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MAC Football Power Rankings: Week Five

Wherein we revel in the absolute explosion of offense that was week five, and discuss the worries that have cropped up as a result for some teams.

Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire

Well hello there, and welcome to the MACtion.

Yes, there was the MAC football we all knew and loved this past weekend. Twelve MAC teams took to the field Saturday (everyone but EMU) and nine of them scored 30+ points.

Six of them broke the 40 point barrier, but they went 4-2 in the process. Ball State and Kent combined for 86 points, and it was the second-highest scoring conference game - if I told you MIAMI and Akron were going to combine for 105 points, you would automatically assume it was a basketball game, right?

Wow. But enough about the offense, let's discuss the rankings.

Rank Rank (Pv) Team Record What We Learned
1 1 OHIO 5-0 (1-0) OHIO led that game for a total of 12 minutes. Truly frightening, given the talent gap. Then again, so was Beau Blankenship, who is now second in the nation in rushing.
2 4 NIU 4-1 (1-0) Time to give this offense its due after 407 yards rushing - though I don’t know how they gave up 462 yards and only 24 points. The defense still worries me greatly, but they are 4-1.
3 3 TOLEDO 4-1 (2-0) It was Fluellen Day for the Rockets, and the game was never really in question with all the turnovers the defense created. They'll likely keep rolling next week, too.
4 6 KENT STATE 3-1 (2-0) The defense had no answer for Keith Wenning, but Spencer Keith did just enough to get his team the win. What a great time to come across EMU on their schedule
5 2 BALL STATE 3-2 (1-1) Keith Wenning was an absolute beast yet again. Then the defense let Kent drive 86 yards in two minutes, including a 3rd-and-10 conversion, a 4th-and-10 conversion, and two 20-yard plays. Now they get a real QB in Jordan Lynch? Yikes.
6 11 MIAMI 3-2 (2-0) I was the last person who expected the MIAMI (OH) v. Akron tilt to turn into a mad crazy shootout. Good on them for pulling out a wild one. Next time lets try not repeatedly blowing a double-digit lead - assuming they can hang against Cincinnati, that is.
7 5 CMU 2-2 (0-1) Started the second half off with a bang, then got their doors blown off the rest of the way. Good luck avoiding a similar fate against Toledo.
8 10 BGSU 2-3 (0-1) Good to see they can at least do as they should and dominate an inferior opponent. Let's see what they do against a real offense next week - I am not quite sure how much of their production is ability and how much is opponent talent level.
9 7 WMU 2-3 (0-1) Maybe they aren't "just fine" without Carder? I didn't see the game, so I don’t know who is to blame, but you can't be -4 in turnovers and come out victorious very often.
10 8 BUFFALO 1-3 (0-1) 14 offensive drives, 7 three-and-outs, two turnovers. Don't let the final line (361 yards) fool you - they only had 186 yards prior to their third-quarter trickery. Sure would be nice to get Oliver back soon.
11 9 AKRON 1-4 (0-1) I think it's safe to say that Dalton Williams is for real. Now if only the defense would like to join him in this status, they might get hot.
12 13 UMASS 0-5 (0-2) What a hell of a game. I think they should wear the all-maroon combo every single week now. Mike Wegzyn is progressing very well given where he started, and I'll give them a bump for giving the conference's (current) best a legitimate scare.
13 12 EMU 0-4 (0-1) Down to last place, mostly because they were already down here and were off, rather than a playing a game where they scared the bejeesus out of OHIO.