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1. Heading into the fourth week of the season, the MAC has two more conference games on the schedule. What do you expect to change as the games start to shift to familiar foes?
Well obviously we should see the MAC look stronger just based on getting wins against familiar foes. While it wont be like last season where the MAC looked fairly strong top to middle (sorry EMU, UMass, and Akron), we should see some competitive games but the top teams show their might.
Some specific things we'll see will be how good BGSU's offense truly is, is WMU finally improving (more personal for me), how Toledo, Ball State, and NIU will look before playing each other late in the season, and can the MAC East look like the better division this season? BGSU, Buffalo, and Kent State all took steps back last weekend, but so did Ball State and NIU (sort of). So much to look forward to though, and it's finally getting in full swing.
2. What has been the most surprising or troubling aspect of your team's performance through three weeks of the season?
I guess I'll answer this for WMU. Definitely not being able to stop the run, or more specifically, the zone-read. So many teams in the MAC run the spread/zone-read offense that when you see a team not being able to stop it, you immediately think, "WOW, they are doomed!". Also, the lack of the passing game is troublesome since WMU was notorious for a strong throwing game under the Bill Cubit era.
But that was against 2 (soon to be 3) Big Ten teams, good ones at that (and Nicholls, but let's ignore that for now). So the sample size and group is small and skewed.
3. While football is a team game, sometimes an individual's contribution can be paramount to the success or contribute to the failure of the team. Who has had the most impact (positively or negatively) for your team?
Again, WMU: P.J. Fleck? Mostly because he's 0-3 and the program is a joke in the sports community right now. Others would argue Tyler Van Tubbergen, and his struggles to start the year. However, I counter the poor play of his offensive line and the tough teams he's faced. Not much of an excuse, but he hasn't made "The Video".