Two of the hottest teams in the MAC right now are the Massachusetts Minutemen and the Eastern Michigan Eagles. Well, the hottest teams if you only look at the scoreboard from last week. Who will prevail this week when they face off? Our finest writer takes a look, and he's joined by an Eastern Michigan fan. Let the sMACk talk begin.
Alex Alvarado: Jesse, my dear friend, please speak into the microphone and tell me how thrilled to finally have a win under your belt after beating Kent State. No, I don't want any more clam chowder, please stop asking.
Jesse Allen: Alex, my casual acquaintance. What you just witnessed, the MAC just witnessed, and, dare I say, the world just witnessed, was the breaking of a dam. The Minutemen passing game is one of the best, if not the best, in the MAC. It was just a question of when the defense would get it together and the Minutemen would start running teams off the field. Kent State seemed to be the cure for the common defense. Next up: EMU, then: the MAC. Start shaking in your boots kids, this team is ready.
AA: Well, we *did* hold Anthone Taylor to less than 20 rushing yards last week in the second half, so it's a good thing you don't rely on your running back that much anyways. And when Reggie Bell plays like he did last week, he'll out-perform everybody. He didn't get in the game until the last drive of the first half, mind you.
JA: Reggie Bell did a great job last week, I'll give you that, but you caught Buffalo off-guard. The Minutemen will be read, the linebackers will be watching, and there's no way he'll be able to break contain. Meanwhile, the Minutemen have Blake Frohnapfel, who may be the best quarterback in the MAC, going up against a defense giving up 296 yards a game. How is EMU going to stop the Unhappy Apple?
AA: I want an "Unhappy Apple #7" shirsey now.
Welp, here's what we'll do, we'll just let you get all of those yards, but none of them inside of the end zone. Licata had a ton of yards last week, yes, but we also got to the QB more than enough to create havoc, costing the team at critical moments. Pat O'Conner had six QB hurries and a pair of sacks.
Ultimately, we're just going to hold you to field goals. (edit: a shutout)
JA: I'll give you that special teams have been the thorn in the Minutemen side all season, but punter turned kicker Logan Laurent was perfect last weekend, and if the best you can throw at me is a quarterback with one good half and a defense that will let us march into the redzone without issue, I can't see EMU pulling this win out. You have to give me at least some reason to believe that you can shut down an offense that puts a new face on an award watch list every week.
AA: Yes, but we beat teams bad enough to the point to where they get fired. It's a tradition that's a little bit older than 'Row The Boat', right Bill Cupit? And it's not like the Minutemen are much to feel comfortable enough, either. Just because UMass put up 40 on Kent State and NIU only put up 17, doesn't mean UMass has the best offense in the MAC. NIU's is still just *slightly* better.
And hey, I saw a defense stop Buffalo at the goal line on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd downs: something that would never have happened with this team in their first five games. They'll do just enough for Reggie Bell or Rob Bolden.
JA: If there's anything I learned from UMass-Miami, it's that goal line defense is a myth. Unless Bell can go absolutely crazy, I don't think EMU can put up the 40 points it needs to beat the men in Maroon. I'm thinking like UMass 41, EMU 31.
AA: Goal line defenses are a myth if and only if your offense is playing defense. For me, I'm not going to expect Bell to run for 200 every week. I'm not going to say that he'll even get to 150, but if the read option continues to be the bread & butter of this offense, then hopefully it's because there's a positive connotation behind running that play over and over. Bell, Bolden, Bronson Hill, Ryan Brumfield and Darius Jackson are all very capable of making a deadly run game. I'll say 35-26 EMU.
JA: Well I wish I could say this was a pleasure, but we both know I'm lying. See ya at the game.