2009 SD Football Preview: MAC

Written by Ian | 23 July 2009

Over the past few years MAC schools have put some scares into some teams and came away with a few strong victories.  Take Bowling Green's opening week win against a then-ranked #25 Pittsburgh team for example.  The 27-17 victory on the road shows teams from bigger conferences that they better not overlook the little MACers.

League play this year should be pretty wide open as many MAC teams return a lot of veteran players.  Although veterans of MAC play don't mean alot lined up against SEC and Big Ten schools, within conference some grizzled starters will make for some interesting matchups. 

Northern Illinois and Western Michigan don't have a lot going on the scoring side of the ball but both teams get back all 11 defensive starters.  Things could get very interesting this year if some players have put some time in during the offseason for several MAC teams.  On to the predicitions!

Players to watch:
Quarterbacks Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan and Nate Davis of Ball State will look to excite crowds and put points on the board for their respective teams.  Both young men are legitimate pro prospects and could solidify their draft stock with solid years.

On the defensive side of the ball strong safety Barry Church of Toledo and Londen Fryar of Western Michigan will cause opposing quarterbacks to lose some sleep.  While Church had only one pick last year he contributed huge in the tackle column.  Church had 93 tackles (that says something about Toledo's front 7 eh?) with 57 coming solo and 5.5 of them being for a loss.  Fryar is no slouch either with 1 pick, 6 passes broken up, and 42 tackles on the season.  I'll take 40+ tackles from my corners any day.

Newcomers:
Look for freshman QB Kelly Page to captain Ball State to several big wins this year in conference play.  While Page has had some injury issues his leadership skills have been praised at the high school level and that is something an incoming freshman needs to succeed at the next level.

Circling the Drain: 
Look for Miami to have a tough year.  They start off with the football Cats from Kentucky and barring a sneak-up win in the first week that game could set the tone for the year.  Miami has a lot of tough games on the road that are nearly certain L's and home games against Cincinnati, Toledo, and Bowling Green don't look to help the record.

Predicted Finish:
Look for Temple to turn around nearly 125 years of bad football and challenge for the MAC crown.  Next to them at the top of the heap will be Buffalo, Ball State, and a host of directional Michigan teams (c'mon, you've got a 50% chance of one of them winning) challenging out of the West.

In case you missed them check out Bru's Mountain West preview and Grubb's WAC preview.