MAC Lays a Big Egg During Bowl Season

What started out as a wonderful way to complete one of the MAC’s best football seasons in its sixty-year history turned into a fruitless campaign that left the MAC as the only conference without a bowl victory. For years the MAC office and MAC fans have screamed for more bowl opportunities. How many times in the past have MAC teams with records like 10-1, 9-2 or 8-3 stayed at home while 6-5 BCS teams have had post season opportunities? This year everything fell into place for five conference teams to receive post season bids. This was just the second time in league history for that to occur, only for these teams to fail to deliver.

This year the MAC had a 12-0 team ( Ball State) that ranked as high as #12 in the BCS rankings only for them to lose the MAC Championship game and then get blown out by 32-points to the Conference USA runner-up. A sold out Motor City Bowl and a chance to play Notre Dame was also lost on Buffalo’s 42-24 triumph over Ball State in that MACC clash. That seemed to be the beginning of the end of what once was a promising season to remember.

Forgotten now are the four victories over Big Ten teams, two victories over the Big East and additional wins over teams from C-USA, Mountain West, Army, Navy, WAC & Sun Belt during the regular season. At the end of the bowl season, you could make a claim that the MAC was the worst Division IA conference in the country. Sad - but maybe true after this past bowl puke fest.

Here is a closer look at the five debacles of the 2008-2009 MAC bowl season; try not to cry.

Motor City Bowl; Detroit MI; December 26, 2008

Florida Atlantic 24 – Central Michigan 21

What Happened:

FAU began playing IA football in 2001 and recorded their second bowl victory in their short eight-year football history over two-time MAC champ Central Michigan. CMU was playing a virtual home game in Detroit. Rusty Smith threw for 307 yards and two second-half touchdowns. In what amounted to a game-changing play with Central Michigan trailing 17-13 late in the third quarter, Antonio Brown sprang loose for what would have been a 72-yard touchdown run but a facemask penalty negated the TD. The Chippewas were forced to punt a few plays later and did not score again until three-minutes remaining in the contest.

After Thoughts:

FAU’s coach Howard Schnellenberger continued his streak of never losing a bowl game. During his illustrious career he has coached Miami (FL), Louisville, Oklahoma and now FAU to bowl victories. The Owls began the season 1-5 but won five of their final six to become bowl-eligible. Central was playing their third straight MCB. The MAC had never lost before to a Sun Belt team in a bowl game. Attendance was just 41,399; the smallest turnout in the game’s 12-year history.

Independence Bowl; Shreveport LA; December 28, 2008

La Tech 17 – NIU 10

What Happened:

La Tech DB Weldon Brown had the game of his life making plays all over the field earning the game’s defensive MVP award. Phillip Livas returned a kickoff 97 yards and Daniel Porter rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown. Much of the scoring and all the big plays came in the first half. Northern Illinois dominated the first quarter with 125 total yards to 23 for Tech. NIU had a chance to tie the game just before halftime, but Brown hit QB Chandler Harnish as he threw toward the end zone, leading to an interception. Porter had his string of 100-yard rushing games snapped at four. NIU held a 339-236 advantage in total offense but the big plays on special teams and the turnovers (3 for NIU and just 1 for Tech) was the difference.

After Thoughts:

Louisiana Tech scored its first postseason win since the 1977 Independence Bowl with its seventh come-from-behind win of the season. The Bulldogs hadn’t won eight games since 1999. Livas’ kickoff TD was the eighth non-offensive touchdown of the season for the Bulldogs moving them into a tie for the most in major college football.

Texas Bowl; Houston TX; December 30, 2008

Rice 38 – Western Michigan 14

What Happened:

Chase Clement threw three touchdown passes, ran for a score and caught a TD pass to lead the Owls at Reliant Stadium, home of the Houston Texans. Clement went 30-for-44 for 307 yards and was the game’s Most Valuable Player. Dillard caught his nation-leading 20th touchdown of the season and finished his Rice career with 60 career TD catches, an NCAA record by 10. The Broncos had just 90 yards of offense and six first downs in the first half. Rice led 38-0 before Western scored two TDs late in the 4 th quarter. The Owls held a 455-278 edge in total offense.

After Thoughts:

Rice won a bowl game for the first time since the 1954 Cotton Bowl and reached 10 victories for the first time since 1949. The performance by Rice’s defense may have been just as remarkable as their offense. The Owls were giving up 467 yards and 35 points per game but shut out the high-scoring Broncos for more than three quarters. Western Michigan, ranked 24th in total offense coming in, went 3-for-14 on third downs. The Broncos (9-4) dropped to 0-4 in bowls and missed their chance for their first 10-win season.

International Bowl; Toronto Canada; January 3, 2009

UConn 38 – Buffalo 20

What Happened:

Donald Brown, the nation’s leading rusher, ran all over UB. Brown rushed for 261 yards and a TD becoming just the 14 th D-IA player to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season. UConn lost five of six 1 st half fumbles, which resulted in all 20-points for the Bulls. But UB only led 20-17 at the half. Late in the game trailing 31-20, UC’s Dahna Deleston intercepted Drew Willy’s pass in the end zone and then raced 100 yards for their final TD to ice the game. UConn held a commanding 407-237 edge in total offense.

After Thoughts:

The Huskies defense—ranked 10th in the nation in yards allowed—played to its stout reputation, containing a Bulls offense that had produced a school-record 404 points. UConn limited Buffalo to those 237 yards of total offense and just 10 first downs. UConn had only 49-yards passing but their 358 on the ground was the difference in the game. The Big East now leads the MAC 3-0 in the International Bowl.

GMAC Bowl; Mobile AL; January 6, 2009

Tulsa 45 - Ball State 13

What Happened:

Tulsa dominated the MAC west champs with 632 total yards which included 439 on the ground. Equally impressive was Tulsa’s domination on defense holding Ball State’s offense without a first down or a pass completion for the entire second half. In fact, Ball State could only muster up 22-total yards during that second half demolition. The Cardinals were once again plagued by turnovers, just like they were against Buffalo in the MAC Championship game a month earlier.

After Thoughts:

For the second straight season Tulsa has slapped around a MAC foe. Last year the Golden Hurricane beat Bowling Green 63-7, the largest margin of victory of any bowl-game in history only to beat up on the nationally ranked Cardinals this season. In two years Tulsa has beaten MAC teams by a combined score of 108-20. After winning their first five contests by a total of 96-points against Conference USA in the GMAC Bowl, the MAC has dropped three straight by a total margin of 109 points. Ball State fell to 0-5 in bowl games after a school record 12-0 regular season.

2009 Conference Bowl Records

ACC 4-6
Big 12 4-2
Big East 4-2
Big Ten 1-6
Conference USA 4-2
Independents (FBS) 1-1
Mid-American 0-5
Mountain West 3-2
Pacific-10 5-0
SEC 5-2
Sun Belt 1-1
Western Athletic 1-4

***Note: The Sun Belt and WAC’s lone victories were over MAC teams***

January 10, 2009
By Nick Gerogosian