MAC Blogger Roundtable: Week 9

Graphic by Bull Run’s Tim Riordan

If you were wondering why my post “Shallow Hal” remained up on the screen for a few days, it’s because I’m just coming out of a 72-hour Chester Stewart-induced stupor.
On Saturday night, I just sat at the computer staring at the screen for 27 minutes (yeah, I checked the computer clock) after Temple’s 13-10 loss to Bowling Green.

This was me after watching Chester  Stewart
take a sack on the game’s final play Saturday.

I felt like the late Jack Buck.
I kept repeating to myself …. I … can’t … believe … what … I … just … saw.
The perfect metaphor for the day was Stewart taking a sack on the game’s final play. I went back and watched that play three times. It was obvious that he knew the guy was coming at him. He had only one choice: Throw the ball downfield and hope Rod Streater comes down with a miracle catch. Taking a sack wasn’t an option.
Instead, he took a sack and the clock ran out.
Why did he take a sack?
Just another chapter in a book on situational unawareness that Chester could write about his four years at Temple.
I’ve been jarred back into reality by this week’s deadline: MAC Blogger Roundtable, Week 9.
This week, it’s our good internet friend (as opposed to real friend), Tim Riordan of the great Buffalo blog: Bull Run. You should take a look at his site. It’s a beautiful thing. If I had only one-tenth of the html skills as Tim and my real friend, Dave Gerson, I’d be a happy man.
This week’s questions:

1) Parity, a good thing or a bad thing. Outside of Toledo at the top and Akron, Kent, Miami, and Buffalo at the bottom every team has looked about equal. Is this a good thing for the conference or would it be better to have just four very prominent teams.
TFF: I’m a big fan of the NFL, so I love parity. Heck, I loved it when the Giants beat the unbeaten Patriots. That said, I’d love to see Temple go unbeaten just once before I pass on to the great unknown. I think it’s a good thing for the conference, but a bad thing for my imaginary wallet (I don’t have money to bet) since I’ve been taking a beating predicting MAC games.
2) Coaches Hot Seat. The Following MAC coaches are showing up on the ever popular coaches hot seat list. Pick one and tell us why is it or is not fair to have them there (disclaimer Clawson is on the list but I can’t imagine why so I am leaving him off)

(12) Rob Ianello, Akron
(13) Jeff Quinn, Buffalo
(15) Dan Enos, Central Michigan

TFF: Enos doesn’t deserve to be there. Central Michigan has done some good things.

3) Best new hire. Of the four(?) new coaches in the conference who, at this point, seems to be the best hire.

TFF: Steve Addazio. I love the guy. I love the way he competes. I love the staff he’s put together. I love what he’s done despite the fact that Golden’s Achilles Heel was his inability to recruit a quarterback. I will go from loving him to liking him if he loses to Ohio. If he loses to Ohio and Miami, I will go from liking him to tolerating him. If he loses to Ohio, Miami and Army, I will go from tolerating him to loathing him.

4) Ron English is flying high and the EMU *EAGLES* might be going to their first Bowl if they take care of Business. Surely their Coach is going to start getting some looks from other programs (if you can win at EMU right!). Is Turner Gill’s experience in Kansas a cautionary tale to schools who look for that one new up and coming coach? How many years of winning should a mid-major coach put forth before a big time program drops millions on them.
TFF: I would think a three-year sample is better than a one-year wonder. I think that’s the way most BCS programs will approach it going forward. The fact that Ron English recruited Ryan Brumfield shows me he has a keen eye for talent.
5) We all know the MAC does not necessarily award Bowls to the best teams. In MAC contracted bowls the bowl committees, not the conferee, get to pick their representative. Assume the MAC is going to get four Bowls but there are five bowl eligible teams. Make a case for your team, or a team you think is likely to be that 5th wheel.
TFF: I think Temple’s case was solidified by a 38-7 win at Maryland that could have EASILY been 45-0. Addazio took three knees on the Maryland 1 to end the game after putting his third-team defense in on the prior series, allowing Maryland to score. Addazio has been Mr. Nice Guy, maybe to his detriment. He’s had three backup quarterbacks play in shutout wins without any of them throwing the ball. One of those guys is going to have to throw the ball soon.
6) It’s looking more and more like either (a) Temple won’t be going to the Big East or (b) there won’t be a big east football space to even invite Temple. Is the MAC, even with UMass and Temple, a stable football conference for the next year or two?
TFF: I think the MAC is stable, with or without Temple or UMass. I don’t think UMass is going anywhere.
7) Rank’em
Toledo
Temple
Western Michigan

Ohio
Northern Illinois
Eastern Michigan
Bowling Green
Central Michigan
Miami
Ball State
Buffalo
Kent State
Akron

MAC Blogger Roundtable: Week 8

With this many fans wearing Cherry, it’s easy to see why Temple is so tough at home.

When Bowling Green opened the season with an impressive 32-15 win at Idaho (one of the few indoor campus stadiums in the nation), I thought this would be a tough week for the Temple football team.
It still might, but these are two teams going in different directions.
Temple is leaving the friendly confines of Lincoln Financial Field (above), where the Owls are 14-4 against MAC teams since joining the league.
Temple posted a couple of shutouts, both over teams that beat Ohio, presumably Temple’s toughest opposition for the MAC East title.

Bowling Green has lost three straight.
In the MAC, though, that means little.
Someone who can tell you about that is Mike Breese, who runs the Red and Black Attack blog covering Northern Illinois football. The Huskies opened with a 49-26 win over Army (which beat Northwestern), but also gave up 48 points in a loss to Central Michigan. Now they are coming off 40-10 and 51-22 wins over Kent State and Western Michigan, respectively.
So anyone who takes anything for granted in this league gets beaten.
Hopefully, Temple learned that lesson from Toledo.
Breese throws out the questions this week:

1. Just when one team thinks they have a hold of the division, it seems like the next week they get upset by a seemingly lesser-talented surprise team. How do you explain the volatility in the MAC this year, with CMU beating NIU, then NIU beating WMU and EMU defeating CMU just this past week?

TFF: There’s a lot of emotion involved in football. I’ve noticed a lot of the upsets come a week after a satisfying win. Maybe the work habits at practice are affected by that.

2. Going off of the last question, how emotionally involved are you with your respective team? Do you have your highs and lows or do you try and keep an even keel the entire season following your respective squad?

TFF: I get emotional only in rivalry games, like Villanova and Penn State. Villanova, because I know that school is trying its best to badmouth Temple at every opportunity. Penn State, because I know what a win over that program would have done for credibility in a pro market like Philadelphia. The rest of the season I’m on an even keel.

3. It seems like the MAC is past being a league where just offense prowess can win the league. Is that statement correct? Do you think your team has the right balance this season, or will one side of the ball have to carry the other the rest of the way?

TFF: I’m concerned about the offensive balance. Temple has a great running game, but the Owls have not demonstrated (yet) that you can trust the forward pass in a big spot, especially the deep routes.

4. If you could get a top recruit for one position on your team, which one would it be?
TFF: Quarterback.
 
TFF Rankings
Toledo

Temple
Northern Illinois
Western Michigan
Central Michigan
Ohio
Bowling Green
Miami
Ball State
Buffalo
Eastern Michigan
Kent State
Akron
This Week’s Picks
HOME TEAM IN CAPS
FAVORED TEAM IN PARENTHESIS
(point spreads from Tuesday’s USA Today)
TONIGHT
CENTRAL FLORIDA (13 1/2) 31, Ala. Birmingham 17 _ Central Florida beat Boston College, 30-3, and came within a touchdown of beating BYU. UAB is 0-6.
FRIDAY
Rutgers 14, LOUISVILLE (2) 10 _ Upset special. Gotta believe RU is better than its showing against Navy. Louisville has beaten only Murray State and Kentucky, neither impressively.
SATURDAY
MAC GAMES
Temple (13 1/2) 24, BOWLING GREEN 13 _ Falcons score a touchdown against Steve Addazio’s third-team defense late in the fourth quarter to cover the number. Hard to expect a third straight shutout against a team with a good QB.
Northern Illinois (14 1/2) 30, BUFFALO 14 _ Northern Illinois has looked very good the last two weeks and should cover the number.
Central Michigan 17, BALL STATE 14 (1 1/2) _ Upset special No. 2. Chips are an underdog. They win the game outright.
Western Michigan 33 (13), EASTERN MICHIGAN 17 _ Eastern Michigan stunned Central Michigan, 35-28, last week. I don’t think that’s sustainable over two weeks.
TOLEDO 44 (17 1/2), Miami (Ohio) 10 _ Despite Zac Dysert, Miami has had trouble scoring. Toledo hasn’t.
Others:
Georgia Tech, a 2 1/2-point underdog, wins at Miami, 24-14; Wake Forest, a three-point favorite, covers the number in a 20-13 win at Duke; Houston, a home 20 1/2-point favorite, covers the high number vs. Marshall.
Last week SU: 5-3; ATS 2-7 (including the under in Miami’s 9-3 win over Kent State)
Season SU: 40-18; ATS 26-31;

Doomsday bowl scenario faces Owls today



Go Freaking Blue Raiders!!!!

A Doomsday Bowl scenario faces the Owls today.
No, I’m not talking being one of the few teams in history to miss a bowl with an 8-4 record.
I’m talking about going to a meaningless bowl in Detroit to play another MAC team, Toledo.

MTSU vs. Fla. Int.
Time: 6 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: Link here


There’s a lot of scuttlebutt out there that the MAC, in order to maximize its teams in the bowl picture, will pit two of its teams, namely Temple and Toledo, in the Little Ceasars Pizza Bowl in Detroit.
I’ll pass on that one, thanks.
I’m sure there are some positives in there, but I fail to see them.
To me, it has all the appeal of moving the Cherry and White game to Detroit.
All week long, the talk has been of Las Vegas and El Paso and, recently, New Orleans.
If the announcement tomorrow is Detroit against another team in the same conference, downer would not be a strong enough word to describe my reaction and, I guess, that of my fellow Owl fans.
We can do two things now.
Hope for the best and root like hell for Middle Tennessee State in Miami for tonight’s 6 p.m. game.
That’s because, if Middle Tennessee State wins tonight at Florida International, it takes the automatic spot in the LCB opposite a MAC team, probably not Temple (hint: Toledo).
It eliminates the tempting option (only to MAC officials) of putting two MAC teams in that bowl and opens up a spot for Temple in another locale.
MTSU has a shot. It’s a 4 1/2-point underdog on the road, which means it would be favored at home. The Blue Raiders (5-6) have had their moments this year, pummeling Louisiana-Lafayette (34-14) and beating Western Kentucky and Florida Atlantic in their last two games.  That might not sound impressive, but Florida Atlantic beat Florida International, 21-9, and LL hung tough at Ohio (38-31).
Really, MTSU is playing for Temple tonight and, in the absence of the Owls having a game, I’ve adopted the Blue Raiders.
As much as I’ve railed against Boise, I’d take Boise over Detroit in a heartbeat, particularly if the Detroit foe is another MAC team.
As bowltoligist Chris Squieri (Doogie on a pair of Owl message boards) points out, Temple’s dream scenario tonight is a Middle Tennessee State win coupled by losses by Washington (vs. Washington State), Oregon State (vs. Oregon, a given) and Louisiana Tech vs. Nevada (a probability).
Should Florida International win, I will be doing a lot of tossing and turning tonight with the possibility of throwing up at about 8:30 Sunday night.