinois, this game will likely be won by the team that has the most success passing the ball. Regardless of which QB Kirk Ferentz decides to go with in lieu of Tate, Iowa should have plenty of success throwing the ball and cruise to victory. Prediction: Iowa 34, Northern Illinois 13 Buffalo @ Boston College When your only victory was 9-3 overtime decision over Temple in week 1, there's little hope to even compete against the country's 18th ranked team. That's the task at hand for the Buffalo Bulls against Boston College this week. Boston College is coming off of consecutive ACC victories over Virginia Tech and Florida State whic have them atop the ACC's Atlantic division. With a key conference matchup at Wake Forest on the horizon, this should be nothing more than a tune-up game for the Eagles. Expect BC to get on top early to allow starting QB Matt Ryan to rest his tender ankle. Prediction: Boston College 45, Buffalo 7 Western Michigan vs. Eastern Michigan Western Michigan (5-3, 3-1) sits in second in the MAC West, trailing Central Michigan by only one game in the standings. Eastern Michigan is coming off their first win of the season, a 17-13 victory over Toledo. The Broncos are the better team, and they need to prove it here. They have a date with Central Michigan (idle this week) slated for November 4th. If WMU can come out victorious against Eastern Michigan and Miami, that date will potentially be for the MAC West crown and a trip to the MAC championship game. In order for Eastern Michigan to upend the Broncos title hopes, they're going to need to find a way to score on the MAC's best defense. The recipe for the Broncos' success this season has been scoring just enough to win and relying on big stops from the D. Eastern Michigan has the MAC's worst scoring offense, averaging 16.4 ppg. Western Michigan knows they can control their own destiny with victories. They'll likely come into this home game fired up and be one step closer to that key November 4th matchup with the state's other directional school. Prediction: Western Michigan 28, Eastern Michigan 9 Toledo vs. Akron When you're used to competing for the MAC West title year in and year out, losing to Eastern Michigan is a shot to your pride. The Toledo Rockets have suffered that exact fate this season. They've dropped four in a row and six of eight this season, and lately it seems as if the team has quit. On the bright side, they'll get to face an inconsistent Akron team Saturday. The Zips (3-4, 1-2) looked like their preseason favorite selves in their week 2 comeback victory over N.C. State. Then they lost a tight one to Central Michigan and got waxed by Kent State. Their lack of a solid effort on the ground and an offensive line that seemed to be playing confused became glaring problems and dropped them out of the MAC East race. If Toledo plans to win this one, they'll have to make Akron one-dimensional and limit RB Dennis Kennedy's effectiveness. That may be tough, considering they rank 92nd against the run, one spot behind a Miami team that allowed Kennedy to grind out 129 yards and 2 late scores last week. Toledo's offense can't move the ball, and Akron gets enough daylight on the ground to keep QB Luke Getsy off his back. Prediction: Akron 27, Toledo 13 Miami vs. Ball State For every instance that the Ball State offense has looked prolific, their defense has been equally horrific. Their passing offense has been one of the nation's most productive, whether freshman QB Nate Davis or senior QB Joey Lynch take the snaps. But the defense has been -- embarrassing. The Cardinals are giving up over 460 yards of offense per game and it's the biggest reason for their 2-6 record. This is good news for the QB/WR combo of Mike Kokal and Ryne Robinson for the Miami Redhawks. Despite their 1-7 record, Kokal and Robinson have developed nice chemistry during the '06 campaign. Their numbers should imrpove against the Ball State defense Saturday. The problem facing the Redhawks will be stopping the Ball State passing game. Senior QB Joey Lynch ranks 12th in the nation in passing efficiency, and to make matters freshman Nate Davis is 7th. These are hardly numbers a 1-7 team likes to hear. This game should be close, and conducted primarily through the air by both teams. Miami boasts the conference's third best pass defense, and Ryne Robinson is a legitimate NFL talent. The Redhawks utilize the home field advantage and win a shootout. Prediction: Miami 34, Ball State 28 This week's best bet: Akron (-5) at Toledo ----- |
 
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