Over The Pylon

This week we continue the format of questions posed to the MAC Blog collective by one of our members, responded to accordingly on each individual site, and then recapped on Friday by the host. This week’s hosting duties fall to Let’s Go Rockets, the Toledo themed site. This week we cover the games we were looking forward to, Pierce at Temple, the impact of injuries, and our realignment plan. Ready… set… ROUNDTABLE!

1) There are several mid week MAC games this week, with only one game being played on Saturday. Which game are you most looking forward to watching or has the most interesting matchup? OU @ Buffalo (Tuesday). Toledo @ CMU (Wednesday). BGSU @ Miami (Thursday). Ball State @ NIU ( Thursday). Temple @ Akron (Friday). WMU @ EMU (Saturday).
I was looking forward to the BSU-NIU game because I thought it would be close (it was) and I thought we would pull it out (we didn’t). Since that went down the pisser, I was also looking forward to Toledo-CMU. I thought it would be close (it wasn’t) and I thought Toledo may pull a shocker (they most certainly didn’t). This MAC season hasn’t been nearly as upset heavy as I remember… and that makes me sad.

2) Bernard Pierce of Temple is only a Freshmen yet is the only one in the conference with over 1,000 yards rushing to date (1,211) good for 3rd in the nation. He has found the end zone 14 times already and has not yet fumbled or turned the ball over. Does Pierce have an amazing offense line or should we expect this from him for 2-3 more years?
Probably a little of both. I’m not familiar with Temple’s offensive depth chart, but BSU’s Quale Lewis had 1700 yards and 22 TDs. That had some to do with Quale, more to do with his offensive line and the passing attack that the Cardinals brought to the table. As players leave, the entire attack suffers, and it changes the ability of certain components to succeed.

3) This is a sore subject for some teams (IE – Buffalo, Toledo) but discuss the major injuries your team has endured this season and what your projected outcome WOULD HAVE BEEN if everyone was healthy. We expect 100% homerism.
Let’s see… it would be quicker to list the players on the roster who aren’t hurt. That may be faster. Quarterback Kelly Page, tight end Madaris Grant, and receiver Seth White were all offensive starters… all lost for the year. Safety Sean Baker missed one game and had to wear a cast, running back Eric Williams was dinged up for a couple games, and the rest of the team has had minor injuries throughout. Do I think with Page healthy we’d be 10-0 right now? Of course not. But I do think we would have won the last two. His mobility and arm strength bring some major weapons to the table.

4) Outside of the MAC, which other college program(s) most closely mirrors your respective MAC school ? Who’s performance / problems / coaching / etc. is similar?
Injured quarterback, team on the ropes, coach who a large majority of the fanbase is ready to beat the piss out of? I hate to say this but it seems like we’re mimicking the University of Louisville, and my Kentucky fandom nearly vomited for having to make that comparison.

5) If you could reorganize the MAC divisions, how would you see it divided to better promote competition, rivalries, recruiting, etc. ? What groupings would you like to see ? (Can be any number of divisions)
Frankly, we have one too many teams in the MAC. The imbalanced schedule, the odd number of teams, it makes it all a nightmare. For me, I would drop one of the teams in the East, and it seems like either Buffalo or Temple would be the best fit to jump to a larger conference. It’s not that I dislike either team, it’s just that both of them are not geographical great fits, and both simply seem to be biding their time until the Big East comes calling. After one of them leave, then I say we stick with 12. It’s a nice round number.

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