November in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) football world means many things.
Weeknight games, conference match-ups that highly affect the team’s standings within the MAC, and bowl game eligibility were the top three things this week brought.
Ohio joined Toledo in becoming bowl-eligible officially with their sixth win on the season.
The Bobcats were able to shut out the Golden Flashes from Kent State.
With a final score of 41-0, Kent State is still winless on the season.
Ohio’s defense and special teams players were key in their victory.
Grad Student wide receiver Eamonn Dennis opened up the second half with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, then in the the third quarter, Grad student wide receiver Coleman Owen had a 61-yard punt return for a touchdown to back up his teammate.
This win moves Ohio to a 4-1 conference record, one of four teams now leading the MAC with only a single loss.
Those four teams are now leading because Western Michigan finally dropped a game when they lost 42-28 against Northern Illinois on Wednesday.
The Broncos were previously undefeated, but Northern Illinois freshman running back Telly Johnson Jr. had an electric game, putting an end to the winning streak.
Johnson ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns to help his team to victory.
Interestingly enough, the Huskies of NIU didn’t score in the first or fourth quarter, despite their convincing win. It was two quarters with 21 points each that led them to victory, while Western scored an even, steady seven each quarter.
Ball State had a steady rhythm about their game up until the final quarter when they played Miami [OH] on Tuesday.
The Cardinals scored relatively even throughout the first three quarters, with seven six, and eight points respectively. It was the final quarter that stopped them when they failed to score any points at all.
Sophomore kicker Jackson Courville was a steady force for Ball State throughout the second quarter.
Despite Courville’s reliable kicks, his team didn’t put him in the position for any kicks within the final quarter, while Miami did.
Miami’s redshirt junior kicker Dom Dzioban was given the chance, and pulled through with two fair field goals in the final quarter, which were the key factor in the 27-21 victory the RedHawks walked away with.
Bowling Green walked away with a win on Tuesday night when they beat Central Michigan 23-13.
The Falcons will host previously undefeated Western Michigan on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
Central Michigan will take on the other rival in the Battle of I-75 when they travel to Toledo on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
Junior quarterback Tucker Gleason has been leading the Rockets to a successful season so far. Gleason has 1,896 passing yards so far this season, far higher than CMU’s junior quarterback Joe Labas, who holds 1,114 so far this season.
Toledo sits with a 3-2 conference record and will need to secure a win to keep themselves in the conversation within the MAC.
Buffalo is set to host Ball State. This game will also take place Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
A win for Buffalo would make them bowl-eligible, as well as 4-2 in the MAC. Ball State sits towards the bottom of the pack with a 2-3 record.
Despite their inferior record, Ball State’s stats represent a team that has the potential to show up.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Kadin Semonza has 2029 passing yards so far this season. The young talent sits second, only behind Eastern Michigan’s Cole Snyder in the conference.
Players like Semonza have the ability to rally their team, so while the records point to a Buffalo victory, Ball State has full ability to put up a fight.
As the end of the season approaches, games mean more to teams. The 2024 MAC Football Championship Game is approaching fast, and the question is, which teams will be playing?
As of this season, the MAC has new tie-breaking procedures. While there are still a few weeks of gameplay to change standings, at the current moment four teams sit at the top with a 4-1 record. Only two teams can play in the final game, therefore the MAC released tie-breaking procedures.
For more than two teams being tied, which if the season ended tomorrow would be true, there are a different set of rules.
Per the MAC, these rules state:
- Combined head-to-head win percentage among the tied teams if all tied teams are common opponents.
- If all the tied teams are not common opponents the tied team that defeated each of the other tied teams advances.
- Win percentage versus all common opponents.
- Win percentage versus common opponents based upon their order of finish (overall conference win percentage, with ties broken) and proceeding through other common opponents based upon their order of finish.
- The combined conference win percentage of conference opponents.
- The tied team. With the higher ranking by the Team Rating Score metric provided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of regular season games.
- The representative shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner or Commissioner’s designee.
While all these rules seem like a lot, as the season progresses, they will make more sense and apply to the teams who are still tied.
