2008 saw the completion to one of the biggest turnarounds in
recent college football history, with Turner Gill leading the Buffalo Bulls
from the dregs of college football to the top of the Mid-American Conference.
The Bulls knocked off BallState in the conference
championship game, earning a trip to the International Bowl. They may have lost
that game and starting quarterback Drew Willy (graduation), but most
importantly they did not lose Coach Gill.
Despite a few interview opportunities he’ll be right back on
the sidelines, hoping that players such as WR Naaman Roosevelt and RB Brandon Thermilus (James Starks will likely miss the entire season due to a torn labrum in his shoulder) can lead
the Bulls to another title. Zack Maynard takes over for Willy under center, and
while he’s got many options to go to with the football he’ll also have to deal
with three new starters on the offensive line. Defensively, look for the Bulls
to be one of the conference’s stronger units with nine starters returning. The
key for Buffalo:
avoiding a “hangover” following a season of success the likes of which hadn’t
been seen at UB for a very long time.
Their biggest challenger in the East could very well be Temple, another program
looking to drag itself up from the bottom of college football. Al Golden’s team
went 5-7 in his first year in Philadelphia,
but they did win four league games. Adam DiMichele has graduated, but the Owls
do have quarterbacks with starting experience in Vaughn Charlton and Chester
Stewart. Outside of quarterback the Owls are a solid football team featuring a
number of young yet talented options on both sided of the football. Far more
competitive than people expected them to be last season, Temple has the talent to challenge the Bulls
and possibly win the conference.
Ohio, Akron
and Bowling Green
could slot in behind those two in any given order, but good luck figuring out
which of the three would have the best chance to shove their way into the top
two. Ohio
will always run the ball and play sound football under Frank Solich, but the
growth of the passing game will determine whether or not the Bobcats can win
the division. JD Brookhart’s Akron Zips return nine starters on offense with QB
Chris Jacquemain leading the way. But in order for Akron to put together their first winning
season since 2005 a defense that finished tenth in the MAC in total defense
must improve.
Bowling Green welcomes a new
head coach in Dave Clawson, who was extremely successful at Richmond
before taking over as offensive coordinator at Tennessee in 2008. He will have some
dependable options on offense in QB Tyler Sheehan and WR Freddie Barnes to work
with, but there will be some work to do defensively. A unit that ranked second
in the conference in total defense returns just three starters and have to replace
all-conference DE Diyral Briggs.
KentState is another team to
keep an eye on, with the Golden Flashes returning fifteen starters, led by the
diminutive yet productive RB Eugene Jarvis. Jarvis rushed for just over eight
hundred yards in 2008, missing three games due to injury. His health becomes
even more important due to the graduation of QB Julian Edelman. Four starters
are back on the offensive line, and the defense returns starters at all three
levels. The wildcard in regards to their contention for a division crown will
be the play of sophomore QB Giorgio Morgan; if he can play mistake-free
football the Golden Flashes have a chance to earn their first winning season
since 2001.
Miami of Ohio also has a new head coach in Mike Haywood, and
he’ll have quite the rebuilding job to do in Oxford. The Redhawks have a proud football
history but they’ve finished 2-10 in two of the last three seasons. Senior
Daniel Raudabaugh returns to lead the offense, and that unit ranked ahead of
only Temple in
total offense. The Redhawks weren’t much better defensively, ranking ninth in
the conference in total defense. Just five starters return to that unit, led by
three returnees in the secondary.
In the West, it’ll most likely be a two-horse race between
Central Michigan and Western Michigan. The
Chippewas return the conference’s best quarterback in Dan LeFevour, and head
coach Butch Jones also has receivers Kito Poblah, Bryan Anderson and Antonio
Brown back in the fold. But the Chips have just one starter back on the
offensive line, and the fact that they have ten starters back on defense is
undermined by the fact that CMU was dead last in the conference in total
defense last season. If the defense can round into shape they’ve got a chance
to get through a tough early-season schedule and get back to the top of the
MAC.
As for the Broncos, they’ve got some holes to fill
defensively but the offense is in good hands thanks to the return of all five
starters on the offensive line and QB Tim Hiller. Hiller threw for 286.5 yards
per game in 2008, tops in the conference by thirty yards per game. Brandon West
will be back for one more run as well, hoping to improve upon numbers that
ranked him sixth in the conference in rushing yards a season ago. The Broncos
were fourth in the MAC in total offense but just eighth in total defense. That
number has to improve if they’re to win the conference this season.
Northern Illinois was the
worst offensive team in the conference yet still reached a bowl game in the
first season under Jerry Kill due to a defense that finished tops in the
conference by nearly fifty yards per game. Defensive end Larry English is now
in the NFL and just four starters return on defense, but things may be looking
up for the offense. QB Chandler Harnish started ten games as a freshman and is
one of seven starters back on that side of the football. If the NIU offense can
make some strides they’ll be in the running for third place in the West.
Toledo, Ball State and Eastern Michigan all welcome new head
coaches in 2009, with the Rockets having the best chance of finishing in the
top half the of the division. New head coach Tim Beckman takes over a team that
returns sixteen starters, including QB Aaron Opelt and running backs Morgan
Williams and DaJuane Collins. Growing pains could be more plentiful for BallState’s
Stan Parrish and Eastern Michigan’s Ron
English. The Cardinals have just four starters back on an offense that led the
MAC in total offense a season ago. The load will become heavier for RB MiQuale Lewis
with the loss of QB Nate Davis and four starters on the offensive line.
As for EMU the program has won four games in a season three
times this decade. That’s the high-water mark for the perennial MAC doormat,
something the former defensive coordinator at Louisville hopes to change. Seventeen
starters return to Ypsilanti,
including nine to an offense that ranked third in the MAC last season. But no
matter how many yards Andy Schmitt threw for the Eagles struggled to win games
due to a porous defense. Schmitt did lead the Eagles to an upset win over the
Chippewas in the season finale, throwing for 516 yards and five touchdowns in
the 56-52 stunner. In the final two games of the season Schmitt attempted 76
(Temple) and 80 (CMU) passes; if he has to do that this year the Eagles will
more than likely fail to surpass their three-win total of 2008.
As for who wins the MAC title look for Central
Michigan’s defense to show signs of improvement, winning the
conference provided LeFevour stay healthy. If not, the door opens for either Buffalo or Western Michigan
to grab the title. But rest assured it will be another season of wild games and
surprising results in the Mid-American Conference.
Storyline: Offense
vs. defense. The Bulls are pretty solid on both sides of the football, but the
other major contenders need to make improvements on either the offensive (Temple) or defensive
(CMU, WMU) side of the football.
Players of the Year: QB
Tim Hiller (Western Michigan) and LB Nick Bellore (Central
Michigan)
College sports has always been a source of excitement for Raphielle Johnson, be it through watching, writing, or taking a shot in the dark and walking onto a college football team just to live the life (Arizona Football, 2001). Raphielle is the assistant editor, providing his own work in addition to helping out with the site operations. When not writing for CHN, you can usually find him in front of a television set watching one of many pay-per-view sports packages that he owns. He can be followed at twitter.com/raphiellej.
