2014 College Football Scoreboard: MAC Football Week 3

FRIDAY:

Toledo 34 - Cincinnati 58

Logan Woodside's first start in the wake of Phillip Ely's season-ending injury showed plenty of reasons to be optimistic about Toledo's season moving forward. Ultimately, a terrible start from the rockets defense was what did Toledo in. That and the fact the Cincinnati is likely one of the best teams in the "Group of Five". Kareem Hunt was fantastic, once again, and now has 384 yards and six touchdowns on just 47 attempts. The Rockets' secondary has some obvious flaws, but outside of Akron and Buffalo, the quarterbacks in the MAC are all question marks, so Toledo's

No. 8 Baylor 63 - Buffalo 21

My oh my. There's not a whole ton to take away from this one, other than we got what we expected. Baylor's offense shredded Buffalo's defense. The Bulls are giving up an absurd 18.5 yards per catch through their first three games, per our pals at Bull Run. Khalil Mack isn't coming back, and Buffalo's defense needs to move on. Unfortunately, the unit they have now could get shredded several more times this fall.

SATURDAY:

Syracuse 40 - Central Michigan 3

Thomas Rawls missed the game due to "an issue the program became aware of Friday". I have no clue what that means, but if involves anymore missed time, CMU's offense is in trouble. Titus Davis is still recovering from a knee sprain, which is bad enough. But without Rawls, CMU can't run the ball. We saw it in the Chippewas first two games. When anyone but him was carrying the rock, the Chips were ineffective, at best, on the ground. But after averaging 1.5 yards per play on 23 carries against Syracuse, its clear Rawls is the only real option for CMU on the ground. If he can't play, the Chippewas are too one-dimensional to get anything done.

Kent State 0 - No. 22 Ohio State 66

This was brutal. Ohio State was steaming from its stunning loss to Virginia Tech the week before, and was out for an ego-padding beatdown. Unfortunately, Kent State didn't do too much to help itself avoid getting slaughtered. 126 yards of total offense. That's what the Golden Flashes managed in this one. Colin Reardon is struggling right now. Penalties and turnovers aren't doing anything to help the team.

Indiana 42 - Bowling Green 45

We finally got a full-on look at what "Falcon Fast" is all about. 113. That's the number of plays the Falcons ran in this game. BGSU's offense took awhile to get rolling (try the whole first half), but scored on drives of 2:11, 2:07, 2:20, 2:35, 2:39, 3:43, 3:40 and 1:55. The team struck fast, and often. JAmes Knapke set program records for passes attempted and completed in this game. The defense is clearly not a threat, but with an offense that scores as quick as this one, BGSU will never really be out of a game.

Ohio 14- Marshall 44

Ohio looked bad. The offense was anemic. The defense broke down too easily. The Kent State game looked fine, but we now know more about KSU, and that performance by Ohio looks worse and worse each week. Derrius Vick is doing OK at quarterback, but a lack of help from his receivers, and no real rushing attack outside of true freshman, and former walk-on, A.J. Ouellette allows opposing defenses to put the pressure on him and squeeze the passing attack. Daz'mond Patterson is not an every down back, and is being used the wrong way, and it's hurting the team. The secondary was exposed, and the defensive line was pushed around all game long. Yes, Marshall was out to make a statement, but Ohio let them do it without much of a fight.

UMass 31 - Vanderbilt 34

UMass, you're making me crazy. The Minutemen are leaps and bounds ahead of where they were a year ago, even if they have yet to win a game this season. UMass led for all but about the final minute of this one. A horribly botched field goal at the end was embarrassing, but Mark Whipple knows what he's doing, and has nearly knocked off a pair of Power Five programs now despite being outmatched.

Indiana State 27 - Ball State 20

This is probably the most infuriating game of the weekend. A week after narrowly losing to Iowa, Ball State crumbles down the stretch and falls to FCS foe Indiana State. Ozzie Mann is a game manager, but he's certainly no game-winner. The running game wasn't spectacular, and if the Cardinals can't run the ball, Mann isn't going to win them the game. At least not yet.

Miami 10 - Michigan 34

Miami's defense is actually a decent unit. The RedHawks have put up feisty performances against Marshall and Michigan now. At one point, Miami was actually tied 10-10 with Michigan. But the 'Hawks have no offensive line. They can't run the ball because of it, and Andrew Hendrix doesn't have the protection necessary to make up for that. He's been sacked nine times already this year, and that's with Miami allowing just one to Michigan. Chuck Martin will need to get creative on offense to make up for the fact that his front line is going to get bullied around all year.

Western Michigan 45 - Idaho 33

Jarvion Franklin is the real deal. After a 19 carry, 163 yard, three touchdown performance against Purdue two weeks ago, the true freshman showed the bye week couldn't effect him. He churned out one of the greatest single-game rushing performances in program history, running for 210 yards and three scores on 33 carries against Idaho. The Vandals are bad, yes, but WMU has got some real talent on the offensive side of the ball, and Franklin is the type of player who can change the course of a game.

Eastern Michigan 3 - Old Dominion 17

EMU has no offense. Seriously. I'm not sure anyone even lines up when the Eagles have the ball. The defense showed marked improvement over the awful 65-0 beatdown it suffered at the hands of Florida, but that offense. Man is it rough. Brogan Roback and Rob Bolden both struggled to run the Eagles system in this one. The running game is doing OK, but EMU still doesn't have a quarterback, and it's costing the team games now.

Northern Illinois 48  - UNLV 34

Will Rod Carey PLEASE just stick with Drew Hare? Hare got the start in this game, as expected after how he led NIU to victory over Northwestern, but Carey decided to give Anthony Maddie a go midway through the game. It was awkward. Hare accounted for four scores in this game, and together with Cameron Stingily (who is clearly 100 percent now) he gives the Huskies the best chance to win night in and night out. This is Hare's offense, and Carey should just let him take the reins and put his stamp on it. You have your quarterback Rod. Stop messing around.