Week 10 Football Release
Week 10 MAC Head Coaches Press Conferences
Week 9 MAC Football Players of the Week

Tuesday, November 1
*Ball State at Kent State, 7 pm | ESPNU
Ball State Notes | Kent State Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats

*Buffalo at Ohio, 7:30 pm | ESPN2
Buffalo Notes | Ohio Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats

Wednesday, November 2
*Central Michigan at Northern Illinois, 7 pm | ESPNU
Central Michigan Notes | NIU Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats

*Western Michigan at Bowling Green, 7 pm | ESPN2
Western Michigan Notes | Bowling Green Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats
 

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Another Year, Another Season of Bowl Eligibility
Redshirt freshman quarterback Tucker Gleason threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner late in the fourth quarter, in Toledo’s 27-24 win at Eastern Michigan on Saturday. The victory moves the Rockets to 6-3 and 4-1 in the MAC, strengthening their grip on the West Division and making them bowl eligible for the 13th straight season. The Rockets have reached bowl eligibility every season since 2010. Jason Candle won his 51st game as Toledo’s head coach, moving him into sole possession of third place on Toledo’s all-time list. Gary Pinkel is Toledo’s all-time leader with 73 wins from 1991-2000.

UB’s Fuqua Named National Defensive Player of the Week
Buffalo safety Marcus Fuqua was named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week following his standout performance against Toledo. He’s the first UB player to ever earn the honor. The junior had a career-high three interceptions against the Rockets to become just the fourth UB player to record three interceptions in a game. Fuqua leads the MAC and is tied for the FBS lead with five interceptions. He was named the MAC East Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season following his performance against Toledo.

Bulls on Parade
When Buffalo takes on Ohio on Tuesday night, they will be in search of a sixth straight win for just the second time in their FBS era (2013). The Bulls will also be looking to improve to 5-0 in MAC play for the fourth time in program history (2013, 2018, 2020). A win would make the Bulls bowl eligible for the seventh time in program history and the fifth time in the last six seasons. UB played in bowl games in 2008, 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Buffalo is coming off a comeback victory over Toledo in which they scored 24-unanswered fourth quarter points. Buffalo forced six turnovers against Toledo in the win - the most by a UB team in its FBS era.

Not 1, Not 2, Not 3 ...
Sophomore cornerback Quinyon Mitchell was named the Walter Camp Football Bowl Subdivision National Defensive Player of the Week following his four-interception performance in Toledo’s 52-32 victory at Northern Illinois on Oct. 8. Mitchell returned two of his three first-half interceptions for touchdowns as Toledo bolted out to a 35-7 lead at the break. Mitchell snuffed out a potential NIU touchdown by grabbing his third pick of the half in the NIU end zone on a pass from three-yard line with 16 seconds left. He gathered up his fourth pick of the game in the third quarter, a diving catch on NIU’s opening drive of the half, giving him four interceptions in slightly more than 30 minutes of play. The four interceptions were the first four of Mitchell’s career, tied the school record set back in 1950, and was the first time a Rocket had two pick sixes in one game.  The Toledo standard of four interceptions in a game was set by Jerry Palmer vs. Western Reserve in 1950. Mitchell is the only FBS player since 2000 with four INTs and two pick-sixes in a game. The NCAA record for interceptions is five, held by four players, most recently Dan Rebsch of Miami (Ohio) vs. Western Michigan in 1972. Mitchell is the second Toledo player to earn Walter Camp National Player of Week honors. Safety DeJuan Rogers earned the award following the Rockets’ upset of No. 18 Arkansas on Sept. 12, 2015.

Ramirez Earns National Recognition
Eastern Michigan senior defensive lineman Jose Ramirez has garnered national acclaim after a career-best performance against Western Michigan University Saturday, Oct. 8. Ramirez was named the Reese’s Senior Bowl Defensive Player of the Week as well as the East-West Shrine Bowl’s Breakout Defensive Player of the Week. Ramirez made history Saturday when he recorded a career-high 4.0 sacks against Western Michigan en route to a 45-23 victory over the Broncos. The sack total is a single-game record at Eastern Michigan, and is the second-best individual performance in the NCAA this season.

Flashes of Brilliance
The Kent State Golden Flashes re-wrote the program record books and held off a feisty Ohio Bobcats squad in a thrilling 31-24 overtime victory on a homecoming Saturday at Dix Stadium. The Flashes rolled up 736 yards of offense in the game, the second-most in school history and the second-most this season in an FBS game. Kent State also became the ONLY team in FBS HISTORY to have a 240 yard rushers (Marquez Cooper) and 240 yard receiver (Dante Cephas) in the same game. Cephas set a program-record with 246 yards, breaking a the record set by Eugene Baker in 1997.

The Golden Flashes have won eleven-straight home games, tied for the ninth-longest streak in the FBS and a new program record breaking the streak set September 1949 through October of 1951 and again October of 2011 through August of 2013

B1G Wins
The MAC has won a regular season game vs. Big Ten opponents in each of the last 16 consecutive seasons (2006-2022*) the longest streak in MAC history. Miami’s 17-14 win at Northwestern on Sept. 24, 2022 extended the streak.

During this 16-year stretch, MAC teams have defeated 12 different Big Ten programs—Illinois (4); Indiana (5); Iowa (3); Maryland (1); Michigan (1); Michigan State (1); Minnesota (3); Nebraska (1); Northwestern (4); Penn State (1); Purdue (6) and Rutgers (2) for a total of 32 wins during this stretch.

Miami (14), Bowling Green (9), Toledo (6), Central Michigan (6) and Northern Illinois (6) have the most wins vs. Big Ten opponents.

*The MAC did play any non-conference games in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Say Cheez
Eastern Michigan was named the Cheez-It Bowl National Team of the Week following the Eagles 30-21 win over Arizona State on Sept. 17, as selected by the FWAA. EMU’s win over the Sun Devils marked the first regular season win for a MAC school over a Pac-12 opponent. It also marked the first time that EMU earned Team of the Week honors and the first for a MAC school since Buffalo on Nov. 28, 2020.  The Eagles became only the sixth MAC school to win the award since it debuted in 2002.

EMU’s Evans Named Doak Walker Running Back of the Week
Eastern Michigan running back Samson Evans exploded through the Arizona State defense, rushing for 258 yards on 36 carries in the win. His career-best numbers for carries and yards that led to the first regular-season win for a MAC school over a Pac-12 opponent earned Evans the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week honors.

Six Named As Campbell Trophy Semifinalists
The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) proudly announced the 156 semifinalists for the 2022 William V. Campbell Trophy®, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award. The impressive list of candidates boasts an impressive 3.62 average GPA, with more than half of the semifinalists having already earned their bachelor’s degrees. Among those listed were a total of six student-athletes from the MAC.

Fly The Flag!
The MAC has totaled eight FBS non-conference wins over Northwestern (Big Ten), Arizona State (Pac-12), Georgia State (Sun Belt)Marshall (Sun Belt), Florida Atlantic (C-USA), UConn (Independent) and UMass (Independent) twice.

In 2017, the MAC concluded its non-conference regular season schedule with 14 FBS wins, which tied for second most for the MAC since 2000. The most non-conference regular season wins by the MAC in a single year is 16 FBS wins in 2012, while the 14 FBS wins during the 2017 season matched the total from 2008.

A “Fly the Flag” victory is a win an over “Autonomous Conference”. This season the MAC has two “Fly The Flag” wins as Eastern Michigan topped Arizona State (Pac-12), while Miami defeated Northwestern (Big Ten).

Motor City #MACtion
MAC Commissioner Dr. Jon A. Steinbrecher announced in conjunction with the Detroit Lions, that the MAC has secured a three-year contract extension to host the MAC Football Championship Game at Ford Field in Detroit through the 2024 football season. The MAC is the only non-autonomous FBS conference to sustain a championship game at a neutral site. The MAC has a long association with Detroit and Ford Field as the MAC has held its MAC Football Championship Game as a neutral site championship event at Ford Field since 2004. This year’s MAC Football Championship will be played on Saturday, Dec. 3 at Noon ET on ESPN. This will mark the 20th MAC Football Championship Game hosted at Ford Field, and the 27th overall in the history of the Conference.

Welcome to the #MACtion Coach Moorhead
Joe Moorhead was named the new head coach of The University of Akron football program, Director of Athletics Charles Guthrie announced on Dec. 4, 2021. A native of Pittsburgh, Moorheadhas returned to the Midwest, where he was a member of the Zips coaching staff from 2004-08, including serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2006-2008. Moorhead, who spent the last two seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Oregon, has a proven track record of success over his nearly quarter century in coaching, including six seasons as a head coach at Mississippi State (2018-19) and Fordham University (2012-15). Moorhead has been the play-caller for five programs that have won a conference championship, including Oregon (2020), Penn State (2016), Fordham (2014), Connecticut (2010) and Akron (2005).

#MACtion Made
When the NFL opened the 2022 season, a total of 64 former MAC student-athletes were on NFL active rosters.

Last year the MAC had a pair of former student-athletes named to the 2022 NFL Pro Bowl – Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby (Eastern Michigan) and Pittsburgh Steelers WR Diontae Johnson (Toledo). Crosby was named a Pro Bowl starter and also earned Pro Bowl Defensive MVP honors.

NIU, Kent State Selected in Football Head Coaches Preseason Poll
NIU and Kent State were been selected to win their respective divisions in the 2022 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Football Head Coaches Preseason Poll. The Huskies also received four votes to win the MAC Football Championship Game title, while the Golden Flashes received three votes when it came to selecting who will take home the MAC crown.

MAC East Division (First Place Votes)
1. Kent State (5) – 61 points
2. Miami (6) -- 60
3. Buffalo -- 43
4. Bowling Green (1) -- 36
5. Ohio -- 35
6. Akron -- 17

MAC West Division (First Place Votes)
1. Northern Illinois (6) – 61 points
2. Toledo – 51
3. Central Michigan (2) – 50
4. Western Michigan (3) -- 45
5. Eastern Michigan -- 24
6. Ball State (1) -- 21

MAC Champs: NIU (4), Kent State (3), Miami (2), Western Michigan (2), Ball State (1)