Finally, a little bit of jostling for position here in the rankings. Well, except for Miami (who had the weekend off) and Akron (who looked absolutely miserable for a second straight week). Not everyone looked particularly good, especially on offense (EMU, CMU, Akron, Ball and Kent). We'll have to see after this coming weekend but for now it appears that Temple and Bowling Green may both be forces to be reckoned with, while Kent and Central Michigan's offensive ineptitude may be their undoing.
Follow after the jump for your opportunity to tell me how correct I am.
| Rank | Rank (Pv) | Team | Record | What We Learned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Temple | (2-0) | Just like last week, the offense and defense both looked solid in doing to Akron the same as the Owls did to Villanova. I might actually pick them to beat Penn State if Gerardi (7-for-17 and 93 yards) can fix his craniorectal disease |
| 2 | 1 | Northern Illinois | (1-1) | Chandler Harnish is still ridiculous - unfortunately, so is the defense that allowed 534 yards of offense and 17 plays of 15+ yards to a Jayhawks team that they probably should have beaten. |
| 3 | 2 | Toledo | (1-1) | As mentioned before - they probably had the talent to defeat Ohio State. Unfortunately, they did not also possess the requisite mental fortitude to follow through on their potential. |
| 4 | 4 | Ohio | (2-0) | Tyler Tettleton looked respectable, regardless of the fact that his opponent was only a small step up from the practice squad defense. (No use changing the comment when the results are the same) |
| 5 | 8 | Bowling Green | (2-0) | Did as they should and absolutely destroyed Morgan State. Schilz looks like he's on cruise control right now, and it should be interesting to see what kind of numbers he puts up against another step up in opponent |
| 6 | 6 | Miami | (0-1) | Off week |
| 7 | 5 | Ball State | (1-1) | Did this Cardinals team even get off the bus? In the first three quarters, the defense allowed 37 points, while the offense ran a total of four plays across midfield. Their lone scoring drive accounted for a quarter of their offensive yardage and only happened because an INT got called back on a personal foul. I am no longer sure they will beat Buffalo |
| 8 | 11 | Western Michigan | (1-1) | The defense spent the day making it look easy against a bad team, regularly putting the offense in cream positions. With the way CMU is playing right now we might see a repeat performance next weekend. |
| 9 | 9 | Eastern Michigan | (2-0) | Sure, they've met their win total from last season already, and their two back attack (Sherrer and Greene) has 497 yards. But Alex Gillett continuing to play as he did today does not bode well going forward. How does a team rush for 336 yards and score 14 points? Oh yeah, even more penalty yardage than Toledo. |
| 10 | 12 | Buffalo | (1-1) | Looks like Chazz Anderson might now have himself a couple of sidekicks in running back Branden Oliver and linebacker Khalil Mack. Buffalo might get themselves on a roll next week against Ball State. |
| 11 | 7 | Central Michigan | (1-1) | In the first 20 minutes, Radcliff was 13-22 for 163 yards and 1 TD; after that, 11-23 for 126 and 2 INT. First half, they made it inside Kentucky's 15 yard line twice and earned six points; second half, they ran zero plays inside Kentucky's 35. Should I keep going? This is clearly not enough offense to be competitive in the MAC. |
| 12 | 10 | Kent State | (0-2) | Kent's defense must be furious. They recorded three forced fumbles, a safety, an interception, and allowed three offensive plays of longer than seven yards (one of which ended with one of those fumbles), and it still wasn't enough for a win. |
| 13 | 13 | Akron | (0-2) | Probably would have benefitted more if the lightning hadn't stopped, because then Bernard Pierce found all the holes in their defense. |