SB Nation - Justin Cudworth

2012 MAC Football Position Rankings: The Linebackers

Phil_Friend — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 12:00:17 -0000

Time to look at the 2012 MAC football season. We're going to preview the conference unit by unit, ranking the teams one through 13 at every position and facet we can think of. Today: the linebackers.

The linebackers were actually harder to rank than the defensive backs, if you can believe that. The balance of power in the MAC linebacking corps was significantly altered when Ball State's Aaron Morris flunked out of school and Akron's Brian Wagner decided to play his senior season at Arizona after graduation. Both were first team all-MAC selections last season.

It's never an easy day in the Mid-American Conference.

1. Toledo - The Rockets have two of the best linebackers in the conference in middle linebacker Dan Molls (70 tackles, 3.5 TFLs) and outside linebacker Robert Bell (78 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, one sack, four forced fumbles). Molls missed a huge chunk of the season with a leg injury but was 10^th nationally with 143 stops in 2010. Not too shabby. Vladimir Emilien, a transfer from Michigan, will join them up front.

2. Bowling Green - First team All-MAC player Dwayne Woods (111 tackles, 14 TFLs) is a monster in the middle of that Falcon 4-2-5 defense. Outside linebacker Paul Swan (63 tackles, 1.5 TFLs) isn't too shabby, either.

3. Kent State - The Golden Flashes have two studs returning in seniors C.J. Malauulu, a middle linebacker, and Luke Batton, an outside linebacker. Malauulu (83 tackles, 9.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks) was a second-team All-MAC selection and Batton (102 tackles, 3.0 TFLs) a third-teamer. Andre Parker (eight tackles) or Nick Conrad (nine tackles) should be the starter at the other OLB spot, leaving Kent State inexperienced on that side of the field.

4. Eastern Michigan - Third-team All-MAC outside linebacker Justin Cudworth (83 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks, three forced fumbles) shined in his first season in green after transferring from the College of the Canyons Junior College. The two linebackers lining up next to Cudworth - who has the potential to be a first-team player this year - are experienced players Bryan Pali (47 tackles, 3 starts and is a community college transfer) and Colin Weingrad (34 tackles, five starts).

5. Ohio - Who's going to replace stud Noah Keller? That's the key question for this unit. Jelani Woseley (53 tackles) and Keith Moore (35 tackles, 4.0 TFL) will be expected to pick up the slack, as will senior Alphonso Lewis (64 tackles, 5.0 TFL).

6. Buffalo - The Bulls have a pair of solid middle linebackers in sophomore Lee Skinner (80 tackles, nine TFL) and senior Jaleel Verser (49 tackles, 6.0 TFL). But it's first-team all-MAC OLB Khalil Mack (65 tackles, an ASTOUNDING 20.5 TFL and 5.5 sacks for good measure) that makes this unit tick. Mack is one of three returning starters and is virtually unblockable on the outside. Senior Imani Chatman is expected to be the other starting OLB (two tackles) in the team's 3-4 scheme.

7. Ball State - This group would easily be in the top three if it wasn't for the unfortunate case of junior OLB Aaron Morris, a first team All-MAC player who left school in January after he was suspended by the team for academic reasons. His 115 tackles will be hard to replace, but there's still talent. Middle linebacker Travis Freeman (134 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, one INT) was a second-team All-MAC player last year and is joined by OLBs Tony Martin (73 tackles, 2.5 TFLs) and Kenneth Lee, which is impressive for him considering he's a transfer from St. Joseph's College, a Division II school. Julian Boyd (17 tackles) is also an option.

8. Northern Illinois - This whole Devon Butler saga really throws things out of whack. Butler had 80 tackles in 2010 and sat out last year after a bizarre shooting incident, and now he's left DeKalb after getting stabbed at a party this past weekend? That's a huge blow for the linebacking corps. But the Huskies do return OLB Tyrone Clark, who missed all of last year with a suspension. Clark will be joined by returning starter Jamaal Bass (62 tackles, 5.5 TFL) and some sort of combination of Victor Jacques (20 tackles) and Michael Santacaterina (28 tackles, one INT).

9. Western Michigan - Teams that play only two linebackers in a 4-2-5 can be hurt or bumped up in the rankings. The Broncos think they've got a good one in sophomore middle linebacker Devon Brant (43 tackles) and he'll line up with junior Terry Eason (a junior college transfer), sophomore Trevor Ishmael (26 tackles) or junior Desmond Bozeman (25 tackles).

(NOTE: In yesterday's secondary rankings, I inadvertently left off junior Johnnie Simon, who is technically a defensive back but his 114 tackles, 10.5 TFL and 3.5 sacks scream linebacker. In fact, I had him listed as linebacker in my notes before I was notified that he's actually a DB. I decided not to include him in the linebacker rankings for fear of messing up twice instead of just once.)

10. Akron - The Zips would be much higher on the list if not for the Brian Wagner's decision to play his final season under Rich Rodriguez at Arizona after he graduated from Akron in December. Wagner tallied 147 tackles and 6.0 TFL last year. The Zips have experience in the area, with expected starts in OLBs Justin March (36 tackles) and Jamar Williams (38 tackles), and MLB Troy Gilmer (71 tackles). The key will be whether or not new defensive coordinator Chuck Amato can maximize their talents.

11. Miami - With three new starters at linebackers, the RedHawks enter the season with this group as The Great Unknown. A pair of seniors - OLB Evan Harris (40 tackles) and Jaytee Swanson (30 tackles, one INT) - will anchor the trio with sophomore Tyler Tucker (18 tackles) starting on the weak side. It's not easy replacing a pair of all-MAC performers in Jerrell Wedge and Ryan Kennedy. This could end up being one of those scenarios where they're super-talented but just haven't had a chance to shine, and we'll look back on this and have a good chuckle.

12. UMass - The good news: The Minutemen return two starters in Chad Hunte (58 tackles) and Perry McIntrye (116 tackles, 11.5 TFL, 6.5 sacks) with McIntyre possibly competing for an all-conference spot. The bad news is that this group will be playing up to FBS for the first time and may not quite be ready for all this yet. They may get there sooner before later. The competition at the other linebacker spot is between Greg Hilliard (eight tackles) and D.J. Adeoba (30 tackles).

13. Central Michigan - Opponents converted their third downs more than 45 percent of the time last season against the Chippewas. Is that the fault of the linebackers? They're probably not guiltier than anyone else, but improvement is needed. MLB Shamari Benton (58 tackles, 3.5 TFL) will be the driving force while he's paired up with two new starters. Sophomore Cody Lopez (58 tackles) has a beat on one OLB spot with sophomores Ryan Petro (14 tackles) and Justin Cherocci (29 tackles) going for the other one.

NCAA 13 MAC Ratings: Nick Harwell Is The Best MAC Player, Toledo The Top Team

Matt Sussman — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 13:00:34 -0000

Well, that settles it. EA Sports made it so, QED. It shocked me a bit when I saw that in the freshest ratings of NCAA Football 13, the Miami wideout was given the top rating for a MAC player. I thought maybe Carder or Dysert would've gotten this, but nope. Here's the top nine — and I stopped at nine because there was a boatload tied for 10th:

1. Miami WR Nick Harwell (92)
2. Buffalo RB Branden Oliver (90)
3. WMU QB Alex Carder (88)
T-4. Toledo LB Dan Molls (87)
T-4. OHIO QB Tyler Tettleton (87)
T-6. Toledo K Jeremiah Detmer (86)
T-6. Miami QB Zac Dysert (86)
T-6. Ball State LB Travis Freeman (86)
T-6. CMU QB Ryan Radcliff (86)

I don't own a PlayStation or Xbox so I can't tell you much about the game — although it appears you can play as mascots (as demonstrated by this video featuring a Zippy/Rocky slugfest). I just love looking at the ratings because they're so detailed and occasionally a bit off, especially factoring in who may and may not be on a football roster.

For bonus flavor, I ranked the top five players on each team (some have more than five if the fifth player was tied):

AKRON

Jawon Chisholm, HB #44 (81)
A.J. Fox, P #17 (80) — the is one problem I've found so far. No, not that the punter is the second-highest ranked player on Akron. You see, Fox he was dismissed from the team in May. Whoopsy!
Adam Bice, C #65 (79)
Troy Gilmer, ROLB #5 (75)
Devonte Morgan, FS #26 (73)

BALL STATE

Travis Freeman, MLB #8 (86)
Keith Wenning, QB #10 (85)
Scott Kovanda, P #18 (83)
Jahwan Edwards, HB #38 (82)
Kitt O'Brien, LG #79 (82)

BOWLING GREEN

Dwayne Woods, MLB #5 (85)
Anthon Samuel, HB #6 (82)
Chris Jones, DT #91 (82)
Matt Schilz, QB #7 (81)
Brian Schmiedebusch, P #95 (81) — THUNDERPUNT0RZZZ!!!

BUFFALO

Branden Oliver, HB #32 (90)
Patrick Clarke, K #45 (84)
Khalil Mack, LOLB #46 (80) — I don't like to quibble about ratings. But Khalil freaking Mack is only an 80?
Alex Neutz, WR #19 (79)
Steven Means, LE #40 (76)

CENTRAL MICHIGAN

Ryan Radcliff, QB #8 (86)
Jake Olson, LT #73 (81)
Cody Wilson, WR #11 (81)
Jahleel Addae, SS #4 (80)
Mike Repovz, LG #67 (78)
David Harman, K #96 (78)
Titus Davis, WR #84 (78)

EASTERN MICHIGAN

Alex Gillett, QB #8 (83)
Justin Cudworth, ROLB #47 (83)
Korey Neal, LT #68 (82)
Javonti Greene, HB #32 (82)
Andrew Sorgatz, C #72 (81)

KENT STATE

Luke Batton, MLB #30 (84)
Roosevelt Nix, DT #5 (83)
Brian Winters, LT #66 (81)
Jake Dooley, RE #51 (79)
Freddy Cortez, K #45 (77)
Kent Cleveland, RT #65 (77) — He's played on this team for five years, and in my third year on the blog I am now realizing that Kent State football has a player named Kent Cleveland.

MIAMI

Nick Harwell, WR #8 (92)
Zac Dysert, QB #4 (86)
Dayonne Nunley, CB #3 (84)
Brad Bednar, LT #72 (81)
Andy Cruse, WR #15 (81)

NORTHERN ILLINOIS

Jimmie Ward, ROLB #15 (84)
Logan Pegram, LG #70 (83)
Mathew Sims, K #99 (83)
Rashaan Melvin, CB #11 (83)
Jordan Lynch, QB #6 (81) — No pressure, buddy.

OHIO

Tyler Tettleton, QB #4 (87)
Matt Weller, K #49 (83) — You still have eligibility left?
Alphonso Lewis, LOLB #46 (83)
Eric Herman, RG #77 (83)
Gerald Moore, FS #13 (82)
Skyler Allen, C #65 (82)

TOLEDO

Dan Molls, MLB #32 (87)
Jeremiah Detmer, K #85 (86)
Robert Bell, ROLB #38 (85)
Terrance Owens, QB #2 (85)
David Fluellen, HB #22 (83)

UMASS

Perry McIntyre, MLB #44 (77)
Jeff Strait, P #41 (76) — At least this second-best player who is a punter is still on the team. Good luck, buddy!
Nick Speller, LT #72 (74)
Quinton Sales, C #51 (71)
Darren Thellen, SS #27 (71)

WESTERN MICHIGAN

Alex Carder, QB #14 (88)
Lewis Toler, CB #24 (83)
Dann O'Neill, RT #68 (83)
Tyler VanTubbergen, QB #2 (82) — So, WMU's backup is rated higher than all quarterbacks on six other MAC teams.
Kevin Galeher, C #62 (81)

Oh, and you want whole team ratings? Sure.

Toledo — 83
OHIO — 81
Miami, NIU — 79
EMU, WMU — 77
BGSU — 75
Ball State, CMU — 73
Kent State, Buffalo — 71
Akron, UMass — 63

How good is and 83? By comparison, other 83s include Kentucky, Ole Miss, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Illinois, UConn, Duke and Iowa State. The 63 is the third-worst rating to Memphis (61) and Florida Atlantic (60).

Know Thy Opponent 2012: Eastern Michigan Eagles

BoilerTMill — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 18:56:31 -0000

What Big Ten schedule would be complete without some delicious MACtion? Even last year we could not escape the first season since 1998 in which Purdue did not play a MAC team. That year we open at USC before hosting Rice and Central Florida then going to Notre Dame. Last year was the first non-MAC year since then, but the bowl game against Western Michigan prevented that. Now we have 1998 and 1996 as the only seasons of the past 20 that did not have a MAC opponent.

It may not be a good thing, either. In the regular season Danny Hope is a rather dismal 2-2 against the conference I like to think of as the Little Big Ten. He lost to Northern Illinois 28-21 in 2009 and Toledo 31-20 in 2010 while only beating Ball State 24-13 in a rather lackluster 2010 game and Ralph Bolden running wild on Toledo in his debut. That trend had better not continue against an Eastern Michigan team that moved from Abyssmally Bad to Somewhat Respectable in 2011.

Eastern Michigan Eagles

2011 Record: 6-6

Bowl Result: None

Blog Representation: The Hustle Belt, Eagle Totem

Series with Purdue: Purdue Leads 1-0

Last Purdue win: 9/7/1991 at Purdue 49-3

Last Season for the Eagles

The last time Purdue played Eastern Michigan was the coaching debut of one Jim "A Tie Is As A Good As A Win In The Big Ten" Colletto. His charges drubbed the Eagles, who would go 3-7-1, 49-3 in Ross-Ade Stadium, marking the high point of the Colletto Era. Purdue would go on to lose at California and at home to Notre Dame before beating Northwestern, Michigan State, and Wisconsin in Big Ten play. Surely tons of speed and coaching excellence was on display in Purdue's 6-3 loss at Minnesota on my 12^th birthday that year.

Getting back to the present: Eastern Michigan has normally been awful even by MAC standards. They went 0-for-2009 with their nearest win coming in a 29-27 cripple fight loss to 2-10 Ball State. Last season they were 6-6 for their first non-losing season since 1995. The program has not been to a bowl game since 1987.

Two of their wins were over I-AA teams Howard and Alabama State. They also beat Akron, Central Michigan, Buffalo, and won the Directional Michigan Championship with a surprising 14-10 win over Western Michigan.

Eastern Michigan Offense:

There is a real life blog preview available for Eastern Michigan, and it seems impressed by the offense:

The offensive starters certainly looked sharp, especially Senior Quarterback Alex Gillett. Our running attack should not miss a beat this year, perhaps we will even see improvement as the three-headed monster of Sherrer, Greene, and White will surely drive each other to perform at a high level. The passing attack should also be improved, although I didn't see anything from our receiving corps that leads me to believe we will have an explosive threat on the outside.

It appears as if the Eagles will try to have a more balanced offense behind Gillett, who started all 12 games a year ago. He only threw for 1,504 yards and 14 TDs, but limited himself to seven interceptions. Expect him to be very active on the ground too, as he led the Eagles with 736 yards rushing and three scores.

Javonti Greene (667-6), Dominique White (596-5), and Dominique Sherrer (572-2) are almost dead even as the running back. Combined with Gillett, this is a potent rushing attack that ran for over 2,500 yards. Naturally, that cuts down on sacks, as Eastern Michigan gave up only 19. The offensive line is also obviously decent if it can pave the way for that many yards on the ground.

The receivers look to be led by tight end Garrett Hoskins, who caught 22 passes for 328 yards and three scores. This is not a big play passing team by any stretch. Nick Olds, a 6'2" receiver from Columbus East High here in Indiana, led them with just 24 catches for 342 yards and three scores. Demarius Reed (11-118-2) is the only other receiver back with more than 10 catches.

Obviously, we'll need to prepare for the run. That's what makes the new 3-4 here so interesting. We'll need lateral pursuit while Kawann Short tries to have a dominant game inside. Ryan Russell had a solid bowl game against similar opposition, so look for him to have a big game as well. I am interested to see how Will Lucas does on the outside here.

For a look at the Eagles, here is some video from their game against Michigan last season, a 31-3 loss:

Eastern Michigan Defense:

The Eagles were hardly a defensive juggernaut, and when coupled with an offense that didn't put up a ton of points that naturally led to a 6-6 finish. Toledo scored 54 on them, but they were generally okay in giving up less than 40 points per game in their other 11 outings. It may not seem like much, but it is drastic improvement over giving up 70+ twice in 2010. In fact, the defensive unit cut its points given up down to 292 last year from 527 in 2010.

The running game of Akeem Hunt and Akeem Shavers should be able to get moving against a unit that gave up over 140 yards on the ground per game. Senior linebacker Justin Cudworth led the team with 83 tackles, but is undersized at 5'11", 220 lbs. Defensive back Marcell Rose was fourth on the team in tackles with 59, but the second and third leading tacklers are gone.

Eastern Michigan must find a pass rush after losing Brad Ohrman and his team leading 5.5 sacks. It seems as if this team has been hit heavily by graduation losses on the defensive side of the ball:

While our defense did a nice job against the offense when Benz was in, they were picked apart by Gillett. I'm having a hard time assessing what that means, is our offense led by our Senior QB that efficient, or is our defense lagging that far behind. I daresay it is a mixture of the two. Our linebacker corps of Andy Mulumba, Cudworth, and ColinWeingrad is pretty solid, but the D-line needs to improve. Here's hoping between now and September they get a little more stout up front.

As for the secondary, I feel we have a pretty athletic group back there, led by Marlon Pollard and Marcell Rose. New starter Sean "Pudge" Cotton (not sure why his nickname is Pudge, did he used to be a catcher?) was definitely involved on defense, and he should develop into a very nice strong safety for us.

I don't think it is a good sign when a safety, a guy who is supposed to be fast and agile, is named Pudge. I am sure Sean Cotton is a nice guy, but seriously? Pudge?

From what I can see this needs to be a game, like the eastern Kentucky game, where the offense gets in a rhythm. We never had that last year except for the Southeast Missouri State game. Of course, that result is an outlier because we were so much more physically dominant than a I-AA team. If the Caleb TerBush vs. Robert Marve battle is still going on at this point I hope this is the game that settles it. We need to stick with the hot hand here and go.

I'd also like to see us get some passes to our bigger receivers like Charles Torwudzo and Shane Mikesky. If they have a guy named Pudge let's test his speed deep.

Eastern Michigan Special Teams:

Kody Fulkerson was a decent kicker, going 14 for 21 last year with a long of 48 yards. They aren't afraid to try him from long range, as his longest attempt was 53. he also had no misses from 37 yards in.

Jay Karutz returns as a punter averaging 38.8 yards per boot, but it's not like we have much of a punt return game anyway.

The return units don't present a danger on kickoffs, but Demarius reed averaged 12.8 yards per punt return with a score last season. Sherrer will probably be back on kicks, but they averaged a dismal 18.6 yards per return. Therefore, expect touchbacks if we reach the end zone.

Game Outlook:

This is one of the "Must Win" games on the schedule and one of four games (Eastern Kentucky, Marshall, and Indiana being the other three) that Purdue fans are circling as games we should win. Being a Big Ten team, that's what happens when you play the MAC.

That said, the MAC always gets a few Big ten scalps every year, and lately we have been vulnerable to being that team. Purdue has at least not fallen to the level of losing to I-AA teams, but we are certainly not above gacking away a game such as this. We need only look at the last three seasons, with losses to Northern Illinois, Toledo, and Rice. In fact, the Rice loss was probably the worst of those three, and this Eastern Michigan team is better than that.

This is a game where we need to force Gillett to throw while taking advantage of an inexperienced defense. Purdue needs to get ahead in this game and keep them at bay, because once these MAC schools start hanging around and smelling blood they are very dangerous. We failed to do that against Toledo and Northern Illinois. In fact, we rarely were ahead in both of those games if at all.

Prediction:

The Akeems run for 150 yards and the passing game gets three scores as the offense takes advantage of a relatively green defense. Eastern Michigan makes some headway on the ground, but Ricardo Allen and Josh Johnson handle the outside passing game and the defensive line wears them down. Purdue 31, Eastern Michigan 17

Phil Steele's 2012 Preseason All-MAC Team: BGSU Gets Five First Teamers

Matt Sussman — Mon, 28 May 2012 22:21:47 -0000

This is the part of the year where I look at stuff that happened the last two weeks and try to play catch-up. Last Friday Phil Steele announced his all-conference teams, and the MAC was one of the first conferences he knocked out of the way, because he's either nice or saved the bigger conferences for last.

He goes four teams deep, and in a surprising twist, Bowling Green had the most first-teamers with five. This pleases me and it's less surprising when you remember that BGSU is returning the most starters of anybody in the MAC (19, 10 on defense), and is ranked top-five nationally in this nebulous category.

But who had the most points using my cheatsheet method? Spoiler: Not Bowling Green.

School	First Team (4 pts/selection)	Second Team (3 pts/selection)	Third Team (2 pt/selection)	Fourth Team (1 pt/selection)	Total Points
OHIO	OG Eric Herman DE Tremayne Scott CB Travis Carrie PK Matt Weller	QB Tyler Tettleton C Skyler Allen OG Jonathan Lechner PR Travis Carrie	TE Jordan Thompson DT Carl Jones LB Alphonso Lewis S Gerald Moore	RB Beau Blankenship DT Neal Huynh	38
Bowling Green	RB Anthon Samuel DT Chris Jones LB Dwayne Woods P Brian Schmiedebusch KR BooBoo Gates	TE Alex Bayer	WR Je'Ron Stokes OG Dominic Flewellyn	QB Matt Schilz OG Chip Robinson LB Paul Swan CB Cameron Truss S BooBoo Gates	32
Northern Illinois	OG Logan Pegram DE Sean Progar	WR Martel Moore S Jimmie Ward PK Mathew Sims KR Tommylee Lewis	RB Jamal Womble WR Perez Ashford DT Nabal Jefferson	DE Alan Baxter LB Tyrone Clark LB Devon Butler	29
Miami	WR Nick Harwell LB Pat Hinkel CB Dayonne Nunley	DT Austin Brown	QB Zac Dysert DE Jason Semmes LB Evan Harris CB D.J. Brown P Zac Murphy	WR Dawan Scott OT Brad Bednar	27
Kent State	OT Brian Winters DT Roosevelt Nix LB C.J. Malauulu	LB Luke Batton	DE Jake Dooley S Luke Wollet	RB Trayion Durham DT Dana Brown CB Norman Wolfe S Calvin Tiggle PK Freddy Cortez	24
Eastern Michigan	TE Garrett Hoskins PR Demarius Reed	LB Justin Cudworth CB Marlon Pollard	RB Dominique Sherrer C Andrew Sorgatz PR Marlon Pollard	OG Corey Watman OT Korey Neal	22
Western Michigan	QB Alex Carder OT Dann O'Neill S Johnnie Simon	DE Paul Hazel	OT Terry Davisson CB Lewis Toler	WR Eric Monette DE Freddie Bishop	21
Ball State	None	RB Jahwan Edwards OG Jordan Hansel DT Nathan Ollie LB Travis Freeman P Scott Kovanda	KR Jamill Smith	WR Jamill Smith C Dan Manick PR Jamill Smith	20
Central Michigan	WR Titus Davis S Jahleel Addae	WR Cody Wilson OT Jake Olson	OT Eric Fisher PK David Harman	KR Titus Davis	19
Toledo	WR Bernard Reedy C Zac Kerin	DE T.J. Fatinikun S Jermaine Robinson	LB Dan Molls	LB Robert Bell P Vince Penza	19
Buffalo	RB Branden Oliver LB Khalil Mack	WR Alex Neutz CB Najja Johnson	OG Graham Whinery LB Lee Skinner	None	18
UMass	None	OT Nick Speller LB Perry McIntyre	None	TE Jerome Lewis	7
Akron	None	RB Jawon Chisholm	WR Keith Sconiers	None	5

Well, Bowling Green cannot officially sneak up on anyone. Not with a suddenly veteran team, at least. Between them and OHIO, the MAC East may not be the stronger division thanks to Akron and UMass, they've got a couple big contenders to re-claim the MAC crown in Detroit.

• I'm surprised at how low Toledo scored here, although give them a few games and you'll see some new names mentioned among the conference's best. That just shows how many starters — and good ones — they truly lost.

• I don't know what to read into any of this, but Ball State led the MAC with most second-team picks with five. Miami topped the MAC with five third-teamers and both Kent State and BG produced five men on the fourth team.

• It may be premature to call Jamill Smith the next Eric Page but he did make the team three times as a WR/KR/PR.

• Excellent to see Eastern Michigan get substantially more recognition for the strength of their team after getting marginally jobbed in the 2011 awards.

• Another cool thing: NIU linebacker Devon Butler, who recovered after that horrific drive-by shooting, might be able to return to form as Steele named him fourth team.

• Welcome to the club, UMass! Based on this, your best is better than Akron's best.

2011 MAC Football Postseason Awards Cheatsheet

Matt Sussman — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:00:25 -0000

And that's another MAC football regular season in the Scrolls of Imperial Honor.

Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish is your winner of the Vern Smith, as well as the Offensive POY. Hard to argue each of these. His play has equaled last year and was needed even more so with the loss of Chad Spann.

Here's a bit of a surprise: Drew Nowak of Western Michigan won Defensive Player of the Year. He was tied for first in the conference with 8.5 sacks ... but I have to think Khalil Mack deserved this honor.

Eastern Michigan's Ron English won Coach of the Year. A no-doubt choice, and if there was voting tabulation this ought to have been unanimous, although Frank Solich, Dave Doeren, Steve Addazio and Pete Lembo all had excellent years.

The Special Teams POY is OHIO's accurate kicker Matt Weller. I guess Eric Page can't win 'em all (although he picked up three first-team nods). Although ... for some reason he wins Special Teams POY and is only second-team All-MAC as a placekicker.

Bowling Green running back Anthon Samuel took the Freshman of the Year award. There have been several deserving freshmen this year, most of them running backs. It could've been him or Akron's Jawon Chisholm.

Below the jump is the cheatsheet.

School	First Team (3 pts/selection)	Second Team (2 pts/selection)	Third Team (1 pt/selection)	Total Points
Northern Illinois	QB Chandler Harnish C Scott Wedige OL Trevor Olson PK Mathew Sims	WR Perez Ashford RB Jasmin Hopkins DT Sean Progar DB Jimmie Ward	WR Nathan Palmer	21
Toledo	OL Mike VanDerMeulen WR Eric Page DB Desmond Marrow PR Eric Page KR Eric Page	C Zac Kerin RB Adonis Thomas	DL T.J. Fatinikun	20
Temple	OL Pat Boyle TE Evan Rodriguez RB Bernard Pierce DL Adrian Robinson	OLB Tahir Whitehead P Brandon McManus	OL Wayne Tribue RB Matt Brown DL Morkeith Brown DB Kevin Kroboth	20
OHIO	OL: Joe Flading	OL Eric Herman WR LaVon Brazill PK Matt Weller ILB Noah Keller DL Tremayne Scott DB Travis Carrie	QB Tyler Tettleton OL A.J. Strum DB Donte Harden KR Donte Harden	19
Ball State	OLB Aaron Morris DB Sean Baker	OL Jordan Hansel WR Briggs Orsbon ILB Travis Freeman DL Nate Ollie PR Jamill Smith	P Scott Kovanda	17
Bowling Green	WR Kamar Jorden ILB Dwayne Woods DL Chris Jones P Brian Schmiedebusch	PR BooBoo Gates	C Ben Bojicic	15
Western Michigan	WR Jordan White DL Drew Nowak	QB Alex Carder DB Johnnie Simon	OL: Dann O'Neill WR Chleb Ravenell PK John Potter DL Freddie Bishop	14
Miami	WR Nick Harwell DB Dayonne Nunley	OL Brandon Brooks	OLB Jerrell Wedge ILB Ryan Kennedy DL Austin Brown	11
Kent State	DL Roosevelt Nix	OL Brian Winters OLB C.J. Malauulu DB Josh Pleasant	ILB Luke Batton DB Luke Wollet	11
Buffalo	RB Branden Oliver OLB Khalil Mack	WR Marcus Rivers	PR Terrell Jackson	9
Central Michigan	DB Jahleel Addae	TE David Blackburn	OL Eric Fisher WR Titus Davis WR Cody Wilson	8
Eastern Michigan	None	DL Brad Ohrman	TE Garrett Hoskins OLB Justin Cudworth DB Latarrius Thomas DB Marlon Pollard	6
Akron	ILB Brian Wagner	None	None	3

So NIU earned the most "points" of all, and they had the most wins. Sensible, isn't it?

Let's try another metric I just made up: All-MAC points per team win. A higher number should tend to mean a higher proportionate amount of awards based on team performance. Could be individual success. Maybe a lower score indicates team bias, lack of player recognition or better overall team play.
NIU: 2.33 (21 to 9)
Temple: 2.50 (20 to 8)
Toledo: 2.50 (20 to 8)
OHIO: 2.11 (19 to 9)
Ball State 2.83 (17 to 6)
BGSU: 3.00 (15 to 5)
WMU: 2.00 (14 to 7)
Miami: 2.75 (11 to 4)
Kent State: 2.20 (11 to 5)
Buffalo: 3.00 (9 to 3)
CMU: 2.66 (8 to 3)
EMU: 1.00 (6 to 6)
Akron: 3.00 (3 to 1)

Eastern Michigan Isn't "For Real" Yet, But They're Getting There

Matt Sussman — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:27:16 -0000

The butt of the joke in MAC football over the last 20 years has been Eastern Michigan. The crux of their agony has been centered around the two undeniable numbers: win-loss record and attendance. Who's going to drop money on a perpetually bad football team? That's not faith; that's foolhardiness. You might as well throw your money away on a loincloth for the Ypsilanti Water Tower. A day after it's draped over it, it'll be stolen.

AnnArbor.com declared that EMU is "for real." The joke may not be over — you can't wipe away decades of futility with one decent season — but the success can begin now.

It begins with playing in front of a small crowd, getting a goal line stand, and winning against a big rival. The announced attendance was 6,772. This is a typical "announced" attendance for EMU: they'll count all the tickets bought by companies that were perhaps distributed but not used. In this case, from the reports I've seen this was probably very close to the amount of souls in Rynearson. It's still a pitiful crowd by college football standards and by MAC standards. It's a start. They went home happy. And when they do that, they're liable to return for another game.

A 5-3 record is a godsend for this struggling program. Five wins is more than their last three seasons combined. It's their highest win total since 1995, when they went 6-5. They're even getting projected to go to a bowl. Their last bowl was 1987, which was also their last (and only) MAC Championship.

So they're not "there" yet. They were lambasted by Toledo a week ago, need to play at NIU and must hope for a couple of Rockets losses so EMU can slide by that tiebreaker. I don't see that happening. But I do see them winning as many as seven or possibly eight games this year. They host Ball State; that won't be an easy one. Next after that is Buffalo, who they should handle. Then comes Kent State, the worst offense in FBS.

This is ridiculous. Seven wins for Eastern Michigan. Ron English wins coach of the freaking universe if that happens. EMU winning seasons only occur in video game dynasties. But with this bizarre easy schedule, it's also very possible.

They scheduled two FCS opponents, and beatable ones: Alabama State and Howard. Their MAC schedule lacked some tough games: no Temple and no Ohio, and they got the MAC West cellar carnival of Akron, Buffalo and Kent State.

The WMU game remains their biggest win since that 56-52 shootout against Central Michigan in 2008. Granted, since then there haven't been many to pick. Any win has been huge for them.

What's been more impressive is who has done it for them. We expect some type of breakout offensive player, and we looked to Alex Gillett a couple years ago, thinking he'd be the guy. And he's been okay. But he's not much of a passer and even as a rushing threat he's third, maybe fourth, behind Dominique Sherrer, Javonti Greene and Dominique White. Garrett Hoskins is the team's leading receiver with 223 yards and 15 catches. That's ... not much.

I think the real story here is the defense. Last year they gave up 43.9 points per game ... just in the MAC alone. This year they're down to a lean 24.5 in the conference. Comeback senior Latarrius Thomas, surprising linebacker Justin Cudworth and leading tackler Willie Williams have been just a few of the names who've come up big time. Throw in defensive tackles Andy Mulumba and Brad Ohrman and English has turned around this defense ridiculously quickly. It's almost as if he used to be a defensive coordinator.

Good on the Eagles. I think anyone who isn't playing them on a given week would love nothing more than to see them succeed. It's been a purely nihilistic football experience during the Internet age, both in their record and in their bleachers. We've kept saying that it can only get better, but here's our first sign in some time.

MAC Football Week 4 Roundup

Matt Sussman — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 06:14:41 -0000

Lots of madness around the conference on Saturday. Beyond three wins over FCS schools, there were also victories against the ACC and a service academy. Plus, a new contender in the MAC East! Sufficient takes on each of the 12 games:

TEMPLE 38, MARYLAND 7 — The Bernard Pierce line is ridiculous (32/149/5 TD) and maybe that helped out Chester Stewart's day going 9-for-9 and 140 yards. And it wasn't necessary run-to-set-up-the-pass, since the first play was a Stewart to Evan Rodriguez strike for 54 yards. T'was a game of redemption for the quarterback who was thought to be the backup all year, even though he didn't pass all that much. Now suddenly Mike Gerardi is left holding the clipboard.

But the trick is how to weigh this game in the annals of victories over BCS conference games. It's not like Maryland is awful. They beat Miami of Florida, who beat Ohio State. They played West Virginia hard and while the UConn win last year was a key victory for the Owls, that would be hilariously good for the confidence once the Huskies reached a BCS bowl. Maryland, unlikely as it is would be, could contend for the ACC. We see no reason to hope this happens.

This was also Temple's first-ever victory against the ACC.

MICHIGAN STATE 45, CMU 7 — Even when the score was 7-0 after one quarter, it didn't really seem like the Chippewas were going to keep this interesting. CMU still plays like they're the worst team in the MAC West, and even though Michigan State has some downright nasty defenders, they only gathered 112 yards along with throwing four interceptions and basically getting disrupted on several plays.

Bright spots: Jahleel Addae had a nice interception and Kevin King blocked a punt to set up their only score of the game.

PENN STATE 34, EMU 6 — With every passing game like this against quality competition, the luster on Eastern's promise fades just a bit. It's not to say they can't get to five or six wins this year, but it'd have been nice to convert either of those sub-25-yard field goals into touchdowns. They were tackled for a loss 14 times and turned it over a few times. The sweetest play of the game was a Justin Cudworth strip on a goal-line pass play that bounced out of the end zone for a touchback.

SYRACUSE 33, TOLEDO 30 (OT) — I've already said enough. But they lost more than just the game: Adonis Thomas broke his arm and is going to miss a month. They also lost Desmond Marrow in a scary moment on the field and suffered a concussion. They are in scramble mode as they prepare for Temple next week.

BGSU 37, MIAMI 23 — Let's officialize it: Bowling Green is the sleeper of the MAC East. How better to solidify oneself in the conference than to win on the turf of the defending conference champs?

Back-and-forthness was finally stopped in a silly manner when Anthon Samuel broke the game open in the fourth quarter with a 96-yard touchdown run. He left with an injury, though, and that's concerning.

As the Extra Points Are Hard storyline adds another chapter, each team missed a PAT. But Kyle Burkhardt was yanked from extra-point duties on that opening score and Stephen Stein did business onward, totaling four PATs and a 35-yard field goal.

For Miami they didn't accrue much on the ground (thanks to six sacks) but Nick Harwell hauled in eight catches for 139 yards and Wes Williams was the benefactor in a great batted ball for a 6-yard interception return touchdown.

AKRON 36, VMI 13 — And UA is on the board. To say they have as many wins as last year by virtue of an FCS game may seem petty but remember they did lose to Gardner-Webb last year. So, baby steps.

And even if Clayton Moore's three touchdowns and Jawon Chisholm's 188 yards were against VMI, it was necessary to see this happen just so they do have the potential to be cohesive on offense.

BALL STATE 48, ARMY 21 — This is actually happening. Ball State is 3-1 to start the year, and if BG is the surprise in the East, Ball State is your sudden West contender.

Seriousness. Who saw coming into today that the Cardinals would score the most of any MAC team? NIU was a common pick but Ball State topped 'em by a point. In all they ran through the Army defense for 545 yards, and it's just a damn good thing football defense doesn't translate into national security.

I didn't watch the entirety of this game, but I did peek in and notice Keith Wenning evading two sacks in one play, then stepping up and throwing for a first down in the red zone. This is becoming real in Muncie.

For whatever reason, Army is now allowing 47.5 points per game against MAC schools. They're supposed to be OK, right?

RUTGERS 38, OHIO 26 — The perfect season was not meant to be.

NIU 47, CAL POLY 30 — No sign of defensive improvement. The reports about the offense taking a step back were wildly exaggerated, but what the heck is up with 30 points to Cal Poly? The loss was rarely in doubt once they went up 20-0 as the Mustangs never got closer than 17 points.

Additionally, Chandler Harnish broke George Bork's school touchdown record, which is just another excuse to exclaim "BØRK BØRK BØRK."

KENT STATE 33, SOUTH ALABAMA 25 — I wish I had time to preview this one. South Alabama is such a curiosity. They're fast-tracking their way to the FBS in 2013 and this is just their third year of existence and 21st game overall. It's also their second loss. So I thought possibly they'd have a shot at hanging around this one, but the comeback happened waaaaay too late.

Kent State surprisingly used offensive prowess to build a 33-0 lead, giving USA minimal time to make a comeback. They had a longshot attempt at tying the game on the final drive, but with 80 yards and less than a minute to play, the Jaguars completed a pass to the Kent 23 before time expired. Second loss in school history.

ILLINOIS 23, WMU 20 — Extremely impressive effort by the Broncos in Champaign.

UCONN 17, BUFFALO 3 — Sort of an uggo performance all-around by everybody involved, but they did move the ball better, especially on the ground, but weren't able to amass any long drive worth anything beyond their second-quarter field goal to take a 3-0 lead. The jury remains out on what type of spoiler role they can play in the MAC.

Michigan v. Eastern Michigan Q & A With Eagle Totem

Maize n Brew Dave — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:42:54 -0000

Believe it or not there IS an Eastern Michigan Eagles Football Blog out there. Really! Eagle Totem gave us a shout about doing a Q&A. We honestly knew next to nothing about this week's opponent, so this couldn't have come at a better time. Enjoy!

MnB Dave: You have Mike Hart on your staff. Tell us how much you love him. And you do. DON'T LIE! HE IS AWESOME!

We’ll see. Now that one "little brother" has had a nice go of things, maybe it's a littler brother's turn.

MnB Dave: In all seriousness, talk about the staff at EMU. The last few years have been really painful ones for EMU football. How is the rebuilding process progressing?

With progress.

It’s hard to really tell where the team is right now, due to the level of the first two opponents. We’ll know a lot more in 10 days. At that point, EMU will be like the statistician who lay with his head in the freezer and his feet in the oven. On average he was fine; an average of Howard, Alabama State, Michigan, and Penn State should be about MAC quality.

MnB Dave: Do you foresee the Eagles contending for a MAC title, or even a division title in the near future?

My expectation is that EMU should finish at 3-5 or 4-4 in the MAC this year, partly due to continued improvement and partly due to a weak conference schedule that doesn’t include Temple, Ohio, or Miami, and gets the most-winnable games (Akron, Buffalo, Ball State) at home. I can imagine them having an outside shot at a division title next year.

MnB Dave: We've heard a lot about Eastern's ground game. Why is it so potent this year and are you doing anything different from last season?

At this point it’s hard to say if it really is any better than last year, or if the statistical improvement is due to the weaker opponents. From what I’ve seen, the receivers are starting to show some blocking ability, and that’s turned some 3-5 yard runs into 10-20 yard gains. Also, last year Dwayne Priest was the #1 running back, but there was no clear #2. Priest struggled with injuries through much of the middle of the season, missing several games, and even when he played he was hampered. The lack of a clear #2 running back meant that time got shared between several players, and no one ever seemed to get really comfortable.

This year the Eagles have a clear 1-2-3 punch, or really 1-1-3. Junior Dominique Sherrer is listed as the starter, but he’s split carries evenly with sophomore Javonti Greene. They’re fairly similar runners who both have good speed and the ability to make a cut or two, but probably lack the power to do much in a clogged middle of the field. More James Starks than Michael Turner, if you will. Gillett has dropped from the #2 ball carrier last year to #3 this year, but he’s still more than willing to pull the ball in and take off running, and he’s had a 40+ yard run in each of the first two games.

MnB Dave: Talk about your passing offense, talk about your quarterback and your play makers on the outside.

Last week I described the passing offense as "an afterthought you wish you hadn’t thought of". There was very little of it, and most of that was ugly. Some of that failure was on Alex Gillett, and some of it might be credit to the Alabama State pass defense, which was one of the best in FCS last year, but the offensive line hasn’t given him very good protection in either game and the receivers have dropped plenty of on-target passes. The offensive line suffered a blow with the loss to injury of Korey Neal, who started eight games last year, but I think they’ll improve as they get more reps as a unit.

The receivers should also get better as soon as this weekend, with the expected return of Kinsman Thomas. Thomas was the #1 receiver in 2010, but he was suspended for the first two games for an unspecified team rules violation. He wasn’t listed on EMU’s depth chart for this week, but EMU’s depth charts tend to be lagging rather than leading, so I do expect him to start.

More after the jump.....

MnB Dave: Defending Denard Robinson is a futile endeavor, but EMU will be asked to do that anyway. How will the Eagles try to slow him down?

I think the most they can hope for is to contain him in the pocket and force him to try to win with his arm. If he gets loose it will be a long afternoon for EMU fans.

MnB Dave: Who are your defensive play makers? Are any of them future NFL or at least all-conference material?

The defensive players to watch are senior defensive end Brad Ohrman, senior middle linebacker Marcus English, junior weak-side linebacker (juco transfer) Justin Cudworth, sophomore cornerback (UCLA transfer) Marlon Pollard, and 6th year senior safety (Louisville transfer) Latarrius Thomas. Pollard is also dangerous on punt returns. If had to pick just one to watch based on the first two games, it would be Cudworth.

MnB Dave: Your prediction?

Much as I’d love to call for an EMU win, or even a close game like Toledo played against Ohio State, I just don’t see it happenning. Best case, the offense shortens the game by running relentlessly with just a few mid-range passes to K. Thomas mixed in, the run defense forces Denard into a lot of passing, special teams deliver consistent field position advantage, and Michigan wins 34-24. Worst case is probably still not as bad as the 2005 disaster, so let's call it 48-3. Realistically I expect the game to be midway between those extremes.