MAC Week 5 Predictions

MAC Week 5 Predicitons

The first month of the season will conclude this coming Saturday, and for the teams in the MAC, all eyes will be focused on winning the division. October provides new opportunities and a fresh start for those that have hobbled out of the gate to start the season. The teams will be looking to win the division and play in the MAC Championship game in December. The first four weeks provided a glimpse of what we can expect from the MAC over the course of the year and it gave the fans a chance to witness some great performances.

As fans of the MAC, we witnessed Northern Illinois defeat Big 10 opponent Iowa in Week 1, Akron take the No. 11 ranked Michigan Wolverines down to the wire in a last second defeat in Ann Arbor and watched the Ohio Bobcats defeat Conference USA opponent Marshall.

Offensive playmakers such as Ball State’s quarterback Keith Wenning, Toledo’s running back David Fluellen, Northern Illinois’ quarterback Jordan Lynch and Ball State’s wide receiver Willie Snead have excelled in the first four weeks of the season. Ball State has an explosive passing attack that ranks 12th in the nation (336 pass yards per game) and looks to be a contender to Northern Illinois in the West division. However, there are a number of other teams in both divisions that have the ability to surprise through October and only time will tell who is standing at the end of the tunnel.

Defensively, the Bowling Green Falcons defense remains first in the conference and in the top half of the nation in points surrendered (37th in nation 19.5 pts.). The Falcons play a very physical style of defense. They attack in both run support and pass coverage. The Falcons have the ability to ride their top-ranked defense into the MAC Championship game, but only time will tell if they are legit.

Week 5 provides some interesting matchups. Here are the predictions for this Saturday.

Joseph Lisi is a MAC writer for www.Rantsports.com, follow him on Twitter @GoForthe2, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

Illinois 48 Miami (OH) 3

Miami (OH) is averaging 89.3 passing yards per game and is averaging 60 rushing yards per game. The RedHawks are 124th in the nation averaging seven points per game. The Redhawks do not have enough offense to keep up in this game.

Northern Illinois 24 Purdue 20

Northern Illinois is very balanced on both sides of the ball and Purdue has struggled this season in run support.

Akron 21 Bowling Green 17

The Akron Zips have been playing very well the last two weeks and were leading last year's game 10-0 at the half before losing 27-10.

Toledo 38 Ball State 35

The Toledo Rockets have won two straight and have been energized with running back David Fluellen's success over the last three games.

NC State 31 Central Michigan 17

The Central Michigan Chippewas have struggled since the injuries to quarterback Cody Kater and running back Zurlon Tipton.

Buffalo 24 UCONN 14

UCONN expended a lot of energy in last week's defeat at home. The Huskies must now travel on the road to face a hungry Buffalo team.

Kent State 28 Western Michigan 14

Kent State star running back Dri Archer is set to return against Western Michigan. The Golden Falshes offense has suffered since his injury, however, Archer should provide a much needed boost this weekend.