“We just have to continue to grow and grow up fast because we got our toughest part of the season coming up in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), and this is where it counts. So whether we had won this game or not, it doesn’t change the fact that the season starts next week against Ohio.” 

Those were Eddie George’s words after last week’s 40-17 loss at Louisville. 

George hits it right on the money. Whether they had won that game or not, it doesn’t change the fact that the bigger picture is ahead of them. 

MAC play. 

Don’t get it twisted, winning also cures everything, and I know a win over a Power 4 conference team like Louisville. It would have done great things for this team. 

That said, this fanbase, while winning those games does great things for this program; however, they won’t settle unless it’s for something bigger: a MAC championship. 

It’s been 10 years since the last MAC championship in football. 

That will always be the goal every single year for every single MAC team. 

To end up in Detroit and hoist the MAC championship trophy. 

Even when asked, tight end Jyrin Johnson said going 4-0 would be great, but in a way, he’s glad they’ve taken some losses to learn from.  

“We would love to be 4-0 right now, but I’m not gonna say that I’m glad that we took those losses, but it’s kinda good that we took those losses early so that way we could learn from them,” said Johnson. “Because, like coach George says, you can learn from every loss. Not every loss is bad. You can learn from them, and it’s just great that we have an opportunity to start our season over during conference play and to be able to learn from those two losses that we did take.” 

Falcons fans are ready to be conference champions again. Which is why I believe MAC play will always trump every non-conference win. 

I’m not guaranteeing that we will break the 10-year drought later this season, but Saturday will be the first test to see if these Falcons have what it takes.