Thursday, September 2
Western Illinois at Ball State, 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wagner at Buffalo, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
Bowling Green at Tennessee, 8 p.m. (SEC Network)
Friday, September 3
St. Francis at Eastern Michigan, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, September 4
Western Michigan at Michigan, Noon (ESPN)
Miami at Cincinnati, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Central Michigan at Missouri, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
Norfolk State at Toledo, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
Syracuse at Ohio, 7 p.m. (CBSSN)
Akron at Auburn, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Northern Illinois at Georgia Tech, 7:30 p.m. (ACCN)
Kent State at Texas A&M, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
All times listed ET
Quick MAC Notes
• The 75th Anniversary season of MAC Football officially begins on Thursday, Sep. 2, and will conclude with the 2021 Rocket Mortgage MAC Football Championship Game at Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday, Dec. 4 at Noon ET/11 am CT (ESPN).
• The Kent State Golden Flashes and Ball State Cardinals were been selected to win the East and West Divisions respectively in the 2021 Mid-American Conference Football Media & Head Coaches Preseason Polls. The Cardinals were selected to win the Rocket Mortgage MAC Football Championship Title in both polls as well.
• Ohio University Head Football Coach Frank Solich announced that he is stepping down from his position to focus on his health, after an unprecedented successful sixteen seasons leading the Bobcats, which included eleven bowl appearances, four Mid-American Conference East titles and a Top 25 ranking. Following Solich’s announcement, Director of Athletics Julie Cromer announced that Associate Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator Tim Albin has agreed to become the new head football coach, agreeing to a four-year contract. Albin joined the Ohio Football coaching staff as offensive coordinator in 2005, reuniting with Frank Solich after four seasons together at Nebraska. The 2021 season will mark Albin’s 17th year in Athens.
• Maurice Linguist was named the University at Buffalo’s 26th head coach on May 8, 2021. It will be a homecoming of sorts for Linguist who was the Bulls’ defensive backs coach in 2012 and 2013. He comes to UB from Michigan where he served a brief stint as defensive backs coach/co-defensive coordinator since January. He joined the U-M coaching staff after spending the 2020 season as cornerbacks coach with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
• Western Michigan graduate student Mike Caliendo, Ball State senior Bryce Cosby and Eastern Michigan senior Mike Van Hoeven were named to the 2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-America Division I Football Team. Caliendo was the only first team selection from the MAC, while Cosby and Van Hoeven were named to the second team.
Thursday, September 2
Western Illinois at Ball State | 7 pm (ESPN+)
Western Illinois Notes | Ball State Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats
The defending Mid-American Conference Champion Cardinals return 16 “super seniors,” 20 starters, and three key specialists from the 2020 team which won the program’s first MAC title since 1996 and earned the first bowl victory in school history. Ball State finished 7-1 to earn a year-end ranking of No. 23 in both the AP and Amway Coaches polls. The Cardinals are currently riding a seven-game winning streak, which is tied for the eighthlongest streak in program history and is the tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the FBS. Matched with Louisiana, Ball State trails only Alabama (14), Oklahoma (eight) and Texas A&M (eight) for the longest-active winning streak in the country.
Wagner at Buffalo | 7 pm (ESPN3)
Wagner Notes | Buffalo Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats
The University at Buffalo football team will kick off the 2021 season against Wagner on Thursday night at UB Stadium. Under new head coach Maurice Linguist, the Bulls are coming off a season in which they went 6-1, won the MAC East Division and defeated Marshall in the Camellia Bowl for their second straight bowl win. Buffalo returns 12 players who started two or more games in 2020. The Bulls have five players on the roster who took advantage of their extra year of eligibility due to Covid and are playing their sixth year. Offensive linemen Jake Fuzak and Jack Klenk, tight end Jake Molinich, wide receiver Dominic Johnson and linebacker Kadofi Wright are all in their sixth year.
Bowling Green at Tennessee | 8 pm (SEC Network)
Bowling Green Notes | Tennessee Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats
Bowling Green opens with an SEC opponent for the first time since facing the same Tennessee program to open the 2015 season. BGSU is 4-8 all-time against current members of the SEC. Three of the four wins have come against Missouri, while the other one was against Kentucky in 1985. The Falcons have 71 combined student-athletes on its roster from the classes of 2020 and 2021, which means that 67.6 percent of its current roster was in high school the last time the Falcons played a non-conference game.
Friday, September 3
St. Francis at Eastern Michigan | 7 pm (ESPN3)
St. Francis Notes | Eastern Michigan Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats
The 2021 Eastern Michigan University football season is set to begin Friday, Sept. 3, when EMU welcomes Saint Francis University to town for a 7 p.m. matchup at The Factory inside Rynearson Stadium. Friday’s game will mark the sixth time in eight years under Head Coach Chris Creighton that his team has opened its season in Ypsilanti. Starting the year in front of a home crowd has worked well for the Eagles in that span, as the team is 4-1 in season-debuting home games since 2014. Overall, Creighton-led EMU teams are 5-2 in its season openers, with the two losses coming to Old Dominion in 2015 and Kent State in 2020. Those two contests were lost by a combined eight points.
Saturday, September 4
Western Michigan at Michigan | Noon (ESPN)
Western Michigan Notes | Michigan Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats
Michigan and Western Michigan will meet for the eighth time on Saturday, with the Wolverines having won all seven previous meetings. Bronco QB Kaleb Eleby owns the top passer rating among returning FBS signal callers entering 2021. His rating of 195.08 last season trailed only Alabama Heisman finalist Mac Jones and BYU’s Zach Wilson. Pro Football Focus rates Western Michigan’s offensive line the best in the MAC entering 2020. The Bronco front returns four of five starters from a season ago when WMU had the second-rated line in the conference according to PFF.
Miami at No. 8 Cincinnati | 3:30 pm (ESPN+)
Miami Notes | Cincinnati Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats
The “Battle for the Victory Bell” between Miami and Cincinnati is the longest-lasting collegiate football rivalry west of the Allegheny Mountains, first being played in 1888. It is also the fifth-most played rivalry in Division I (FBS only) with 124 all-time meetings and is the oldest non-conference rivalry in the nation. The “Battle for the Victory Bell” between Miami and Cincinnati is the longest-lasting collegiate football rivalry west of the Allegheny Mountains, first being played in 1888. It is also the fifth-most played rivalry in Division I (FBS only) with 124 all-time meetings and is the oldest non-conference rivalry in the nation.
Central Michigan at Missouri | 4 pm (SEC Network)
Central Michigan Notes | Missouri Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats
Central Michigan returns 22 starters this season - 10 on offense, nine on defense and three specialists. Overall, CMU returns 47 letterwinners while losing just six off last year’s team. Central Michigan features one of the best receiving duos in the nation in junior Kalil Pimpleton and senior JaCorey Sullivan. Both earned First Team All-MAC honors in 2019 while Pimpleton was also named a firstteam all-leaguer as a punt returner. Pimpleton earned second team honors last season at wide receiver. CMU has won seven of its last 10 seasonopening games with all three loses coming to
Power 5 opponents.
Norfolk State at Toledo | 7 pm (ESPN3)
Norfolk State Notes | Toledo Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats
With a 4-2 record in 2020, Toledo kept its streak alive for seasons without a losing record. The Rockets have not had a losing season since 2009, a streak of 11 years. The Rockets are 85-41 in that span. Toledo returns every starter and 57 letterwinners from last year’s team. Among the starters returning from last season’s squad are a total of nine players who have made All-MAC at some point in their career. Six returners made All-MAC in 2020, and three others were honored in 2019. Thee Rockets had the No. 2 ranked defense in the MAC in 2020 after finishing dead last in 2019. The offense is packed with veterans at every position, including junior running back Bryant Koback, who has run for 2,626 yards and 30 TDs over the past three seasons.
Syracuse at Ohio | 7 pm (CBSSN)
Syracuse Notes | Ohio Notes | Watch Live on CBS Sports Network | Live Stats
Ohio opens the 2021 season on Saturday (Sept. 4) as it entertains ACC opponent Syracuse for the first time in 100 years inside Peden Stadium. Tim Albin enters his first season as head coach in 2021 after serving as Ohio’s offensive coordinator for the past 16 years under Frank Solich. Ohio’s offense has thrived under Albin’s watch while he served as the Bobcats associate head coach and offensive coordinator, with the Bobcats setting a total of 17 team records and 70 individual records. Nine of the top-10 seasons in terms of points scored and nine off the top-10 seasons in terms of yards gained in program history have occurred under Albin’s watch. Ohio’s offense has taken it to another level the last three seasons.
Akron at Auburn | 7 pm (SEC Network)
Akron Notes | Auburn Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats
The game between the Zips and Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium will mark the second-ever encounter between the two schools. Last season, the Zips rated second in the NCAA in fewest penalties per game (31.67), fourth in fewest penalties per game (4.00), seventh in fewest penalty yards (190), eighth in fewest penalties (24), 13th in blocked punts (1), 22nd in first-down defense (124), 33rd in red-zone defense (.778), 34th in blocked kicks (1), 43rd in red-zone offense (.857) and 51st in time of possession (30.35). QB Kato Nelson is Akron’s active career leader in rushing attempts (335), pass attempts (762), pass completions (399), passing yards (5,138) and passing TD’s (34) and is responsible for 36 career offensive TD’s.
Northern Illinois at Georgia Tech | 7:30 pm (ACCN)
Northern Illinois Notes | Georgia Tech Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats
NIU returns 22 starters, including 19 on offense and defense, in 2021. One notable exception is under center where the Huskies will replace two-year starting quarterback Ross Bowers. With players retaining their eligibility from a year ago, NIU’s 2021 roster features 87 players classified as “freshmen.” That group includes 44 newcomers, 33 “COVID” (second year) freshmen and 10 redshirt freshmen. Tyrice Richie caught 53 passes for 597 yards in 2020 en route to first team All-MAC honors, becoming just the eighth player in NIU history to record four 100-yard receiving games in a season. He accomplished the feat in just six games.
Kent State at No. 6 Texas A&M | 8 pm (ESPNU)
Kent State Notes | Texas A&M Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats
Kent State will bring back the vast majority of its starters on offense and defense in 2021. The Flashes will bring back 19 of 25 starters in 2021 including nine each on the offense and defense. The Flashes led the NCAA in several offensive categories in 2020, including: points per game (49.8) and total offense (606.5 yards per game). The Golden Flashes were the ONLY team in the FBS to average over 600 yards of offense last year. Kent State also finished top-five in several offensive categories: third down percentage (2nd-56.1% (32-57)), fourth down percentage (3rd-87.5% (7-8)), completion percentage (3rd-71.4% (90-126)) and rushing offense (3rd-283 yards/game).
