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Nick's 2007 MAC Football Picks - Week #4 Recap

This past weekend of MAC action saw one near monumental upset. Ball State nearly pulled off a major shocker against Nebraska as a three touchdown underdog. The Cardinals outplayed the Cornhuskers and held a nine-point lead in the 4th quarter before slipping 41-40. On their final drive, BSU had a potential TD reception dropped and then missed a 55-yard FG attempt. Still, congratulations go out to Coach Brady Hoke and his staff for taking on a national power and fighting till the end with a chance to win for the second year in a row. Ball State lost at Michigan last year 34-26. BSU did finish with an astounding 610-yards of total offense to 552 for Nebraska. By the way, this publication picked Nebraska to win 42-33 so we knew all along just how good BSU is this season and how close they would play NU.

In other MAC action, Western Michigan and Toledo got their first wins of the season against Central Connecticut and Iowa State respectively. CCSU was no match for the Broncos while host Toledo had a wild final five minutes that had the Rockets go from a 35-24 deficit to a 36-35 improbable win over the Cyclones. UT’s touchdowns were on a kickoff return and a fumbled punt in the end zone. ISU has now lost two games this season to MAC foes.

NIU also received their first win of the season with a solid 42-35 victory at Idaho. The Vandals made a terrific comeback attempt after training 42-21 in the 4th period but the Huskies held on for the road win. Eastern Michigan beat I-AA Howard at home having little trouble with the Bison.

Within the MAC, Kent State totally outplayed host Akron in the first half but went into intermission tied at 7. Akron gained the upper hand in the second half and held off a late rally by KSU to earn a key MAC East divisional win 27-20. BGSU and Temple were tied at 21 apiece going in the half but the host Falcons roared ahead and won 48-35 for another MAC East game.

Another close call for the MAC that would have been a nice win was Ohio losing at home to Wyoming 34-33. The Bobcats were ahead 23-6 in the 3rd quarter before the Cowboys stormed back and scored 28-points to steal a road win. Buffalo hosted Baylor of the Big 12 and played well but still lost 34-21.

And now – the MAC “lowlights.” For the second straight week Miami was mauled, this time on the road at Colorado 42-0. A bigger “Ugh” was Central Michigan losing at home to I-AA North Dakota State 44-14. Now this publication tried warning everyone that this NDSU team was rock solid, but not even we saw the ‘Chips getting dusted like this at home. Seeing our defending MAC champ getting slapped around makes us wonder one thing – can we add North Dakota State to the MAC next season? Certainly this program would be a major player right away in the west division. C’mon Rick Chryst, get on the horn to their administrators and begin the paperwork.

Until next week – enjoy yourself!

Ball State @ Nebraska

Nick’s Pick: Nebraska 42 – Ball State 33

Actual Score: Nebraska 41 - Ball State 40

Temple @ Bowling Green  

Nick’s Pick: BGSU 35 – Temple 20

Actual Score: BGSU 48 - Temple 35

Kent State @ Akron

Nick’s Pick: Kent State 34 – Akron 28

Actual Score: Akron 27 - Kent State 20

Wyoming @ Ohio

Nick’s Pick: Ohio 20 – Wyoming 16

Actual Score: Wyoming 34 - Ohio 33

Howard @ Eastern Michigan

Nick’s Pick: EMU 30 – Howard 14

Actual Score: EMU 38 - Howard 15

Central Michigan vs. North Dakota State

Nick’s Pick: Central Michigan 35 – NDSU 30

Actual Score: North Dakota State 44 - Central Michigan 14

Miami @ Colorado  

Nick’s Pick: Colorado 27 – Miami 17

Actual Score: Colorado 42 - Miami 0

Northern Illinois @ Idaho

Nick’s Pick: NIU 24 - Idaho 20

Actual Score: NIU 42 - Idaho 35

Baylor @ Buffalo

Nick’s Pick: Buffalo 23 – Baylor 21

Actual Score: Baylor 34 - Buffalo 21

Ranking the MAC Teams after Week #4

1. BGSU - Week off did not hurt the offense

2. Ball State - Made the MAC proud in Lincoln

3. Ohio - Should have won at home vs. Mt West foe

4. Akron - Defense keeps this team in games

5. Kent State - Too many turnovers, could be undefeated if they held on the to the ball

6. Eastern Michigan - Genyk is quietly getting this team/program to believe

7. NIU - Needed to leave DeKalb after two tough losses, nice win in Idaho

8. Central Michigan - What happened? 44-14 to NDSU? Yuk!

9. Buffalo - Still a few players away but making noticeable strides

10. Western Michigan - Beat up a very low level team; we’ll see what they have this weekend

11. Toledo - Win over ISU may be the kick start the Rockets have needed

12. Miami - Two straight clunkers in a row, are there more to come this year?

13. Temple - At times the Owls look pretty good, at other times they certainly don’t

by Nick Gerogosian

published 09.24.2007

Nick's 2007 MAC Football Picks & Recaps

• MAC Football Week #4 - Recap
• MAC Football Week #4 - Picks
• MAC Football Week #3 - Recap
• MAC Football Week #3 - Picks
• MAC Football Week #2 - Recap
• MAC Football Week #2 - Picks
• MAC Football Week #1 - Recap
• MAC Football Week #1 - Picks

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