NCAA Football

2008 MAC Preview Part II: Key Games, Impact Newcomers, and All-MAC Picks

In the final part of The Red Zone Report’s 2008 Mid-American Conference preview, I take a look at some of the key games that lie ahead in 2008, who some of the impact newcomers could be, and I also give my preseason all-conference picks.

Key Games

Last season, Miami inflicted a 47-14 whipping on Bowling Green on October 13th in Oxford, and that ultimately made the difference in the MAC East title race. This year, the two contenders meet in Bowling Green on October 18th, and the Falcons will be looking to exact a little bit of revenge on the RedHawks.

Buffalo and Temple both have the returning talent to make a run in the East, and whoever comes out on top in their MAC opener at UB on September 13th will get their title charge off on the right foot.

Last year’s Central vs. Western game was a 34-31 thriller that saw the teams combine for 48 points in a wild fourth quarter. The Chippewas were up 10-7 heading into the fourth, and were ahead 27-17 with 3:53 to play, but the Broncos battled back for two touchdowns in a little over half a minute to take a 31-27 lead with 1:34 to play.

But, Dan LeFevour led CMU 65 yards down the field and scored the winning touchdown with 12 seconds left to take the win in Kalamazoo. This year’s game in Mount Pleasant (Oct. 18) will play a pivotal part in the MAC West race, with Western ready to make a title challenge and Central primed for a three-peat.

If the Chippewas can pass that test and their others, their Nov. 19 home matchup with Ball State could be for all the marbles, but CMU still has to finish up at Eastern Michigan on the final weekend of the regular season, and after letting last year’s game slip away in the fourth (a 48-45 loss in Mount Pleasant), they won’t be looking ahead to the MAC title game even if they’ve already clinched a berth.

There are a lot of intriguing non-conference matchups involving MAC schools. Central Michigan will visit Georgia on September 6, and they could be facing the nation’s #1 team when they make the trip to Athens. In an article earlier this month, I talked about CMU being a potential BCS buster, and that’ll be a key game for them to show the nation what they’re made of and that they can play with - and beat - the best

That same article also mentioned Boise State as a potential BCS buster, but Bowling Green could pop their bubble if they can win on the blue turf on September 13th.

Western Michigan opens their season with a tough assignment, as they pay a visit to Nebraska on August 30th to kickstart the Bo Pelini era in Lincoln. The Broncos also take on Illinois on November 8th, and if they’re riding high on confidence, they could, shall I say, put the squeeze on Juice Williams and the Illini.

Impact Newcomers

Akron got a trio of transfers from major-conference programs who could help them out a lot in 2008, in defensive lineman Ryan Bain (Iowa), receiver Jeremy Bruce (West Virginia), and running back Andrew Johnson, who transferred from Miami (FL). With the receiving corps taking a huge hit with the graduation of Jabari Arthur, not only could Bruce be a major factor in 2008, but so could four-star recruit Deryn Bowser, who’s got terrific size at 6′3, 215 pounds.

Miami lost the majority of its ground production, but incoming freshman Daniel Green (a three-star recruit and the #96 RB in the country on Scout.com) could get some carries early on.

At Ohio, Theo Scott took over for Brad Bower as the starting quarterback late last season, and would appear to have an edge for the starting job this season, but four-star recruit Boo Jackson came in and impressed during the spring. Jackson should see at least some playing time this season, and if Scott struggles, the California JC product could have a chance to break into the starting lineup.

2008 Preseason All-MAC Team

Offense

QB: Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan
RB: Eugene Jarvis, Kent State
RB: James Starks, Buffalo
WR: Dante Love, Ball State
WR: Stephen Williams, Toledo
TE: Darius Hill, TE, Ball State
OL: Andrew Hartline, Central Michigan
OL: Robert Brewster, Ball State
OL: Jeff Niedermier, Buffalo
OL: Dave DiFranco, Miami
OL: Colin Miller, Central Michigan

Defense

DL: Brandon Crawford, Ball State
DL: Larry English, Northern Illinois
DL: Andre Neblett, Temple
DL: Casey Droscha, Central Michigan
LB: Bryant Haines, Ball State
LB: Daniel Holtzclaw, Eastern Michigan
LB: Clayton Mullins, Miami
DB: Londen Fryar, Western Michigan
DB: B.J. Hill, Ball State
DB: Davonte Shannon, Buffalo
DB: Barry Church, Toledo

Kicker: Alex Steigerwald, Toledo
Punter: Chris Miller, Ball State
Return Specialist: Antonio Brown, Central Michigan
All-Purpose: Brandon West, Western Michigan

Player of the Year: Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan
Offensive Player of the Year: Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan
Defensive Player of the Year: Larry English, Northern Illinois
Freshman/Newcomer of the Year: Ryan Bain, Akron
Coach of the Year: Bill Cubit, Western Michigan

To check out the rest of The Red Zone Report’s 2008 MAC preview, all of the links are below.

2008 MAC Preview: Part I
2008 MAC East Preview
2008 MAC West Preview

Player/Team Feature: Eugene Jarvis, Kent State
Player Feature: Dan LeFevour and Nate Davis
Team Feature: Buffalo

Get 2008 MAC football tickets at TicketCity!

Related posts on The Red Zone Report

• 2008 MAC West Preview: Three-peat for CMU, or will there be a new champ? (0)
• 2008 MAC Preview Part I: Can Chippewas three-peat in crowded conference? (0)
• Buffalo has the talent to make a charge at MAC glory in 2008 (3)
• Which non-BCS teams could crash the BCS party in 2008? (1)
• Tebow tops list of the country’s top 20 dual-threat quarterbacks (8)

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