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Helmet Stickers week two: I 75 rivals steal the show

Helmet Stickers tries to make sense of a crazy week in the Mid American Conference

By Justin Coffin
Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to week two edition of Helmet Sti--wait, hold on, what was that? Oh, sorry, Bowling Green just scored another touchdown.

Week two was the most #MACtion week in recent memory, or maybe ever. Here's a quick recap:

#MACkickers. More #MACkickers. TOLEDO BEAT ARKANSAS. More #MACkickers. Eastern Michigan won a football game on the road, Western Michigan did not. Bowling Green made Maryland look silly. Ohio won a rivalry game at home and Kent State played some defense this time. Buffalo showed some life. Ball State tried, they really did, and UMass and Miami, well, UMass and Miami played too. Oh, and, not sure if I mentioned it, Toledo. Beat. Arkansas. On. The. Road.

This week's Helmet Stickers are going to a lot of players from the I 75 corridor in Northwest Ohio. While they may not like each other, Bowling Green and Toledo carried the flag for the Mid American Conference on Saturday, and they did so convincingly. Remind me again how large the gap is between the Power Five and Group of Five? Let's get to it, starting with those Falcons.

Matt Johnson - for going all Jason Williams on the Terps

I know you've seen a shovel pass before, but have you ever seen this shovel pass? It probably could've been a regular toss, but Matt Johnson isn't messing around. Matt Johnson see's your fathers shovel pass and raises you the reinvention of the damn play itself.

Also, whatever Johnson did to prepare for this game, he should do it again. He threw the ball like he was allergic to throwing an incomplete pass, and threw touchdown passes like a video game. I could drone on and on about Johnson's performance, but sometimes the numbers are all you need:

Player Comp/att Yds Avg TD INT
Matt Johnson 36/55 491 8.9 6 1

Yup. That's a six in the touchdown column.

Roger Lewis - Because 100 yard games are just too mainstream

100 yards receiving is often a benchmark for being able to say "he had a good game" in public without having a clue what you're talking about. For Roger Lewis, the century mark wasn't going to cut it. All Lewis did was haul in 15 catches for 200 yards and two touchdowns, including a 58 yard score. Lewis was Johnson's favorite target all day and for good reasons. He beat up the defensive backs of the Terrapins from start to finish, and I promise you he didn't say sorry.

Dernard Turner - for "Bowling Green has a defense?"

BGSU's defense catches a lot of flack, and the game against Maryland Saturday was against Maryland, so we'd be getting ahead of ourselves to call this defense "great." But credit is given when earned and this unit earned it as a whole, but specifically Dernard Turner, who picked off the Terrapins not once, but twice, and shut the door on any hopes for a Maryland comeback on the Falcons.

And now it's Toledo's turn to get some stickers.

Phillip Ely - for leading the charge

We'll get to the Toledo defense, but for right now, a moment of uninterrupted shouting for Phillip Ely. Ely, like Johnson, had to watch from the sidelines last season as his team made an incredible run through the MAC. On Saturday, Ely, like Johnson, was a winner. Ely's numbers were not as gaudy as Johnson's - 21/38 passing, 237 yards and a single touchdown - but when you quarterback a MAC school to a road win against a top-25 opponent from the SEC, you at least get a damned internet sticker. Although to be fair to Arkansas, they would have lost to Ely anyway if he stayed at Alabama.

The Toledo Defense - bend, don't break

The Defense for the Rockets was great when it counted. They were a classic case of bend, don't break. The Razorbacks racked up over 500 yards of total offense and had nearly two receivers in the triple digits. That was the problem, though. Not enough production on the ground. That seemed to be the game plan for the rockets. "Come and get us through the air. We dare you." And that's exactly what they did, especially on the final play of the game. Arkansas' Brandon Allen dropped back, scrambled left, stepped back and couldn't find an opening in the Toledo secondary, firing the ball high over the heads of everyone on the field. The game was over. Toledo won with its defense on the field. History.

Oh, to hell with it. THE WHOLE TOLEDO TEAM GETS STICKERS - for rocketing MACtion into Twitter stardom:

Not all about the Falcons and Rockets

Eastern Michigan won its first road non conference game since 1988. There's a big reason that happened, and they're getting stickers this week.

Brogan Roback and Shaq Vann - for "Eastern won too? You sure this isn't a dream?"

Roback was sensational on Saturday, and rewarding Matt Johnson for exposing a putrid Maryland team means also rewarding Roback for what he did to the Wyoming Cowboys. Roback threw for 330 yards on just 24 passing attempts, three of which found receivers for touchdowns. Shaq Vann was electric as well, rushing for 129 yards on on 16 carries and adding two touchdowns. Perhaps his greatest achievement of the night, however, was inspiring this tweet from the Belt's fearless leader and known Eagle fanatic:

Well played.

Ring The Bell

The Ohio Bobcats won a rivalry game in Athens against the Marshall Thundering Herd. Derrius Vick left the game with an injury, meaning the two headed attack was not the quarterbacks but rather the running backs.

A.J Oulette and Daz'mond Patterson - for finding points in a game with few

Patterson opened the scoring early, gaining nearly half of his yards on one carry on a 33 yard touchdown scamper to give the Bobcats a touchdown lead over their rivals from West Virginia. Oulette went into an every-down-back roll, earning every inch of his 3.7 yards per carry on 21 touches, also finding the end zone to ice the game deep into the fourth quarter. Each back contributed to be a two headed Monster the Bobcats needed in this one, and as such, they'll have to share this sticker.

The final sticker of the night is a special one. It goes to Diesel

For being the best. Just the best. All the time.

Those NIU teams were good. You were even better.  Rest in Peace Diesel.

In This Stream

MAC Football News: Week 2

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