Football season is back in full swing, and Bowling Green is ready to cause chaos in the Mid-American conference this season.  

BG opened up with a matchup versus the Liberty Flames. Unfortunately, offensive struggles caused them to come up short, falling 34-24. 

Now that the season is fully underway, here is a breakdown for around the MAC for what happened this past weekend. 

MAC East Division Standings: 

1. Ohio (1-1): Win vs Long Island (27-10), loss @ San Diego State University (20-13)

2. Akron (0-1): Loss @ Temple (24-21)

3. BGSU (0-1): See above

4. Buffalo (0-1): Loss @ Wisconsin (38-17)

5. Kent State (0-1): Loss @ UCF (56-6)

6. Miami OH (0-1): Loss @ Miami FL (38-3)

MAC West Division Standings: 

1. Eastern Michigan (1-0): Win vs Howard (33-23)

2. Northern Illinois (1-0): Win @ Boston College (27-24 OT)

3. Western Michigan (1-0): Win vs St Francis PA (35-17)

4. Ball State (0-1): Loss @ Kentucky (44-14)

5. Central Michigan (0-1): Loss @ Michigan State (31-7)

6. Toledo (0-1): Loss @ Illinois (30-28)

Notable MAC storylines: 

1. Two Ohio Bobcats were named MAC East Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week. Running back Sieh Bangura earned the offensive honors, doing so by rushing for over 100 yards on the ground en route to a win over Long Island. Linebacker Bryce Houston won on the defensive side. Houston led the team in tackles with 11, while also pulling down one of the defense’s two interceptions. 

1. In the MAC West, Toledo did the same by sweeping the board with both the offensive and defensive players of the week. Dequan Finn was named co-offensive player of the week. Finn led the Rockets to a near upset over Illinois, where he threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Jalen Buckley out of Western Michigan was named the other MAC west co-offensive player of the week. Buckley was a huge help for WMU’s win over St Francis PA. Buckley ran for a career high, 194 yards on 30 carries as well as a touchdown. Also from Toledo was outside linebacker Terrance Taylor. Taylor had 3 tackles for loss as well as 1.5 sacks. 

1. Northern Illinois is the only team in the MAC this week to beat a power- five team. The Huskies marched into Boston College and escaped with an overtime win over the ACC opponent. Quarterback Rocky Lombardi scored on a one-yard dive to end the game 27-24 in overtime. This is the second time in three years that Northern Illinois has beat a power five opponent to start the season, as in 2021, they defeated Georgia Tech in the season opener. 

 WEEK TWO SCHEDULE

(Schedule courtesy of https://getsomemaction.com/calendar.aspx?path=football) 

Saturday, September 9, 2023 Football

	Away	Home	Time	Location	Links
	Western Michigan	Syracuse University	3:30 PM ET	Syracuse, N.Y.	TV: ESPN+/ACC Network Extra
	Ball State	Georgia	12:00 P.M.	Athens, Ga.
	New Hampshire	Central Michigan	1:30 P.M.	Mount Pleasant, Mich.	TV: ESPN+ Stats Video
	Eastern Illinois	Bowling Green	2:00 P.M.	Bowling Green, Ohio	Stats
	Texas Southern	Toledo	3:30 P.M.	Toledo, Ohio	TV: ESPN+
	Southern Illinois	Northern Illinois	3:30 P.M.	DeKalb, Ill.
	Miami	Massachusetts	3:30 P.M.	Amherst, Mass.	TV: ESPN+ Radio: Miami Radio Network
	Kent State	University of Arkansas	4:00 P.M.	Fayetteville, AR	TV: SEC Network Radio: Kent State Radio Network
	Morgan State	Akron	6:00 P.M.	Akron, Ohio	TV: ESPN+
	Fordham	Buffalo	6:00 P.M.	Buffalo, NY	TV: ESPN+
	Ohio	Florida Atlantic	6:00 P.M.	Boca Raton, FL	TV: ESPN+
	Eastern Michigan	Minnesota	7:30 P.M.	Minneapolis, Minn.	TV: BTN Stats Radio: WEMU/Varsity Network Audio Video

For more information about BGSU Athletics, follow Falcon Media Sports Network on X (@bg_fmsn).