Central Michigan was the best team in the Mid-American Conference in the eyes of the media as they received 16 votes last week in the Associated Press Poll. After losing 49-35 to the previously winless Virginia, however, they've received zero votes in the poll this week.
Virginia jumped out to a 28-0 lead, but Central Michigan tied the game early in the the fourth quarter. But Central Michigan allowed three Virginia touchdowns, which put the game out of reach after a valiant comeback.
“It’s not the first time it happened, we were down 14-0 on the road against Oklahoma State,” coach John Bonamego said when asked about the early deficit. “We’ve been down in games, but the emphasis is always on how you finish.”
Western Michigan Stays Strong
Western Michigan continued their undefeated season with a 49-31 win over Georgia Southern.
“Have to give our (coaching) staff a lot of credit, our players a lot of credit and Georgia Southern a lot of credit, Sun Belt champion two years ago, beat our MAC champion by close to 30 last year in the bowl game,” coach P.J. Fleck said. “I’m very proud of the progress our team is making.”
Even though the Broncos have looked strong so far this season, Fleck continues to say that his team has a lot of room for improvement.
“We’re not good in a lot of different areas,” Fleck said.
This win gave Western Michigan more votes in the AP Poll, increasing from last week’s six votes to 14 this week.
Perennial MAC Favorites Continue to Struggle
Northern Illinois and Bowling Green, favorites in the MAC heading into the season, seemed to have lost their luster. They've started this season 0-4 and 1-3, respectively.
Northern Illinois’ latest loss came to FCS opponent Western Illinois, 28-23.
Coach Rod Carey said his team was not the better team on Saturday.
“It all traces back to fundamental football, situational football,” Carey said. “We didn’t execute well enough to win, so hat’s off to WIU.”
Bowling Green lost Saturday to Memphis 77-3. It was the second time this season the Falcons gave up 77 points in a game, the other being their opening week loss to Ohio State.
“It’s really quite simple, you got to catch the ball and you got to tackle, and if you don’t do those two things, you don’t have a good chance to win the game especially against an explosive team like Memphis,” Jinks said.