This week marks the first week a team will be playing to become eligible for a College Football Playoff bowl game. This eligibility happens when a team wins six or more games.
The Eastern Michigan Eagles (5-2) are playing for bowl eligibility in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), a win against Akron, and they will have at minimum a .500 regular-season.
From this point forward, there will likely be a team each week trying to earn bowl eligibility as the championship season approaches quickly.
Buffalo at Ohio
The Bulls of The University at Buffalo will travel down to Athens to take on the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday at noon. Both teams were previously undefeated in the MAC going into last week but came out with a tarnished record.
Buffalo’s football team is coming off a tough loss to Western Michigan last week. After putting up 41 points, they were just edged out by Western.
Despite the ultimate loss, the Bulls game on Saturday was a success offensively. They totaled a season-high of 551 yards of offense. Part of this success was key players.
Redshirt sophomore kicker Upton Bellanfant has been one of the most reliable players for Buffalo throughout the season. On Saturday, he kicked for nine points toward the Bull’s final score.x
Another key player for the Bulls is senior quarterback C.J. Ogbonna. His game against Western resulted in his career high in passing yards, with a total of 309 yards, his first time breaking 300 yards in one game.
Ohio is also coming off their first in-conference loss of the season, leaving them also with a 2-1 record within the MAC. They fell to Miami, OH, last Saturday, 30-20.
Graduate student running back Anthony Tyus III leads the Bobcats, having rushed for 610 yards and five touchdowns so far this season.
Buffalo’s strong offense will be up against graduate student linebacker Blake Leake. He currently leads Ohio’s defense with 45 tackles, 23 of which are solo stops.
Leake will need to lead his defensive unit well in hopes of stopping what seems to be an offense that just keeps getting stronger on Buffalo’s side of the ball.
Miami, OH, Hosts Central Michigan
Central Michigan and Miami, OH, will face off in Oxford on Saturday at 2:00 pm. This is the first time the two teams will face off since October 2nd, 2021.
Central Michigan has lost the last four meetings against Miami. The Chippewas will need to find something special for not only this losing streak but also their current losing streak in the MAC, having lost their last two games.
It seems the issue for CMU this season has been finishing out their games to the very last second. They have dropped their last two games within the final minute.
Last week, the Chips let Eastern Michigan score 22 unanswered points in the last quarter. Central’s defense will need to step up and fight until the game is over if they want to break their losing streak(s) this weekend.
Offensively, Central is led by senior running back Marion Lukes. He has recorded two straight games with over 100 yards of rushing.
Lukes holds down the offensive side of the ball but needs help from his defense to solidify a win.
Miami is coming off a win to Ohio last week, improving their record to 2-1 within the conference.
One thing Miami does especially well is spreading the ball across their entire offense.
Sixth-year quarterback Brett Gabbert leads the experienced offensive unit by changing up his passes to various players. Because of Gabbert’s efforts, three of Miami’s receivers average 44 yards or more receiving per game, and his targets are constantly changing from game to game.
This experienced offense will put up a fight against Central on Saturday.
Northern Illinois at Ball State
Northern Illinois will travel to take on Ball State in Muncie on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Both teams have an in-conference record of 1-2.
Northern Illinois will rely heavily on its defense, which is currently ranked third in the country in total defense and first in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in third-down defense.
Eight separate defensive linemen for the Huskies count for the nine sacks totaled by the team this year. NIU averages 3.00 sacks per game, leading the MAC in this category.
Offensively, senior running back Antario Brown is back in action and picking up momentum fast. Brown is 23 yards away from becoming the ninth 3,000-yard rusher in NIU history and is an experienced leader for the Huskie’s offensive unit.
Also, an experienced player leading the offense and close to setting records is senior running back Gavin Williams. He only needs 26 yards to become the 46th player in NIU history to run for 1,000 yards.
Ball State is coming off a tough loss to Southeastern Conference member Vanderbilt.
Redshirt freshman Kadin Semonza started his team on a high note, completing all six of his passes on Ball State’s first possession. Ultimately, these efforts allowed junior defensive back Kiael Kelly to run nine yards for a touchdown.
Semonza was able to throw for another touchdown in the third quarter, but those were the only points for the Cardinals the rest of the game.
Redshirt junior linebacker Joey Stemler led Ball State in tackles with six total, five assisted. This was a career-high for Stemler.
Ball State will need to back up Stemler to match the impressive defensive efforts of NIU.
Akron vs Eastern Michigan
Akron is set to host Eastern Michigan on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
The Zips of Akron are still without a MAC win this season, their record being 0-3 in the conference.
Akron’s most recent loss came two weeks ago when they fell to Western Michigan, 34-24.
Akron’s offense is led by redshirt junior quarterback Ben Finley, who has 1456 passing yards on the season.
Redshirt junior running back Jordon Simmons leads the Zips in rushing yards with 318 so far this season.
Sophomore wide receiver Adrian Norton leads his team in receiving yards, with 541 this season.
These three players lead the Zips offense. Considering the talented Eastern Michigan’s offense, the Zips will need to be on their best game.
Eastern Michigan is coming off a close win versus Central Michigan last week, beating the Chips 38-34. This win for EMU would not only push the Eagles to a 3-1 record in the MAC, their best start to a season since 2011, but also push them to a 6-2 record overall, making them bowl-eligible.
Senior quarterback Cole Snyder has been heating up as the season progresses. In the game against Central Michigan, Snyder threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns, also rushing 48 yards and one score.
While Snyder spread out his offense, junior wide receiver Markus Allen had an especially good game. Allen totaled 140 yards. One hundred-five of those yards were recorded in the first quarter.
Offensively, EMU is finding their groove for the season.
Kent State at Western Michigan
Kent State will travel to take on Western Michigan in Kalamazoo at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Kent State is still without a win on their season. They have lost their last 14 games against non-AP-ranked teams.
One part of Kent State’s team that may be able to keep them in the game is their defense.
Offensively, the Golden Flashes are not thriving this season. In their game last week against Bowling Green, they posted only 204 total yards with three interceptions.
Western Michigan has been pretty strong offensively this season. They are coming off a road win to Buffalo after scoring 21 points in the second quarter and 13 more in the final quarter.
Redshirt junior running back Jaden Nixon was a key factor in the win, rushing 14 times for 112 yards and three touchdowns.
This game is looking like it will go Western’s way, which would mean they would stay undefeated in the MAC and be one game away from bowl eligibility.
