Every thought from Week 9 of MACtion, ranging from Miami’s contention status to Akron’s upset over Eastern Michigan.
We are already through nine weeks of MAC football, and with the calendar flipping from October to November, you know what that means — Midweek MACtion is on the horizon.
Before the MAC takes center stage in front of a national audience on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the conference wrapped up one final full Saturday slate over the weekend. All 12 teams took the field in a series of six conference games.
Here are thoughts from each matchup in Week 9:
Ohio 47, Buffalo 16
- Ohio hadn’t scored more than 30 points all year. What a dominant offensive performance from the Bobcats, especially without starting running back Anthony Tyus III. Rickey Hunt Jr. looked like his 2023 Myrtle Beach Bowl self with 89 rushing yards. Parker Navarro excelled as a dual-threat quarterback with 81 rushing yards and an efficient 231 passing yards. And the connection between Navarro and his roommate Coleman Owen looked unstoppable Saturday, as Owen racked up six catches for 146 yards, and two touchdowns.
- Buffalo is the hardest team in the MAC to get a read on. We’ve seen this team struggle to score points in a 47-3 loss to UConn, look like an offensive juggernaut in a 48-41 loss to Western Michigan, dominate a quality opponent in a 30-15 win over Toledo, and then get dominated by Ohio 47-16 this past weekend.
- What a game for Shay Taylor. The Ohio middle linebacker finished with 11 tackles, one sack, and recorded the Bobcats’ first defensive touchdown of 2024 on a 30-yard pick six. That’s a name to watch going forward, and he’s continuing the great linebacker play from 2023 when Bryce Houston and Keye Thompson starred in the green and white.
- The first thing I look at when every Buffalo box score is finalized is, how many tackles did Shaun Dolac and Red Murdock get? Those guys are tackling machines. Dolac has double-digit tackles in all eight games this year as the FBS leader in the category. Murdock has double-digit tackles in each of his last seven games and ranks third in the country in that statistic. It’s wild that two of the nation’s top three tacklers are located in one team’s linebacking corps.
Miami (OH) 46, Central Michigan 7
- Miami is back. They are beyond back. This is exactly what many thought the RedHawks would be preseason after returning a horde of talent coming off the heels of an 11-3 campaign. Miami is firmly a MAC contender.
- The RedHawks struggled to score points earlier in the year, managing 6 vs. Northwestern, 16 vs. Cincinnati, 3 vs. Notre Dame, and 23 vs. UMass (20 in regulation) to start the season. Now they’ve dropped 30+ in three consecutive outings after notching their most dominant win over an FBS program since November 2019. Every single aspect of the offense clicked. Brett Gabbert completed 10-of-12 balls for 165 yards, three different running backs rattled off a 60-yard run, and each component of the receiver trio of Javon Tracy, Reggie Virgil, and Cade McDonald looked stellar.
- Central Michigan’s offensive downfall is somewhat a result of quarterback injuries. The unit looked like it had some potential under Joe Labas. Bert Emanuel Jr. brings a different style to the table, but his effective running ability helped the Chippewas post 34 points on Eastern Michigan. Losing two quarterbacks in a season is brutal, and the team couldn’t move the ball at all on Miami, picking up just 2.9 rushing yards per carry and completing 7-of-17 passes.
Akron 25, Eastern Michigan 21
- This is the most stunning result in MAC play this season.
- Akron’s poise down the stretch was very impressive. For a team that’s not used to winning, to squander an 18-0 halftime lead and trail 21-18, it seems like that would be a death sentence. Rattling off a methodical 75-yard go-ahead drive with multiple third down conversions is a sign this team is progressing. Kudos to Ben Finley and Adrian Norton for that series.
- This is a very un-Eastern Michigan-like loss. The Eagles are one of the best in the MAC at taking care of low-hanging fruit. For instance, Eastern Michigan won six games last year without beating a team that finished better than 4-8. Chris Creighton and Co. don’t face upsets of this magnitude too often.
- Akron hasn’t looked bad at all throughout the month of October. It took Bowling Green down to the wire before the Falcons notched a late go-ahead touchdown to win 27-20. It held a 17-0 lead out of the gate at Western Michigan, and now it finally saw a win materialize over one of the MAC’s better teams. For a program that hasn’t won more than two games since 2018, a win like this was sorely needed.
Ball State 25, Northern Illinois 23
- The Bronze Stalk feels like the same game every single year. Northern Illinois is typically the favorite and Ball State pulls off some crazy last-minute upset to stun the Huskies. That script unfolded in 2022, 2023, and 2024 with Ball State scoring the tying or go-ahead points within the final 40 seconds.
- Jackson Courville has two game-winning field goals vs. Northern Illinois now. He hit a 36-yard one at the buzzer last November, and this time, he drained a 52-yard shot with two seconds remaining. Now that’s somebody who wants to win Bronze Stalks.
- Rewatching the film from Northern Illinois’ 16-14 win over Notre Dame in the seven days it happened, the game made total sense. NIU brought so much more physicality in the trenches on both sides and it produced just enough explosive plays to escape with a 16-14 victory. But given that Notre Dame eviscerated all of the competition since with a high-functioning offense, and NIU is .500 and 1-3 in MAC play, that result now looks more bizarre with each passing week.
- Ball State has a somewhat tough road ahead with Miami (OH), Buffalo, Bowling Green, and Ohio. The Cardinals need to beat three of those opponents to qualify for bowl eligibility. Even if that doesn’t happen, it’s been a nice in-season resurrection for Mike Neu’s team which struggled mightily in its first four games. Ball State’s defense has taken on a different form lately and the team plays with a lot of heart.
Bowling Green 41, Toledo 26
- The Battle of I-75 is the best rivalry in the MAC at the moment. Everything about the game and atmosphere was awesome. They packed 29,697 fans in the Glass Bowl for this rivalry and the crowd looked spectacular on television. While this matchup delivered some instant classics recently in national televised midweek games, it’s cool to see what happens in the stands when it’s played on a Saturday.
- Harold Fannin Jr.’s stat-line of six receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown is an “off-game” when you realize he exceeded 130 receiving yards in five of his first seven games. He still led all Bowling Green receivers in the victory and remains fourth in the FBS in receiving yards at 947. Fannin only needs 53 more yards to hit the millennium mark. Since the John Mackey Award for best tight end started in 2000, only two winners hit 1,000 yards — Harrison Bryant had 1,004 for Florida Atlantic in 2020 and Trey McBride had 1,121 for Colorado State in 2021.
- Tucker Gleason and Jerjuan Newton have the best QB-WR chemistry in the MAC. Newton is a surefire lock for First Team All-MAC after his 9-catch, 164-yard, 2-touchdown performance vs. Bowling Green. Also, it’s the third time in the month of October that Newton reset his career-high receiving yard total.
- Jordan Oladokun won the game for the Falcons. The star cornerback returned a 61-yard pick six to extend the lead to 28-17 roughly one minute before halftime and then recorded his second interception in a one-score contest early in the fourth quarter. Oladokun had a few key pass breakups too, and he’s definitely worth focusing on during every Bowling Green defensive snap.
Western Michigan 52, Kent State 21
- Kent State is not only the only winless team in the FBS after Kennesaw State’s Wednesday night upset over Liberty; the Golden Flashes still haven’t led for a single second. Western Michigan ensured that trend would continue Saturday by taking a 38-0 lead in the second quarter.
- Western Michigan’s gold uniforms were a nice twist for homecoming, but it was impossible to watch this game without thinking about Wyoming.
- That Western Michigan backfield is insanely loaded. It came as no surprise the team posted 358 rushing yards and four touchdowns on a 9.7 average against Kent State’s last-ranked run defense with the amount of options they have. Jaden Nixon is looking like the best tailback in the conference, Jalen Buckley is the reigning MAC Freshman of the Year and posted 1,000 yards last year, and Zahir Abdus-Salaam is an excellent third option. They average 7.2, 6.1, and 5.2 yards per carry, respectively. No wonder the Broncos keep scoring 45+ points.
- Some games Kent State simply has it in the passing game, and other games they don’t. The Golden Flashes posted 33 and 35 points on Eastern Michigan and Ball State behind two 340+ yard explosions from Tommy Ulatowski. Kent State’s receiver talent between Chrishon McCray and Luke Floriea is insane. But oftentimes there’s so much pressure in the backfield Kent State can’t replicate those Eastern Michigan and Ball State passing performances. That’s two weeks in a row the team threw for under 115 yards.