For three years Miami of Ohio quarterback Ben Roethlisberger passed and ran roughshod over the Mid-American Conference. He will now try to do the same to the National Football League.
Roethlisberger announced his intentions to go pro after the RedHawks' 49-28 thrashing of Louisville in the GMAC Bowl on Dec. 18. Roethlisberger said he told his team of his decision before the game. He then proceeded to hit 21 of 33 passes for 376 yards and four first-half touchdowns during the contest.
A third-team All-American, he joined former Marshall quarterbacks and current NFL starters Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich at the top of the league's total offense list, topping 11,000 career yards. Roethlisberger also set MAC single-season records with 4,486 passing yards on 342 completions.
The junior will be passing up his fourth and final year of eligibility. By most accounts, he is likely to be selected in the top 10 of the NFL draft in April. Draft expert Mel Kiper has Roethlisberger listed with Ole Miss signal-caller Eli Manning as among the top draft-eligible quarterbacks in the nation, giving him the chance to be the highest MAC player ever to be selected in the draft. Leftwich was selected seventh overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2003 draft.
Banner year for MAC
An incredibly successful football season for the MAC was capped off by two bowl victories. Miami's GMAC win and Bowling Green's 28-24 shootout triumph against Northwestern of the Big Ten in the Dec. 26 Motor City Bowl gave the MAC two teams ranked in the top-25.
Miami (13-1) rode its 13-game winning streak to a 10th place finish in the Associated Press poll and a 12th place finish in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The AP ranking was the highest for a MAC program since Marshall accomplished the same feat in 1999, along with Miami in 1974. Bowling Green (10-3) was ranked No. 23 in both polls. Northern Illinois (10-2), listed at No. 26 in the Coaches Poll and No. 29 in the AP, finished just outside both polls despite being denied a bowl game.
The MAC is the only non-BCS conference to end the year with two nationally ranked teams, accomplishing it this year and also in 2001.
MAC teams make coaching moves
However well the conference did this season, inevitably some programs felt that their programs needed to be taken in a different direction in order to compete with the MAC elite.
Akron, coming off a 7-5 season, fired coach Lee Owens and replaced him with JD Brookhart. Brookhart was the offensive coordinator of a Pittsburgh team that featured Heisman Trophy runner-up Larry Fitzgerald.
Central Michigan tabbed highly successful Grand Valley State coach Brian Kelly to take over for Mike DeBord, who resigned after four seasons and a 12-34 overall record. Kelly spent 13 seasons at Division II Grand Valley, winning the last two national titles and appearing in the last three title games.
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Kyle Kondik
