UNDEFEATEDS

1.) Buffalo has a MAC win, and Temple just knocked of a team who beat BG pretty bad. Army defeating Hawaii also bodes well for strength of schedule later on.
2.)Akron with the P5 scalp! NW beat Purdue so for now this trumps EMU's win.


GOOD MAC TEAMS

3.) EMU played a hard fought road game and is still 2-1
4.) NIU won a MAC game and their SOS is the best so they can be here for a week.
- Toledo has some offense and a competent QB behind a not great line. The defense has some work to do but Miami doesn't play bad football...

COULD TREND EITHER WAY

6.) WMU smoked a very bad team
-Kent State played a good Penn State team that not many MAC teams would hang with
-Ball State lost to an okay Indiana team and their close game with ND trumps Ohio's BYE.
9.) Ohio lost to an okay Virginia team

JUST NOT GOOD

10.) BG eeked one out to EKU
11.) Miami can't hang yall.
12.) CMU is baaaaaaad

I'll take that CMU QB who played in the 2nd half. Kid was making plays all over and single-handedly brought CMU back to life.

CMU could end up noticeably better than that if they keep playing Lazzaro at QB, and if he plays like he did against NIU.

For WMU, our road trip at Georgia State next weekend will be a true litmus test of where we stand. We were too overmatched at UM and, in turn, way above Delaware State.

GSU isn’t that good, but they have a read-option QB, which we royally suck at defending.

(09-16-2018 12:02 PM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  For WMU, our road trip at Georgia State next weekend will be a true litmus test of where we stand. We were too overmatched at UM and, in turn, way above Delaware State.

GSU isn’t that good, but they have a read-option QB, which we royally suck at defending.

10-2 baby! I think we'll smoke GSU

Toledo will be right there. This was essentially our first game of the season after opening with a terrible FCS team and then having a bye week. UT went into a game with an iconic top 25 team (that already had an LSU game and an FCS game) with a new QB and oline. They were the deer in the headlights for the first quarter and a half and UT fell behind 21-0. From the mid second quarter until about 10 minutes to play Toledo outscored the Canes 24-14, QB play was pristine, line held up against one the better front 7s in the country and the defense put Miami into repeated 3rd downs, just couldn't get stops on big plays. Toledo has a solid Nevda team at home next week and then a good Fresno team on the road (each has Pac12 wins). So, we'll grow up fast and be very good against MAC comp come October.

The MAC really needed Toledo with a home game against Miami (ranked but not an elite team) and Ohio playing a mediocre A5 team in Virginia to take care of business last weekend.

I wouldn't read too much into the blowouts like Penn St put on Kent. Alabama destroyed Ole Miss the same way. A5 teams know they need to show up against a MAC schools.

20 years ago often the B1G wouldn't put their foot on the gas against the MAC to be gracious but they've lost too many games to the MAC (even mediocre MAC).

If CMU starts Lazzarro instead of Poljan the rest of the way, they will be in the mix. CMU beats NIU by double digits if he played the whole game.

(09-17-2018 09:07 AM)eich41 Wrote:  If CMU starts Lazzarro instead of Poljan the rest of the way, they will be in the mix. CMU beats NIU by double digits if he played the whole game.

Agreed. I think it was a combination of the defense not having tape on him (so wasnt ready for a solid rpo) and also him just being a baller. He should have been your qb to start the season.

(09-17-2018 09:19 AM)NIUSox10 Wrote:  

(09-17-2018 09:07 AM)eich41 Wrote:  If CMU starts Lazzarro instead of Poljan the rest of the way, they will be in the mix. CMU beats NIU by double digits if he played the whole game.

Agreed. I think it was a combination of the defense not having tape on him (so wasnt ready for a solid rpo) and also him just being a baller. He should have been your qb to start the season.

I'm not anticipating him operating at the same pace that he did Saturday in his 4 drives, but he's clearly needs to be the QB going forward. Anyone who saw the difference on offense once he came in would not be sticking CMU at the bottom of these rankings. It's not just that Poljan isn't a good QB, it's that the playbook is so limited and there's so little passing threat that defenses can just stack the box and the offense can't move the ball at all. That left CMU's defense (which is actually quite solid) getting gassed and giving up points after spending too much time on the field in the first 2.5+ games. It should also be noted that Kentucky is probably a top 25 team, and Kansas appears to be better than most thought after waxing Rutgers (I know it's Rutgers, but who thought Kansas would beat anyone by 41?).

If Poljan remains the starter for some reason the rest of the way, that ranking is probably justified. If the switch is made to Lazzarro, CMU will be right in the mix with everyone else in the MAC.

I think CMU could experience what Miami did with Ragland a couple years ago. They started with whoever, then when Ragland came in they finished 6-7 after starting 0-6 I believe. Lazzaro helped the offense and defense because CMU was actually moving the ball with him. Our defense is probably one of the best in the MAC if we had a competent QB. The defense was getting tired because the offense could not move the ball. That changed as soon as Lazzaro came in.

(09-17-2018 11:42 AM)george14 Wrote:  I think CMU could experience what Miami did with Ragland a couple years ago. They started with whoever, then when Ragland came in they finished 6-7 after starting 0-6 I believe. Lazzaro helped the offense and defense because CMU was actually moving the ball with him. Our defense is probably one of the best in the MAC if we had a competent QB. The defense was getting tired because the offense could not move the ball. That changed as soon as Lazzaro came in.

That's high praise Mr Chip... NIU and EMU have some pretty good defenses....

(09-17-2018 11:53 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(09-17-2018 11:42 AM)george14 Wrote:  I think CMU could experience what Miami did with Ragland a couple years ago. They started with whoever, then when Ragland came in they finished 6-7 after starting 0-6 I believe. Lazzaro helped the offense and defense because CMU was actually moving the ball with him. Our defense is probably one of the best in the MAC if we had a competent QB. The defense was getting tired because the offense could not move the ball. That changed as soon as Lazzaro came in.

That's high praise Mr Chip... NIU and EMU have some pretty good defenses....

I'm not saying we will finish with a good record. Having watched every game, I can say the team was substantially better with Lazzaro at QB than Poljan.

In 10 quarters of football, CMU mustered up 23 total points on offense under Poljan. With Lazzaro playing less than 2 quarters, we have scored 13 points. Our offense was completely stagnant against NIU then we nearly tied the game after being down 21-3. Woulda, coulda, shoulda, but if we start Lazzaro I'm sure we win that game. We will see how he performs moving forward.

Lazzaro was like night and day vs. Poljan. If he plays like that going forward, CMU will be tough.

I have, as of now:

Toledo
Akron
Buffalo
Eastern Michigan
Ohio
Northern Illinois
Kent St
Ball St
Western Michigan
Bowling Green St
Miami of Ohio
Central Michigan

----I think Miami and CMU should be flipped, but the loss to NIU hurt.
----I think Akron's showing their MACC appearance last year wasn't a fluke.
---Ohio, who I had ranked 2nd last week, dropped to 4th.
---I still don't have a good grasp on WMU, BGSU, and BSU