The picture is finally pretty clear as to where most of the MAC teams rank. Here is how I see it:

1) CMU (6-4, 5-0) Undefeated in the MAC and won an exciting game against its rival WMU
2) Miami (5-5, 4-1) The leader of the East had a bye week and will face the Zips in a mid week clash on Wednesday.
3) Ball State (5-4, 3-2) Bye week
4) Toledo (5-5, 3-3) Bye week
5) Buffalo (4-6, 4-2) Bye week
6) Bowling Green (6-4, 4-2) Defeated EMU 39-32
7) Akron (4-6, 3-3) Defeated Ohio 48-37
8)  Temple (3-7, 3-3) Lost to PSU 0-31
9) Ohio (5-6, 3-4) Lost to Akron 37-48
10) EMU (3-7, 2-4) Lost to BGSU 32-39
11) WMU (3-7, 3-4) Lost CMU and the biggest disappointment in the MAC this season
12) NIU (2-8, 1-5) Defeated Kent 27-20, pulls out of the basement with the win
13) Kent (3-7, 1-5) Lost to NIU 20-27, originally picked to win the East by several preseason mags.

My picks for the postseason:
MAC East Champion: Miami
MAC West Champion: CMU-already decided
MAC Champion:Miami 34 CMU 31

GMAC: Miami
Motor City: CMU
International: Ball State

Teams appear to be separating themselves as we continue along conference play. Here is how I see it now.

1) CMU 5-4 LW(3) The Chips continue to play great against other MAC opponents. I still can not figure out how Clemson hung 70 on this team.
2) Ball State 5-4 LW(1) The Cardinals lost to a strong Illinois squad. Ball State features the only other MAC squad above .500.
3) Buffalo 4-5 LW(5) The Bulls are 3-0 in the East after a decisive win over the Zips. The Bulls could go bowling for the first time ever.
4) Miami 4-5 LW(4) The Redhawks fell to Vandy and have their showdown with Buffalo next week. This should be the game of the week for the MAC.
5) Temple 3-5 LW(6) Bye Week
6) Toledo 4-5 LW(10) WOW! The Rockets have been revived! 63 points in three quarters, 70 overall. Dominating!
7) EMU 3-6 LW(9) Impressive win over WMU. I thought EMU was improved but did not believe they would be able to handle WMU. A convincing 19-2 win.
8 ) BG 4-5 LW(2) After getting thumped by Miami, losing to Ohio has to shake the confidence of the Falcon faithful.
9) OU 4-5 LW(12) Big win over BG but still alot of things need to fall right for the Bobcats to get back into the title race.
10) Akron 3-5 LW(7) Personally, I feel disgusted with the loss. I was irritated with the loss to Temple but thought the Zips would bounce back. A decent defense with a shaky offense. The Zips are not championship material this season.
11) WMU 3-6 LW(8) A 17 point loss combined with allowing 255 yards rushing equals big problems. The Broncos are disappointing this season. The team had such a rapid improvement rates the previous two season, this year they took a step back.
12) Kent 3-6 LW(11). The team has some talent but relied heavily on their quarterback. Now that he is injuried the Flashes are going to figure out a way to win.
13) NIU 1-8 LW(13). Not much to say. Anhilated by Toledo.

by Zach Pfeil

The Zips aren’t playing this week (thank goodness), so I feel like it is time to take a break and look back on everything that has happened thus far in Zips football and UA affairs in general. I was inspired by Dr. Proenza’s State of the University address and decided to make one of my own, from the perspective of a UA student and die-hard Zips fan. This post is a bit long, but there’s a lot of stuff to cover so lets get to it.

ZIPS FOOTBALL:

Where to begin? I suppose I should start at the beginning. Pre-season, we all agreed that the defense would have to carry us while the offense learned the ropes. Losing Harvey was a tremendous loss. We had three rookie QBs and nobody had any idea who was better.

At the Army game, Jacq started and played decent, not too bad for his first college start. The Defense came up big as expected and special teams struggled but looked better than last year. We began to realize just how good Jabari is.

Next up was Ohio State. The defense played their asses off, but the offense might as well have not bothered to show up. John Stec looked like Dave Zastudil. That game gave us hope. Was our defense really that good? CJ7 looked like he was the better QB in terms of making things happen, but CJ11 still got to start the next game.

Indiana has a reputation of not losing to MAC teams ever. They just don’t. CJ11 went in and started his transformation into a Derek Anderson clone. He doesn’t run well, and makes stupid mistakes but plays just well enough to keep his job. Then CJ7 came in and showed why he was the main backup until this season. He could move the ball well, and could make defenses think twice about just covering Jabari. The running game started to show signs of life. it was too little too late, however as the defense once again got worn down from being on the field way too long.

Can’t State was next. They outplayed us for three quarters, but Akron came up with the win because of improved special teams play, CJ7 running wild, and a defense that came to play against the MAC’s top offensive weapons. CJ7 looked like he had finally earned his starting role for good. Then John Mackey goes down. It was an injury that would change the season. We lost a tremendous leader on the field and one of our best tacklers ever. Sure, the players replacing him may be more talented, but they are rookies and not leaders. They don’t have Mackey’s drive and will to win, at least not yet.

And so we headed to UConn. This should be a game we can win, right? RIGHT? I mean they were the worst undefeated team in the country, perhaps ever. But things were not meant to be. With Mackey gone, UConn’s QB went crazy on us. CJ7 and CJ11 looked worse than ever, but the offensive play calling regressed to peewee simplicity without adapting to the players on the field. A square peg in a round hole will not win you games. The defense looked tired. UConn rolled over us. We had a chance, but CJ11 screwed up royally before the half. To his credit, he does seem to have learned from his mistake, but at what cost?

Then the road warriors headed to Kalamazoo to face a team that we just don’t win against on the road. It was a hard fought battle that went back and forth all game. CJ11 looked like Peyton Manning on paper, but his performance was not as good as it seemed because it was riddled with mistakes. The defense couldn’t stop WMU at all. Things were looking bleak. We couldn’t score after throwing to Jabari 4 times in the ebdzone instead of running once and trying to punch it in. WMU ran the clock out, but was afraid of our punt returners and opted for a saftey and a free kick. The rest was history. Something that disturbed me was the lack of CJ7, but who was I to complain? We had just won on the most exciting play I can ever remember against a team that we could never beat on the road.

Spirits were high. Maybe we really did have a chance to run the table and go 9-3. Nah. We’re Akron, and that doesn’t happen to us. Temple came here after getting their first taste of victory and was hungry for more. The Zips were tired, but we were at home. We should be able to grind this one out and then rest during the bye week. Yeah, right. CJ11 looked lost out on the field, CJ7 was avoiding the coaches on the sidelines, the defense was so worn out that they just couldn’t do anything after the third quarter, the coaches playcalling stunk and defied logic, and we lost. This game has been picked apart endlessly much to my annoyance. There really wasn’t anything more to be said after the maelstrom of frustration on Sunday. The JD decides to blame the game on the players not executing, instead of seeing what the other teams and everybody in the stands saw with the horrible playcalling. FREAKING PREVENT DEFENSE??? Calling plays that are suited for a running QB when you have a passer behind center? Running up the middle on 3rd and 2? Passes to the flats without blocking? Come on.

JD has a week and a half to fix his problems. If we lose to Buffalo, our season is scrapped. For now, just undo the knots in your panties and calm down. There’s still more football to be played. JD has a history of recognizing his teams problems and tackling them one by one. Let’s hope he can do the same this week.