Landing Page
Special Projects
This story is part of a series of specially designed stories that represents some of the best journalism The Post has to offer. Check out the rest of the special projects here.
Blake Nissen | PHOTO EDITOR
Chad Moore sustains an injury to face after losing his helmet during a tackle during Ohio's game against Eastern Michigan University on September 23, 2017. The Bobcats won 27-20 in overtime.
10.05.17
It took five weeks, but it’s now time for conference play across the Mid-American Conference.
All but two teams — Toledo and Northern Illinois — have played MAC games, as the season will turn to conference play for the rest of the year. From this weekend until Nov. 24, teams throughout the conference will fight to make it to Detroit for a chance at the MAC Championship.
The standings are still basic, untouched in some spots. But over the next few weeks, different teams will rise and fall, all of which will end at Ford Field in just under two months.
One of the biggest stories happened with the Bobcats, as coach Frank Solich earned his 150th career win. He ranks third all time in wins in the MAC with 92. Ohio beat UMass 58-50 to boost its record to 4-1 (1-0 MAC).
“I thought we learned a lot about ourselves in these last two games,” Solich said. “There are some things we need to get done to make us a better football team and we're in the process of doing that. I was pleased we were able to get the win. We put a lot of points on the board and we allowed them to put too many points on the board."
The “flashiest” game of the weekend happened in South Bend, Indiana, as No. 22 Notre Dame beat Miami 52-17. It was a homecoming for Miami coach Chuck Martin, who coached at Notre Dame as an offensive coordinator, among other responsibilities, from 2010-to-2013.
“It was obviously a tough game,” Martin said. “Felt pretty good about a lot of individual players that played well and held their own and showed that they could play against probably anybody in the country.
Northern Illinois gave No. 19 San Diego State all the Aztecs could handle in the last game of the weekend for the conference. Northern Illinois dropped to 2-2 with the loss.
The Huskies fell 34-28 despite out-gaining the Aztecs 429-263. San Diego State scored just three points in the second half.
“We’re obviously disappointed with the loss, that’s the bottom line,” Northern Illinois coach Rod Carey said. “You can’t go on the road, play a good team, turn the ball over four times, get a kickoff returned for a touchdown and think you’re going to win. And we did (have a chance.)”
The conference’s winners: Ohio, Buffalo, Akron, Western Michigan.
The conferences losers: Central Michigan, Kent State, Eastern Michigan, Miami, Bowling Green, Ball State, Northern Illinois.
Running back Emmanuel Reed (Buffalo) and wide receiver Christian Blake (Northern Illinois) earned the conference’s offensive players of the week for the East and West divisions, respectively.
Reed rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns in a dominating 27-13 win over Kent State, while Blake caught 13 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensive back Kyron Brown (Akron) and defensive tackle Jeremiah Harris (Eastern Michigan) took home the conference’s defensive players of the week for the East and West, respectively.
Brown returned an interception for a touchdown, which ended up being the winning score, while Harris registered 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
The MAC will have six games this weekend, starting with Eastern Michigan at Toledo at noon and ending with three games where kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
There will be four crossover games and just two divisional games on Saturday. The games are, in order of kickoff: Eastern Michigan at Toledo, Central Michigan at Ohio, Bowling Green at Miami, Ball State at Akron, Kent State at NIU, Western Michigan at Buffalo.
Landing Page
This story is part of a series of specially designed stories that represents some of the best journalism The Post has to offer. Check out the rest of the special projects here.