Undying Love for the MAC

I am looking forward to Friday morning's (11AM kickoff) Temple-Ohio match-up in lovely Athens, Ohio. There, I said it. With a lot riding on it, the contest should be a spirited one. The winner of the game earns the the MAC East Division title and a ticket to Detroit for the conference championship game against Central Michigan, who clinched the West title last week, on 12/4.

Temple (7-0, 9-2) enters the game riding a nine-game win streak, the longest in school history, that began in September after the Owls opened the season 0-2 in the state of Pennsylvania (losses to Villanova and Penn State). Coach Al Golden has done a good enough job rebuilding a perennial loser program that this may be his last MAC regular season game. Frosh RB Bernard Pierce has been a revelation for the Temple offense, rushing for 1,308y and 15 TDs. He left last week's 47-13 rout of Kent State with a minor injury but is expected to play Friday. His backup and fellow freshman Matt Brown came in to rush for 156y and 2 TDs so the Owls run game seems fine for not only Friday but years to come (the line is young too). The Cherry and White also feature an experience defense, currently ranked 18th nationally in both run D at 103y per game average and sacks at 2.73 per game, and an explosive return game that features WR Delano Green. Green has returned punts for TDs in each of the past two games. The caveat with the team's streak of good play is that they did not have to face the three other good teams in the conference, Ohio, Northern Illinois and Central Michigan. They did beat Navy on the road a week before the Midshipmen beat Notre Dame. In becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 1979 (remember the Garden State Bowl?) the Owls are a great story this season, but they have a lot of work still to be done.

Rebounding from last season's 4-8 mark, the Ohio Bobcats (6-1, 8-3) are also a feel-good MAC story. Under coach Frank Solich, whose 58-19 record while at Nebraska does not look too bad these days, the Bobcats enter the game having won six of their last seven games, although they remained alive in the East race due to down-to-the-wire wins in their last three games. On Halloween, Ohio needed a 7y TD pass from senior QB Theo Scott (pictured) to WR Terrence McCrae with 3:11 left to beat Ball State 20-17. Then on November 10, Ohio outlasted Buffalo 27-24 as K Matt Weller booted the winning 47y FG with 1:25 remaining. Last week the Bobcats held off Northern Illinois 38-31, needing a 41y INT TD RET from CB Julian Posey with 1:39 to clinch matters. Scott, having thrown for 1,796y and 16 TDs, paces the offense, while LB Noah Keller leads the defense with 109 tackles. The suddenly cardiac Bobcats may need more late heroics to hold off the Owls this week.