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This season the roundtable includes Over The Pylon - Ball State |
Week two and our illustrious founder, Alan from Over The Pylon", is in charge. This week is one of my "off" weeks but I'm never one who can turn down a good Question so I think Ill just sit over here in the corner and mumble the answers to myself.
The blogs in bold, to the right, are the sites that are "officially" part of this weeks round table but I know several, like me, can't shut up for 7 days.
So be sure to check them out, we may hate them on the field but every MAC blog is like a special child, they need love.
New Blog of the week is Saddle Up, Fight On. They are a crew of Western Michigan Enthusiast who spun off from Hustle Belt.
Our Questions this week...
1.) Week one in the books for the MAC. A fairly major upset, several close calls, and several bloodbaths. What was your biggest surprise and your biggest disappointment across the conference landscape?
It's easy to say Ohio over Penn State but I had the Bobcats ranked in the preseason BlogPoll and the lions I left out.
I'm going to say the biggest disappointment is just how badly the Brono's were beaten. I thought this was a game they had a crack at winning.
All we've heard all off season was just how great the Bronco's were and how Carder was going to be *the* quarterback this season. He, and the Bronco's looked perfectly average in week one and could be open to finishing fourth in the west if Ball State is for real.
When am I going to learn that this is the "Cubit Life". You're always in "the year" and it never ends with a division title.
The Biggest Surprise may be Buffalo. The Bulls rolled up 23 points on a pretty good Georgia defense and none of them were fluke points. UB scored on long drives throughout the game. While the Bulldogs were missing some real talent in their secondary the running game and long sustained drives was very refreshing to see. Alex Zordich seems to be a different guy than we saw in 2010. Smart decisions, looks at his reads, lets the play develop and *then* runs if nothing is there.
You could also make a case for Bowling Green who hung well with Florida as being the pleasant surprise. If Toledo and NIU had taken care of Business it would have been a spectacular week for the MAC.
Around the NCAA as a whole. Houton falling to Texas State and then soeone actually casting top 25 votes for Texas State. Houston is in a rebuilding mode but should have won. So yes, it's a pretty significant upset. But is that a vote worthy upset?
2.) For your own team, how has your week one performance changed your opinion and/or perspective about what to expect from your squad as the year rolls on?
Buffalo drove the ball often on Georgia so the offense, and Alex Zordich, are probably for real this season. If we can put up 23 on Georgia than perhaps 30+ on MAC teams is doable. I had my doubts as to UB's ability to win shootouts with some of the teams from the West that are on our schedule but I think our passing game might be up to the task this year.
Defensively it's hard to tell for two reasons.
The first reason is Georgia's personnel. Nobody in the MAC has the set of receivers that Georgia has nor do they have Aaron Murray. UB's defensive backs looked very vulnerable to the deep ball and that one play suseptability can swing a game. But was this just because we were dealing with a set of receiver that all have "SEC Speed" or is it because the defensive backs are not there yet?
The second reason is UB's personnel. Not having Khalil Mack really seed up the depth chart and put far more pressure on Steven Means than he will typically see. In a hybrid 3-4 you need that outside linebacker to be a real threat in the backfield, we lacked that in week 1. Colby way seems to be a beast on the other side so if Mack frees up Steven Means UB could have a good pass rush for the first time in years!
3.) Outside of the MAC, what was your favorite moment from opening weekend and why?
Week one was the ultimate tease. How many top 25 teams came oh so deliciously close to an upset? South Carolina, Michigan State, Stanford, Oklahoma (that 24-7 score was a lot closer than it seems), Wisconsin, Clemson, and Virginia Tech. No upsets just a lot of teasing.
So I am going to have to go with Texas State obliterating Houston. I like upsets and anytime a brand spakin' new FBS team takes out one of Conference DOA's "power programs" an Angel gets it's wings. Scary thing is that now six wins for Texas State seems possible though the top 25 votes are still redonkulous.