WEEK 12 MAC PREVIEWS
Tuesday, November 16
Toledo (5-5, 3-3 MAC) at Ohio (3-7, 3-3 MAC)
7:00 PM ET | ESPN+
The Toledo offense averages 422.8 total yards per game, with an average of 178.3 yards coming on the ground and 244.5 yards coming from the passing game. Meanwhile, their Rockets defense hold opponents to 330.1 yards per game, 187.3 passing yards and 142.8 rushing yards per game. Individually, quarterback Dequan Finn has played in 10 games \and is 100-for-171 with 11 touchdowns, 1448 yards and one interception. On the ground, Bryant Koback registered 936 yards on 154 carries and nine touchdowns, while Finn has scored eight rushing touchdowns and has rushed for 381 yards. Overall, the Bobcats are averaging 23.8 points per game to go along with 378.9 total yards per game. De’Montre Tuggle leads the ground game with 608 yards, while averaging 76.0 yards per game, with seven touchdowns on the ground. O’Shaan Allison adds 267 yards on the ground, while Armani Rogers adds 522 yards on 82 carries and six touchdowns. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke is 136-of-300 with 1,465 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. Meanwhile, quarterback Armani Rogers is 29-of-49 with 350 yards.
Western Michigan (6-4, 3-3 MAC) at Eastern Michigan (6-4, 3-3 MAC)
7:30 PM ET | ESPN2
Eastern Michigan is looking to bounce back after a tough, 34-26, setback at the hands of Ohio, Nov. 9. A win over Western Michigan would move Eastern Michigan to 7-4 on the season. EMU has not won seven of its first 11 games in a season since 1989. Additionally, with two games remaining, EMU has the chance to get to eight regular-season wins for the first time since the 1987 season, when it finished with nine regular-season wins en route to the school’s only football MAC championship. Western Michigan earned its sixth win of the season last week, making it bowl eligible for the third time under Tim Lester (Idaho Potato Bowl, 2018, First Responders Bowl, 2019). Western Michigan running back Sean Tyler has five touchdowns in the last four games including an average 105.6 yards and 7.3 yards per carry. The trio of running backs Tyler, La’Darius Jefferson and Jaxson Kincaide have combined for 1,814 yards on 352 attempts and 20 touchdowns, averaging 5.2 yards per carry.
Bowling Green (3-7, 1-5 MAC) at Miami (5-5, 4-2 MAC)
8:00 PM ET | ESPNU
Bowling Green returns to the road for the final time in 2021 on
Tuesday night to face the Miami (OH) RedHawks in MACtion. It is the 75th meeting between the Falcons and the RedHawks in a series that started in 1941. Bowling Green PK Nate Needham is 15-of-15 on field goal attempts this season. He is one of six FBS players who is perfect on the year, but his 15 made field goals rank No. 1 in the nation among those who are perfect. A perfect 10-of-10, he leads the nation with 10 field goals from 40+ yards. Needham is a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award. Since 2016, the RedHawks are 14-4 in the month of November. Miami was 3-0 in 2016, 2-1 in 2017, 3-0 in 2018, 3-1 in 2019 and 2-1 in 2020 (season started in November). Over the last two games, Miami’s offense has found its rhythm, led mainly by the passing attack. The RedHawks are averaging 40.5 points the past two games, while QB Brett Gabbert has thrown for 843 (421.5/game) yards and nine touchdowns. His 843 passing yards in a two-game span is the most in Miami history, surpassing Ben Roethlisberger’s 819 yards back in 2002.
Wednesday, November 17
Northern Illinois (7-3, 5-1 MAC) at Buffalo (4-6, 2-4 MAC)
7:00 PM ET | ESPN2
NIU takes its final road trip of the 2021 regular season when the Huskies travel to Buffalo, New York for a Wednesday night contest versus the Bulls. With a victory, the Huskies will claim the MAC West Division Title. The Huskies claimed their sixth one-score victory of the season last Wednesday night with a 30-29 win over Ball State at Huskie Stadium as kicker John Richardson drilled a 38-yard field goal on the game’s final play after Ball State had taken a 29-27 lead with 1:42 left. Rocky Lombardi led NIU on a 10-play, 62-yard game-winning drive. Buffalo is coming off a 45-10 loss at Miami last Tuesday. Wide receiver Quian Williams led the Bulls with 109 yards receiving and a touchdown. The Bulls rank near the top of the MAC in scoring offense, averaging 32.1 points per game. The Bulls are 1-11 all-time against Northern Illinois with their lone winning coming last season in DeKalb. Buffalo is 9-1 in their last 10 weeknight MACtion games played at UB Stadium. Their loss came against Northern Illinois in 2015.
Central Michigan (6-4, 4-2 MAC) at Ball State (5-5, 3-3 MAC)
7:00 PM ET | ESPNU
Ball State and Central Michigan are scheduled to face off for the 54th time in series history Wednesday night inside Scheumann Stadium. The all-time series is tied 26-26-1. The Cardinals have won eight of the last 13 overall, including two of the last three. Ten games into the 2021 season, WR Justin Hall is averaging 136.1 all-purpose yards per game, good for 15th-most in the country. With 129 all-purpose yards (and two touchdowns) at Northern Illinois, Hall broke the program record for career all-purpose yards previously held by Dante Love (2005-08). He now has 5,352 yards in his illustrious career. In addition, Hall needs just one more
game catching a pass to tie Central Michigan’s Bryan Anderson (2006-09) for the most consecutive games catching a pass with 54. CMU is coming off a 54-30 home victory over Kent State that came a week after a 42-30 win at Western Michigan. Lew Nichols III, who on Monday was named the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week after a remarkable performance in the win over Kent State. Nichols carried 43 times for 215 yards and four touchdowns. All three totals were career highs. His 43 carries tie for the fourth most in program history. The Chippewas combined to score 96 points in their last two games. That is the highest output in back-to-back games since McElwain took over in 2019, and it’s the highest since 2007,
Saturday, November 20
Kent State (5-5, 4-2 MAC) at Akron (2-8, 1-5 MAC)
Noon ET | ESPN+
Akron battled down to the final play of the game with a chance to secure the victory only to come up five points shy in 45-40 setback at Western Michigan (6-4, 3-3 MAC) on Tuesday evening, Nov. 9. Playing in their first game under interim head coach Oscar Rodriguez, Jr., the Zips (2-8, 1-5 MAC) showed fight and resiliency putting up a season-high 40 points on 428 yards of total offense. Akron WR/KR Michael Mathison put together a career game versus Western Michigan rolling up a career-high 273 all-purpose yards, including a career-best 161 yards on kickoff returns, with a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The Golden Flashes couldn’t hold off a hot Central Michigan offense in a 54-30 set back against the Chippewas. Dustin Crum had another sensational game in his own right, completing 28-of-38 for 322 yards and a pair of scores. Crum hit eight different receivers on the night, led by Dante Cephas’ five-catch, 100-yard, one touchdown game. Cooper toted it 21 times for 83 yards and two scores. Nico Bolden had his third straight 12-tackle game to lead the defense.
