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Nick's 2009 MAC Football Picks - Week #9 Preview & Picks

News & Notes:

• Central Michigan earned his seventh consecutive win of the year and leads the West Division with a 5-0 record. Temple also increased its winning streak to five games and leads the East Division with a 4-0 record.
• Ball State running backs MiQuale Lewis (301 yards rushing) and Cory Sykes (203 yards rushing) became the first tandem in Football Bowl Subdivision history to rush for over 300 and 200 yards from the same team in the same contest.
• Kent State QB Spencer Keith set a career-high with 23 completions for 273 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-11 win at Ohio.
• Bowling Green WR Freddie Barnes collected another 14 catches for 172 yards and one touchdown in a 24-10 loss to Central Michigan.
• Western Michigan QB Tim Hiller threw for 350 yards, the 15 th time in his career, on 34-of-55 passing and two scores in a 34-31 OT win over Buffalo.
• Buffalo RB Ike Nduka tied a career-high with 172 yards on 18 carries and three touchdowns in a 34-31 OT loss at Western Michigan.
• Toledo WR Stephen Williams caught eight passes for 76 yards in a 40-24 loss to Temple. Williams surpassed Lance Moore (2,776 yards, 2001-04) as the school’s all-time receiving yardage leader with 2,784 career yards.
• Ohio WR LaVon Brazill had a team-high five receptions for 84 yards in a 20-11 loss to Kent State.
• NIU’s Chad Spann rushed for a career-high 156 yards on 21 carries and two scores in a 27-22 win at Miami.
• Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour threw for 147 yards on 16-of-22 passing and two scores and rushed for 128 yards on 22 carries in a 24-10 win at Bowling Green. LeFevour accounted for 275 yards of offense.
• Ball State DE Robert Eddins tallied seven tackles, one tackle for loss, and blocked a punt that resulted in a safety in a 29-27 win at Eastern Michigan.
• Buffalo DB Sherrod Lott had a career-high 10 tackles, two tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one pass break up in a 34-31 OT loss at Western Michigan.
• Temple DE Adrian Robinson collected six tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, and one forced fumble in a 40-24 win at Toledo.
• NIU DT Jake Coffman played nose tackle for the first time this season and totaled five tackles, three tackles for loss and two and one-half sacks in a 27-22 win at Miami.
• Ohio S Patrick Tafua totaled five tackles, one tackle for loss, one forced fumble and four pass break ups in a 20-11 loss to Kent State.
• Western Michigan LB Austin Pritchard had 10 tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass break up in 34-31 OT win over Buffalo.
• Toledo S Barry Church added nine tackles, one tackle for loss, and one recovered fumble and blocked a PAT attempt in a 40-24 loss to Temple.
• Bowling Green LB Cody Basler totaled a career-high 12 tackles in a 24-10 loss to Central Michigan.

This Week’s MAC Schedule - Saturday, October 31

• Ohio at Ball State, Noon ET (*All-MACcess)
• Akron at Northern Illinois, Noon ET; (ESPN Plus/ ESPN Game Plan/ ESPN360.com)
• Western Michigan at Kent State, 2:00 p.m. ET (*All-MACcess)
• Toledo at Miami, 3:30 p.m. ET ( Ohio News Network/ ESPN Game Plan/ESPN360.com/*All-MACcess)
• Temple at Navy, 3:30 p.m. ET ( CBS College Sports)
• Central Michigan at Boston College, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
• Eastern Michigan at Arkansas, 7:00 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

Ohio (5-3, 3-1 MAC) at Ball State (1-7, 1-3 MAC)

Saturday, October 31, 2009 • Noon ET • Muncie, Ind. • Scheumann Stadium (22,500); All-MACcess Live Streaming via www.mac-sports.com

Series: Ball State leads, 13-7

Nick’s Pick: Ohio 23 – Ball State 19

Comment: A scary but much needed game for the Bobcats now that they lost to Kent State last week. Ohio leads the nation in forced turnovers (26) and recovered fumbles (14) and ranks third in the conference in total defense (343.4 ypg). The Cardinals rushed for 463 yards, second highest single-game rushing total in Ball State history and eighth most in MAC history.

Akron (1-6, 0-3 MAC) at Northern Illinois (4-3, 2-1 MAC)

Saturday, October 31, 2009 • Noon p.m. ET • DeKalb, Ill. • Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium (24,000); ESPN Game Plan/ ESPN Plus • Announcers: Michael Reghi, Doug Chapman

Series: Series tied, 5-5

Nick’s Pick: NIU 37 – Akron 24

Comment: By starting at wide receiver at Syracuse last week, Andre Jones became just the third player in the nation to start three positions--safety, corner and wide receiver...Freshman Patrick Nicely threw his first career touchdown pass, an 11-yard pass to Andre Jones against Syracuse...LB Brian Wagner ranks tied for 21 st in the nation with 69 tackles--9.8 tackles per game. NIU’s RB Chad Spann ranks seventh in the nation in scoring with 72 points ~ 10.3 ppg...Huskies lead the conference and rank 20th in the nation in rushing offense (196.1 ypg)...Northern Illinois is tied for second in red zone offense (96%) and fourth in red zone defense (65%)...Huskies set a school record last week by allowing -11 yards rushing at Miami.

Temple (5-2, 4-0 MAC) at Navy (6-2, Independent)

Saturday, October 31, 2009 • 3:30 p.m. ET • Annapolis, Md. • Navy-Marine Corps Stadium (34,000); CBS College Sports

Series: Navy leads, 5-4

Nick’s Pick: Temple 27 – Navy 23

Comment: OK Temple fans, we believe – now don’t let us (the MAC) down. Last year Navy overcame a three-TD deficit to steal a victory over the Owls so this game is a payback opportunity for the Cherry & White. For Temple, they rank 15th in the nation in rush defense (97.3 ypg)...RB Bernard Pierce has 766 yards rushing and ranks 14th in the nation with 109.4 rushing yards per game while DE Adrien Robinson ranks tied for eighth in the nation with seven sacks and tied for 12th with three forced fumbles. Last week Navy beat a very solid Wake Forest team 13-10 and did not throw a pass the entire game.

Toledo (4-4, 2-2 MAC) at Miami (0-8, 0-4 MAC)

Saturday, October 31, 2009 • 3:30 p.m. ET • Oxford, Ohio • Yager Stadium (24,286); All-MACcess Live Streaming via www.mac-sports.com

Series: Miami leads, 27-21-1

Nick’s Pick: Toledo 34 – Miami 20 (with Aaron Opelt)

Nick’s Pick: Miami 28 – Toledo 20 (without Aaron Opelt)

Comment: PK, so this is hedging and we’ve never done that in the eleven years we’ve published MAC information. Still a Toledo team with Aaron Opelt is far better than a Rocket team without him. For Miami, Zac Dysert is quickly becoming a star in this league and he is only a redshirt freshman. This may be Miami’s last shot at winning a game in 2009.

Western Michigan (4-4, 3-2 MAC) at Kent State (4-4, 3-1 MAC)

Saturday, October 31, 2009 • 2:00 p.m. ET • Kent, Ohio • Dix Stadium (25,000); All-MACcess Live Streaming via www.mac-sports.com

Series: Western Michigan leads, 32-17-1

Nick’s Pick: Kent State 26 – Western Michigan 24

Comment: This is a gut-feeling pick since KSU has been playing very good football over the past three weeks. Still, they haven’t done well against drop-back passers like Tyler Sheehan (BGSU) or Zac Dysert ( Miami) and Tim Hiller is better than both of those quality players. The Broncos rank 16th in the nation in passing offense (288.1 ypg)...QB Tim Hiller ranks third in the nation in total passing yards (2,254) and 18th in total offense (275.6 ypg)...RB Brandon West ranks second in the nation in all-purpose yards (204.4 ypg). Kent State’s rush defense last week set a school record with minus nine yards rushing at Ohio...Defense also had season-high seven sacks against the Bobcats...RB Jacquise Terry rushed for a career-high 110 yards last week at Ohio...Golden Flashes have won three of their first four MAC games for just the second time since 1986.

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Central Michigan (7-1, 5-0 MAC) at Boston College (5-3, 3-2 ACC)

Saturday, October 31, 2009 • 3:30 p.m. ET • Boston, Mass. • Alumni Stadium (44,500)

ESPNU • Announcers: Todd Harris, Charles Arbuckle

Series: Boston College leads, 2-0

Nick’s Pick: Boston College 27 – Central Michigan 17

Comment: This is a game Central can win and would be a huge feather in the cap for the MAC and CMU program. While BC has had little trouble through the years beating up on MAC teams, we note that this year Central Michigan ranks 18th in the nation in scoring offense (33.1 ppg) and 15th in scoring defense (15.1 ppg)...QB Dan LeFevour ranks 12th in the nation in passing efficiency with a 153.9 rating.

Eastern Michigan (0-7, 0-4 MAC) at Arkansas (3-4, 1-4 SEC)

Saturday, October 31, 2009 • 3:30 p.m. ET • Fayetteville, Ark. • Razorback Stadium (72,000); ESPNU • Announcers: Eric Collins, Brock Huard

Series: First Meeting

Nick’s Pick: Arkansas 49 – Eastern Michigan 7

Comment: Who scheduled this game? Arkansas is +10 in turnover margin this season, compared to -9 last season. Michigan transfer QB Ryan Mallett has passed for over 1,900 yards and 15 TDs this season. Eastern Michigan ranks 24th in the nation in time of possession (31:45). Let’s hope this game is respectable.

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