Monday MAC Musings: 2026 Week 10

Midweek MACtion is upon us.

The Tuesday and Wednesday night lights are back, spanning from Amherst, MA to Sacramento, CA. The MAC opened November with a five-game slate, featuring two matchups on Tuesday and three on Wednesday. Four of the five were decided by one score and two went to overtime.

In this week's non-Monday edition of Monday MAC Musings, here are takeaways, stats, and other thoughts from the first midweek slate of 2026:

Ohio 28, Akron 20

• Ohio is 5-0 in MAC play for the first time since 1997. John Hauser has done a tremendous job sustaining the success of this golden era of Bobcats football. The internal coaching hires since Frank Solich have served them well.
• Akron took a 17-14 lead with 9:35 remaining, and then Ohio's next two offensive plays were a 60-yard touchdown pass and 91-yard touchdown run. Two one-play drives, spanning 151 yards, with two touchdowns. What a response.
• This was Akron's best performance of the season. Cibastian Broughton returned from injury and kept the Zips' passing attack dangerous. Jordan Gant was brilliant on the ground with 112 yards and a touchdown. And the defense did a stellar job until those two one-play Ohio scoring drives. The main problem was, the Zips settled for five field goal attempts instead of finishing drives. Despite a strong showing, Akron remains winless against FBS competition this season.
• Akron has allowed EXACTLY three sacks in six-straight games (including all five MAC contests) and seven of nine games total. The other opponents, Wake Forest and Minnesota, produced two sacks apiece on the Zips.

Buffalo 34, Miami (OH) 31

• Midweek MACtion overtime! What a treat on the first night of MACtion.
• That was a weird penalty that loomed large in the outcome. Miami (OH) was flagged for prematurely snapping the ball before the referees were set for its game-tying 40-yard field goal attempt in overtime. Due to the unorthodox flag, the RedHawks had to kick from 45, and Kellan McLaughlin's attempt doinked off the right upright.
• Speaking of penalties, this game had a flag seemingly every second. There were 19 combined penalties (13 for Miami) for 160 yards.
• Chance Morrow. That was an incredible performance by a receiver who has delivered plenty this year. Morrow finished with 12 receptions for 199 yards and two touchdowns. He is one of the best fade route/jump ball specialists I've ever seen in the MAC. Morrow has eight touchdowns this season, and all eight were caught in the end zone. This is like the MAC version of when Kurt Warner would throw fades to Larry Fitzgerald in the end zone, the defense knew it was coming, and they had zero answer.
• Miami's MAC Championship Game appearance streak is in serious jeopardy after losing this one. The RedHawks are trying to become the first team since 2010-15 Northern Illinois to qualify for four-straight MAC title games. They're still alive with two losses, but some chaos will need to unfold. However, this is the MAC we're talking about, so...
• Miami led 31-16 in the late third quarter. This was on track to be the team's most complete win of the season. The run game hit its stride. The defense forced two interceptions. But there were too many mistakes which kept the door ajar. Missing a 42-yard field goal to go up three scores was the first miscue. That's a brutal loss for the RedHawks, just like their other conference defeat against Bowling Green.
• Buffalo is quietly 6-3, and its only MAC loss was coming up one yard short against Western Michigan. The Bulls are not bowl eligible due to playing two FCS teams, but they have a manageable schedule ahead featuring Central Michigan, Ball State, and Akron. A MAC Championship Game appearance isn't out of the cards, especially with that tiebreaker over Toledo.

UMass 31, Ball State 30

• Another Midweek MACtion overtime game! Another Midweek MACtion overtime game decided by kicking woes. Ball State missed the extra point after the first possession of the extra period, so UMass won on a walk-off extra point. #MACtion, I guess.
• UMass has five wins as an FBS program for the first time ever. The Minutemen previously maxed out at 4-8 in 2017 and 2018 but finally captured that coveted fifth win after a 4-0 start. Regardless of what happens from here, this is an A+ season for Joe Harasymiak and the Minutemen.
• UMass is 4-0 this year when Pop Watson finishes with at least one rushing touchdown. He got two Wednesday night. That was arguably his finest performance of the season, attaining a career-high 302 passing yards, rushing for 40, and accounting for three total scores.
• The final 40 seconds of the first half determined this game. Ball State kicked a 22-yard chip shot field goal to take a 10-7 lead with 33 seconds left in the second quarter. But UMass decided to be aggressive in those 33 seconds and ran a four verts on the ensuing possession. Watson connected with Jabari Lewis for a 64-yard touchdown, giving the Minutemen a 14-10 edge at the break.
• UMass lost the turnover battle 2-0, surviving two fumbles to win this game. UMass teams of the past were not doing that. Great poise was shown Wednesday night.
• Ball State's running backs have been fun watches this year. Earlier in the season, it was TJ Horton. This game was the Jalen Bonds game. He produced 132 rushing yards and two scores, while also hauling in five passes.

Toledo 20, Sacramento State 17

• Midweek MACtion kicked off at 4 p.m. local time in Sacramento, California in sunny weather. We are inventing new sentences.
• Sacramento State's defense showed tremendous fight in this one. Holding Toledo to 20 points is no joke. Sac State limited one of the top 10 statistical passers in the country to a 9-of-17 showing for 60 yards. The Hornets came up with three sacks and an interception in this one. That's two great defensive performances in a row. Let's see if this becomes a trend in November.
• Toledo produced two 100-yard rushers in this game as CJ Miller had 135 and Autavius Ison managed 104. In five games of MAC play, Miller has three 100-yard games, Ison has two, and Connor Walendzak has one. That's one of the deepest running back rooms in the country.
• What a scare that was for Toledo. Sac State almost had a game-winning scoop-and-score with around 90 seconds left, but CJ Miller was ruled down after a review. Even though it was a 3-point game in crunch time, it never felt like Sac State was going to win, but that play almost drastically swung Toledo's season. That was a loooooooooong review too.
• Andrew Zock was the FCS defensive player of the year last season, and he might be progressing toward All-American status in the FBS now. He has a share of a sack in eight-straight games now and a forced fumble in four of his last five. His strip-sack in the first quarter helped Toledo claim a quick 7-0 lead.

Central Michigan 35, Eastern Michigan 7

• I don't mind this series being played at Ford Field every couple years. Getting 12,656 fans to come for a Wednesday night isn't bad, and putting this matchup in Detroit — where a ton of Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan alums reside — isn't a bad idea.
• This game portrayed exactly how Matt Drinkall envisions football should be played. His Army roots were on full display in this domination. Central Michigan won the time of possession battle 40:56 to 19:04. The Chippewas ran 75 plays to the Eagles' 44 and won the first down battle 25-10.
• There was one point in the second quarter when Central Michigan led 21-0 on the scoreboard, 263-18 in the yards department, 14-0 in first downs, 22:22-5:50 in time of possession, and 41-9 in plays. This game was already over at that moment.
• Most impressively, Central Michigan dominated like this without its top mobile quarterback Angel Flores, who had four 100-yard rushing performance this year, and its star receiver Langston Lewis, who had 10 catches for 163 yards in his last game. Quarterback Jadyn Glasser was incredibly efficient, while running back Nick Woodford bulldozed his way to 123 rushing yards, regularly churning out extra yards after contact.
• Ted Emrich and Fozzy Whittaker were an enjoyable duo in the booth on the ESPN2 broadcast. They're very well equipped for Midweek MACtion.
• I love the creation of a new rivalry trophy for this historic series, and that is a massive yet beautiful trophy. It kind of just appeared out of thin air Wednesday evening at Ford Field. This matchup marked the 104th meeting between these teams, and Central Michigan fully embraced the trophy in the aftermath of the victory. What's most unique is the trophy doesn't even have a name, nor corporate sponsor. That will be for the rivals and fans to determine.