This was a bit of a rough week for the MAC. The worthwhile performances were few and far between, both on offense and defense. The list of candidates is again offense heavy, since half the conference (Eastern, Central, Kent, Toledo, NIU, Akron) did nothing really standout on either side of the ball.
After careful deliberation, we have our first two-time POTW winner, Ball State's Keith Wenning. Wenning finished the game against Buffalo 24 of 36 for 226 yards and two touchdowns; that included going 7 of 9 for 53 yards and this touchdown with 29 seconds remaining.
Granted, Keith owes his defense a hat-tip, because without their blowing a 14-point halftime lead his late-game heroics may not happen, in which case the prize may have gone to our runner up. (Also, I believe this makes our award Bi-Wenning).
That second place finisher is another regular (thusfar) in the race, Ohio's Tyler Tettleton. In an impressive dual-threat performance during the Bobcats' throttling of Marshall, Tettleton finished the day 20 of 29 for 285 yards and three passing touchdowns to go with 9 carries for 53 yards and a score on the ground.
I had almost entirely quarterback candidates this week, with Bowling Green's Matt Schilz (437 yards, 4 TD) in the running again. However, he was picked off twice in a game the Falcons probably should have won. Western Michigan's Alex Carder had a very Harnish-esque performance (355 yards, 3 TD, 1 rush TD), but he also threw an interception and was fortunate that he didn't lose any of his three fumbles. Buffalo's Branden Oliver had another solid if unspectacular performance in a loss (118 yards, 1 TD).