Week 1 Football Power Rankings
By Matt Sussman
TMD Columnist
(1) Buffalo, 1-0: Win vs. UTEP 23-17 -- There aren't many wins to pick from, therefore defeating a Conference USA bigwig on the road will top the charts. Perhaps since the Bulls turned out to be the Arizona Cardinals of the MAC last year, people are expecting a different champion in a parity-rife league, especially with quarterback Drew Willy owning a diploma. Perhaps sophomore Zach Maynard may take over just fine.
Next week: vs. Pittsburgh
(2) Northern Illinois, 0-1: Loss vs. Wisconsin 28-20 -- I saw this game on the docket last week and thought to myself, "nah." If anybody was going to hang an upset on the Big Ten, it'd be WMU, or maybe Toledo. As it turns out, the Huskies came the closest, although if you turned the game off after three quarters, it certainly wouldn't have looked that way. NIU has a way of never giving up, and after they rolled up two quick touchdowns in the final eight minutes, they even recovered an onside kick with a few minutes remaining, but they couldn't do anything with it.
Next week: vs. Western Illinois
(3) Bowling Green, 1-0: Win vs. Troy 31-14 -- Halfway through BGSU's win over Troy, it looked like a potential letdown. Everything I've heard about Dave Clawson and his playbook (known in Tennessee Volunteers circles pejoratively as "the Clawfense") was the complexity of it, so I imagined a learning curve was to be expected. That learning curve turned out to be, oh, an hour and a half.
Next week: at Missouri
Next week: at Indiana
(5) Central Michigan, 0-1: Loss vs. Arizona 19-6 -- This could have been ugly. The score looks nice, and the CMU website is touting the Chips defense as limiting the Wildcats to just one touchdown, but that also means they kicked four field goals (Arizona missed a fifth). All successful attempts were around the CMU 20-yard line. So if it wasn't for some killer red zone defense, this may have been a blowout. And for those keeping track of Dan LeFevour's scores, tally a mark in the "rushing TD" column.
Next week: at Michigan State
(6) Toledo, 0-1: Loss vs. Purdue 52-31 -- Typical Rockets loss. They score just enough to make their offense look potent, taking attention away from their suspect defense. Hey, they only lost by three possessions! Caught in a game that saw over 1,000 total yards of offense, there was no way UT could keep up the pace of Purdue, which now looks like a displaced arena football fan's new favorite team.
Next week: vs Colorado (Friday)
(7) Kent State, 1-0: Win vs. Coastal Carolina 18-0 -- It's like this every opening week. The conference wins three games, two are legit, and the other one is a romp over a I-AA patsy. Coastal Carolina may be a Big South contender, but it's just whoopty-do as far as gauging the Golden Flashes' talent. Does this mean their defense is good? Is Eugene Jarvis going to steamboat the opposition? Since Giorgio Morgan threw two picks, and he doesn't run, will the team miss Julian Edelman?
Next week: at Boston College
(8) Ohio, 0-1: Loss vs. Connecticut 23-16 -- I've tried in so many video games to intercept an option pitch. But in real life, Ohio quarterback Theo Scott and UConn safety Robert Vaughn (not that one) were able to orchestrate such a play. I am envious. To make matters worse, this play was on second and goal, and UConn turned the drive into a touchdown. Oof.
Next week: at North Texas
(9) Akron, 0-1: Loss vs. Penn State 31-7 -- They lost by the same score that Western Michigan lost to Michigan, and Penn State is, by all metrics available to humans, much better than Michigan. But I don't think this means Akron is as good as WMU; something says Penn State sort of held back in the second half.
Next week: vs. Morgan State
(10) Ball State, 0-1: Loss vs. North Texas 20-10 -- What the heck was this game all about? The Sun Belt is the conference the MAC schedules to collect easy wins at home without cherry picking. UNT is supposed to be no good, but they were good enough for over 500 yards of offense. Maybe Brady Hoke knew what he was leaving when he took the San Diego State job.
Next week: vs. New Hampshire
(11) Temple, 0-1: Loss vs. Villanova 27-24 -- Only three teams lost to FCS opponents, the others being William & Mary over Virginia, and Richmond over Duke. Of those, Temple's last-second loss to Villanova was the least embarassing, given that their crosstown rivals are ranked No. 5 in the FCS poll, and the Owls aren't in a BCS conference. (Well, not anymore, but let's not get into that.) If this Battle of Philadelphia is waged annually, perhaps the winner gets to play a full MAC schedule. That may be most fair.
Next week: Bye... then at Penn State
(12) Eastern Michigan, 0-1: Loss vs. Army 27-14 -- Poor EMU. With new head coach Ron English playing host to new head coach Rich Ellerson, it was Army's triple option (300 yards on the ground, eight through the air) that turned out to be victorious.
Next week: at Northwestern
(13) Miami, 0-1: Loss vs. Kentucky 42-0 -- I was not expecting the worst team in the MAC East to show up this badly against the worst team in the SEC West. Moreover, I refuse to believe Miami is the worst team in the division. For now, I have no choice but to spot them last, based on this game. The RedHawks got 10 first downs, one red zone appearance, no drive over eight plays or 50 yards, and 188 total yards.
Next week: at Boise State
Week 1 Awards
Offense: WR Freddie Barnes, BGSU: 15 receptions, 157 yards, 2 TDs
Defense: DE Monte Simmons, Kent State: 2.5 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles
Special Teams: P Zach Johnson, EMU: 6 punts, 281 yards (long of 60)
