THIS WEEK IN THE MAC
Tuesday, November 8
*Eastern Michigan at Akron, 7 pm (CBS Sports Network)
*Ohio at Miami, 7:30 pm (ESPN2)
*Ball State at Toledo, 8 pm (ESPN)
Wednesday, November 9
*Northern Illinois at Western Michigan, 7 pm (ESPNU)
*Buffalo at Central Michigan, 7 pm (ESPN2)
*Kent State at Bowling Green, 7 pm (CBS Sports Network)
2 MINUTE DRILL
• Bowling Green got a fourth-down stop with the game on the line, downing Western Michigan University by a 13-9 final on Wednesday night. With the win, the Falcons improved to 4-1 in MAC plays. Mason Lawler kicked a pair of field goals, while Matt McDonald was an efficient 23-of-31 for 161 yards in the win.
• The Chippewas utilized a three-quarterback rotation, Lew Nichols III returned the lineup, and the defense came up big when it most needed it as CMU downed Northern Illinois, 35-22. It was CMU’s second win its last three games. Starter Daniel Richardson threw for 150 yards and two touchdowns, backup Jase Bauer rushed for 109 yards and two scores in the win.
• Kurtis Rourke threw for 317 yards and five touchdowns, Sam Wiglusz had 131 yards receiving and two scores as Ohio topped Buffalo 45-24 on Tuesday night. This victory marks their fifth at Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium and their sixth this season, making them bowl eligible.
• Carson Steele rushed for 192 yards and a score, John Paddock threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns, and Ball State defeated Kent State 27-20 on Tuesday night. Jayshon Jackson had a team-high 10 catches for 102 yards and a touchdow. For Steele, it marked the seventh time this season he has rushed for over 100-yards.
MAC NOTES
Goin’ Bowlin’
Redshirt freshman quarterback Tucker Gleason threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner late in the fourth quarter, in Toledo’s 27-24 win at Eastern Michigan last week. The victory moved the Rockets to 6-3 and 4-1 in the MAC, making them bowl eligible for the 13th straight season. The Rockets have reached bowl eligibility every season since 2010. Ohio became bowl eligible after last Tuesday’s 45-24 win over Buffalo. The win also marked the fifth straight at Frank Solich Field. In the air, redshirt junior quarterback Kurtis Rourke went 20-for-29 with five touchdowns. Graduate student wide receiver Sam Wiglusz led the receivers, finishing with 131 yards and two touchdowns.
UB’s Fuqua Named National Defensive Player of the Week Buffalo safety Marcus Fuqua was named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week following his standout performance against Toledo. He’s the first UB player to ever earn the honor. The junior had a career-high three interceptions against the Rockets to become just the fourth UB player to record three interceptions in a game. Fuqua leads the MAC and is tied for the FBS lead with five interceptions. He was named the MAC East Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season following his performance against Toledo.
Bulls on Parade
When Buffalo takes on Ohio on Tuesday night, they will be in search of a sixth straight win for just the second time in their FBS era (2013). The Bulls will also be looking to improve to 5-0 in MAC play for the fourth time in program history (2013, 2018, 2020). A win would make the Bulls bowl eligible for the seventh time in program history and the fifth time in the last six seasons. UB played in bowl games in 2008, 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Buffalo is coming off a comeback victory over Toledo in which they scored 24-unanswered fourth quarter points. Buffalo forced six turnovers against Toledo in the win – the most by a UB team in its FBS era.
Not 1, Not 2, Not 3 …
Sophomore cornerback Quinyon Mitchell was named the Walter Camp Football Bowl Subdivision National Defensive Player of the Week following his four-interception performance in Toledo’s 52-32 victory at Northern Illinois on Oct. 8. Mitchell returned two of his three first-half interceptions for touchdowns as Toledo bolted out to a 35-7 lead at the break. Mitchell snuffed out a potential NIU touchdown by grabbing his third pick of the half in the NIU end zone on a pass from three-yard line with 16 seconds left. He gathered up his fourth pick of the game in the third quarter, a diving catch on NIU’s opening drive of the half, giving him four interceptions in slightly more than 30 minutes of play. The four interceptions were the first four of Mitchell’s career, tied the school record set back in 1950, and was the first time a Rocket had two pick sixes in one game. The Toledo standard of four interceptions in a game was set by Jerry Palmer vs. Western Reserve in 1950. Mitchell is the only FBS player since 2000 with four INTs and two pick-sixes in a game. The NCAA record for interceptions is five, held by four players, most recently Dan Rebsch of Miami (Ohio) vs. Western Michigan in 1972. Mitchell is the second Toledo player to earn Walter Camp National Player of Week honors. Safety DeJuan Rogers earned the award following the Rockets’ upset of No. 18 Arkansas on Sept. 12, 2015.
Ramirez Earns National Recognition
Eastern Michigan senior defensive lineman Jose Ramirez has garnered national acclaim after a career-best performance against Western Michigan University Saturday, Oct. 8. Ramirez was named the Reese’s Senior Bowl Defensive Player of the Week as well as the East-West Shrine Bowl’s Breakout Defensive Player of the Week. Ramirez made history Saturday when he recorded a career-high 4.0 sacks against Western Michigan en route to a 45-23 victory over the Broncos. The sack total is a single-game record at Eastern Michigan, and is the second-best individual performance in the NCAA this season.
Flashes of Brilliance
The Kent State Golden Flashes re-wrote the program record books and held off a feisty Ohio Bobcats squad in a thrilling 31-24 overtime victory on a homecoming Saturday at Dix Stadium. The Flashes rolled up 736 yards of offense in the game, the second-most in school history and the second-most this season in an FBS game. Kent State also became the ONLY team in FBS HISTORY to have a 240 yard rushers (Marquez Cooper) and 240 yard receiver (Dante Cephas) in the same game. Cephas set a program-record with 246 yards, breaking a the record set by Eugene Baker in 1997. The Golden Flashes have won eleven-straight home games, tied for the ninth-longest streak in the FBS and a new program record breaking the streak set September 1949 through October of 1951 and again October of 2011 through August of 2013
B1G Wins
The MAC has won a regular season game vs. Big Ten opponents in each of the last 16 consecutive seasons (2006-2022*) the longest streak in MAC history. Miami’s 17-14 win at Northwestern on Sept. 24, 2022 extended the streak. During this 16-year stretch, MAC teams have defeated 12 different Big Ten programs—Illinois (4); Indiana (5); Iowa (3); Maryland (1); Michigan (1); Michigan State (1); Minnesota (3); Nebraska (1);
Northwestern (4); Penn State (1); Purdue (6) and Rutgers (2) for a total of 32 wins during this stretch. Miami (14), Bowling Green (9), Toledo (6), Central Michigan (6) and Northern Illinois (6) have the most wins vs. Big Ten opponents. *The MAC did play any non-conference games in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Say Cheez
Eastern Michigan was named the Cheez-It Bowl National Team of the Week following the Eagles 30-21 win over Arizona State on Sept. 17, as selected by the FWAA. EMU’s win over the Sun Devils marked the first regular season win for a MAC school over a Pac12 opponent. It also marked the first time that EMU earned Team of the Week honors and the first for a MAC school since Buffalo on Nov. 28, 2020. The Eagles became only the sixth MAC school to win the award since it debuted in 2002.
