Ah, college football. The past weeks have allowed for the annual fall-time ritual of bragging rights and undefeated records, but as of recently, looks more like this in the polls.
As the great sage Herm Edwards once said, "You play to win the game." Teams look amazing on paper and can be hyped to death by analysts, but once they square off on that field anything can happen really.
Central Michigan found that out the hard way last week, upset at home by Ball State. Yep, you read that right. The Chippewas have been riding a roller coaster of highs and lows all season, but predicting whether the real Central Michigan will show up, week in and week out is like trying to trust a man named Harvey Dent in Gotham.
102nd overall in the nation in average points for absolutely shows room for improvement. Their 57th ranking of average points against says otherwise. The true question is, does the 4-4, (2-2 MAC) record show the capabilities of the Chippewas or the flaws in their bowl run? Will the real Central Michigan PLEASE stand up?
Buffalo hosts the Chippewas this week, coming from a similar predicament in the East division. Buffalo, much like Central currently, is a low middle-of-the-road team with a few games early that could've gone either way at Army, Bowling Green, and most recently Eastern Michigan. These games were all decided on average, by about six points-definitely within consideration of ending in Buffalo's favor.
The Bulls are 3-4 (1-2 MAC) and possibly on the heels of Ohio and Akron with a win at home catapulting them to the near-top of the East Division. Their offense, tacking up enough passing yards to be ranked 27th nationally should definitely worry the Chippewas. Why Joe Licata hasn't filed a petition for frequent flier miles from Delta Airlines for those kinds of numbers makes me scratch my head.
Yes, the Bulls also carry with them a running game nationally ranked 52nd in rushing yards and are ranked 49th nationally in points for average points for as well, but they are not without weaknesses. Their average points against is atrocious in the worst way, coming in at 109th nationally. This, and only this, will be the saving grace of the Chippewas.
X-factors:
Central Michigan: For Central, it's Cooper Rush. The Chippewas have clearly struggled to put points on the board and are going into Buffalo against a weak defense. The offense needs to go toe-to-toe with Licata and the Bulls' offense and Rush needs to remain consistent. He'll also need to maintain long drives throughout the game. The longer he can keep both Licata off-rhythm and his defense resting on the sidelines, the better.
Buffalo: For the Bulls, it's their defense. This game is destined to be a shootout with the numbers both offenses are capable of putting up. A couple of stops for Buffalo or forced turnovers will allow their high powered offense to go to work. If the defense holds strong, Buffalo pulls away quickly.
Prediction: This one's going to be a shootout. Both teams have proven they can hang with multiple teams in the MAC, but Central showed a glaring weakness in allowing Ball State to stick around way too long. Shootouts are Buffalo's speciality and with Halloween coming up, I'm not sure if Central still can't shake their Jekyll-Hyde personality. Buffalo-45, Central Michigan-42.
Buffalo and Central Michigan will face off Saturday at U of B stadium; Kickoff is at 3:30pm.