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Belt Loops: Bowling Green's Quarterback Battle Is For Real

Our (sometimes) daily look around the world of #MACtion returns with an update on the quarterback battle at Falcons camp this fall, a kicker battle is brewing in Kalamazoo and more.

By Bryan M. Vance
Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

φ Bowling Green's quarterback race is for real — I mentioned the race in a previous Belt Loops, and at the time it appeared this was a motivational tool to light a fire under three-year start Matt Schilz. But head coach Dave Clawson insists that the competition is a real thing. He's being very vocal that he's not satisfied with how Schilz's career progressed in 2012, and that he's going to let whoever plays the best during camp hold down the starting job. Clawson says a decision will be made by the middle of next week, but redshirt sophomore Matt Johnson appears to be in a neck-and-neck tie with Schilz for that spot. Falcons fans, don't be surprised if someone other than Schilz is under center come Week One.

φ For the Broncos, special teams is where the position battles are this fall — While the offensive line, running backs, and wide receivers might be grabbing all the headlines for Western Michigan this fall, it appears the main position battle is the field goal kicker position. Last season's field goal kicker, sophomore Andrew Haldeman showed promise last season (he nailed a 52-yarder against Ball St.) but was inconsistent, converting just 10-of-16 attempts. He's being challenged by true freshman Scanlon this fall, but so far head coach P.J. Fleck isn't impressed by either. "I see a lot of inconsistency. I think you could pick who you wanted and we would flip a coin and that’s who would start today," he told MLive.com.

φ People continue to complain about the new targeting penalties — This time it's Buffalo defensive coordinator Lou Tepper. Tepper is an old-school coach, and it's clear he still thinks in an old-school way. While he raises some valid concerns about the defense getting targeted by the penalties more often than the offense, he seems to be stuck in an old way of thinking. He's worried that players will be ejected for making mistakes and accidently leading with a helmet, or the top of their helmet accidently coming in contact with an offensive player's head or shoulder pads. But the point is, those kinds of hits shouldn't be happening, and wouldn't be if these same old-school guys still focused on techniques like they did back in the day. The main argument against these penalties seems to be that they will force the defense to play softer. In actuality, they are going to make defensive players rely on technique. I fail to see how reinforcing proper tackling techniques is a bad thing for the sport.

φ The Huskies are considered one of the most interesting college football teams for 2013 — The fine folks over at Every Day Should Be Saturday have came up with the only Top 25 list that matters: The Top 25 most interesting teams in college football. While the argument could be made that all 13 MAC teams should be on this list, we did get one. The Northern Illinois Huskies came in at No. 19 for being a "gateway drug". They get you hooked on #MACtion and before you know it you're a lifelong fan of weeknight football.

φ Six MAC teams will go bowling in 2013 — At least that's what CBSSports.com is predicting. They went ahead and projected the teams for every bowl this winter, and five MAC schools made the cut. Northern Illinois in the GoDaddy.com Bowl, Toledo in the BBVA Compass Bowl, Ball St. in the Independence Bowl, Ohio to the soon to be defunct Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, Western Michigan to the Beef O'Brady's Bowl and Bowling Green to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. That of course means that they have Ohio beating NIU in a rematch of the 2011 MAC Championship.

φ Want to know who Falcons' offensive lineman Alex Huettel's favorite Disney princess is? Here you go —

φ UMass is building a new weight room —

Send any news tips or neat tweets to @HustleBelt or FanShot them. You're also welcome to write a FanPost if you have a cool opinion on something that affects the MAC.

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