Monday MAC Musings: 2026 Week 7

Did we just watch the MAC game of the year?

Ball State's win over Bowling Green definitely has a claim to that title, and we've already had a slew of wild finishes in the past few weeks from Miami (OH)-UMass to Western Michigan-Buffalo. The Cardinals' 32-31 win was the most underrated entry in college football's most chaotic week of the season, which featured four top-8 teams losing.

Elsewhere in the MAC, the Flagship Cup had another wild finish, with Buffalo prevailing over UMass once again. Meanwhile, Toledo, Western Michigan, and Ohio separated themselves as MAC contenders.

Here are thoughts, stats, and takeaways from Week 7 of MAC football in this week's edition of Monday MAC Musings:

Ball State 32, Bowling Green 31

• What. An. Ending. For the second week in a row (UMass-Miami (OH) last week), a MAC team scores a 20+ yard pass on the final play of regulation. Except this time, it forced overtime. Keldric Luster escaped pressure, found breathing room on the left side of the field, and found a wide open Eli Hohlt on the right side of the end zone. I was surprised Ball State didn't go for two, but it saved that for overtime.
• Luster's overtime 2-point conversion was even more impressive of a play. He was under even more duress, and Bowling Green defended the play very well. I can't believe Luster fit that ball into the window for Alex Scherle near the sideline. Fantastic walk-off play. MAC game of the year so far.
• In case you're wondering how teams fare when deciding to go for two instead of tying a game in the final minute or overtime... this season, teams that go for two in these situations are 4-5. Wins are Syracuse over UConn, Kentucky over South Carolina, Kentucky over LSU, and Ball State over Bowling Green. Losses are Baylor to Auburn, Temple to Toledo, Tulsa to North Texas, UMass to Miami (OH), and Michigan State to Illinois.
• The ending could be described as "peak MACtion," but the "peak MACtion" point of this game was when Luster's fumble got kicked about seven yards forward with just over a minute left and Bowling Green's D'kyah Banks recovered for a scoop-and-score.
• Ball State held what had been an elite Bowling Green pass rush to zero sacks. In a game decided by the thinnest of margins, that's one massive factor which kept the Cardinals afloat. Meanwhile, they sacked the Falcons four times.

Buffalo 25, UMass 18

• Ever since this rivalry was named the Flagship Cup, it's created nothing but chaos. Last year, Buffalo made an unthinkable last-minute comeback to keep UMass winless, after UMass seemingly won the game. This year, Buffalo forces overtime on a last-second field goal and wins in the extra period. Two years in a row, the Bulls rip out the Minutemen's hearts in crunch time in this newfound rivalry. I guess all bets are off when the Flagship Cup is on the line.
• UMass is still above .500, and the Minutemen's season will be viewed as an A+ season regardless of what happens from here on out. But that's two brutal losses for the Minutemen, determined on the last play of regulation. Last week, they missed a game-winning 2-point attempt against Miami (OH). This week, Buffalo ties them with a clock-expiring field goal. UMass is 4-3 with three-straight losses but was excruciatingly close to attaining bowl eligibility by now.
• Messiah Burch might be having a Jaret Patterson-like rise at Buffalo. After posting 172 yards on UMass, Burch quietly has four-straight 100-yard games, and Buffalo is 3-1 in those games (and the one loss was coming up one yard short at Western Michigan). He is the first Bull with four-straight 100-yard games since Patterson at the tail-end of 2019 and beginning of 2020.
• This was an extremely wacky first half. We had a safety, which briefly made the score 7-5 UMass. Both teams muffed punts, which led to points off turnovers. The special teams madness was everywhere. Buffalo had a 71-yard kick return. UMass missed a field goal. Also, the second quarter featured 10 combined possessions.

Western Michigan 21, Central Michigan 14

• Jalen Buckley is heating up (150 rushing yards, 2 TD in this game). Western Michigan only threw eight passes compared to grounding the ball 45 times. The October/November/December 2025 Broncos are back.
• Buckley didn't even break off a big run like usual — his max was just 20 yards. This game featured him consistently chipping away at the Chippewa defense, bullying his way for extra yards. And it worked. He accounted for 55 percent of Western Michigan's offensive production.
• This game never felt particularly close, until Central Michigan recovered a late onside kick after cutting the deficit to seven in the final seconds. It was kind of "oh shoot, how did this end up as a one-score game"? This had more of the domination feel to it.
• I predicted this would be one of the shortest games of the season due to both teams' running tendencies and it being broadcast on ESPN+. The game ended at 4:47 p.m. ET after a 1:30 p.m. ET scheduled kickoff. Well under allotted 3.5 hours but still a bit longer than I anticipated.
• Rivalries are the best. Freddy Brown and Palmer Domschke sprinted toward the Victory Cannon at NFL Combine-esque speeds as soon as the final whistle sounded just to lift the trophy first. This matchup still has a big-game feel to it every single year. Great embodiment of what college football is about with everything else going on right now.

Toledo 34, Eastern Michigan 14

• You can't lead off this game without mentioning Andrew Zock. He was an absolute force and laid his claim to being this year's MAC Defensive Player of the Year. The reigning Buck Buchanan Award winner — FCS top defensive player — completely overpowered Eastern Michigan's offensive line. He registered nine tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, and NINE quarterback pressures in this win. Whew. What a performance.
• Toledo's defensive line had other dominant contributors as well. Defensive end Ezra Odinjor added two sacks and three quarterback pressures, while Lucas Lambert-Pipkin also feasted in the backfield, recovering a key fumble which set Toledo for an early field goal.
• Last week looked kind of fluky for Toledo, but all credit goes to Buffalo. This Rockets team looked exactly like the same one that dominated San Diego State and Ball State, while staging an impressive comeback to beat Temple.
• Eastern Michigan is 3-1 in MAC play (wins over Sacramento State, UMass, and Akron), but do they have the assertiveness in the trenches to be a MAC contender? Toledo won the sack battle 6-0 and the Eagles' run game was stuffed from the get-go due to a lack of push at the line of scrimmage.
• The beauty of this Toledo team is that any skill position player can uncork a stellar performance at any time. We've seen three different wide receivers go for 100 yards receiving and now three different running backs go for 100 yards rushing, after Autavius Ison ran for 104 and a touchdown Saturday.

Miami (OH) 34, Akron 14

• This is one of the more lopsided series in the MAC. Miami has now won all nine matchups over Akron since 2017. Only one of those nine was decided by single-digits.
• Miami dramatically shifted its run/pass splits since David McComb suffered a season-ending injury. The RedHawks ran 59 percent of the time two weeks ago vs. Bowling Green, 63 percent of the time last week vs. UMass, and 69 percent of the time vs. Akron. In McComb's three starts against FBS competition, the RedHawks passed 64 percent, 50 percent, and 52 percent of the time. The new run-heavy approach worked against Akron. Miami hadn't had a rusher eclipse 70 yards all season, but Rodney Nelson accumulated 142 on Saturday.
• Scoop Smith remains one of the most fun players in the MAC. He had a 69-yard run in this game.
• Grant Lyons has done an exceptional job replacing Adam Trick as Miami's top defensive end. This is his fifth year as a RedHawk, and he's been a great example of how well Chuck Martin and his staff's player development program is. Lyons was all over Akron in this one with two sacks and six tackles.
• No Akron quarterback threw an interception through the first three weeks, but turnovers are quickly becoming an issue. Brayden Roggow tossed four picks on Saturday, and the Zips now have the fifth-most giveaways in the FBS, owning a minus-6 in turnover margin this year.

South Florida 29, Kent State 2

• Kent State became the first team to score exactly 2 points in a game since UMass did on Nov. 20, 2020 at Florida Atlantic.
• The Golden Flashes may be the only FBS team to lose by 50+ twice this year, but this defense has been good more often than bad. Saturday night was a quality showing in Tampa. True freshman Dion'Dre Taylor forced a safety. Rocco Nicholl balled out against his former program. Kent State stuffed South Florida's run game to 78 yards on a 2.4 average, while posting four sacks and eight tackles for loss. Ohio and Ball State struggled against this unit as well.
• Kent State is now dead last in scoring offense at 12.0 points per game after managing just a safety in Tampa. The Golden Flashes didn't even score a touchdown against an FBS non-conference opponent, losing to South Carolina, Ohio State, and USF by a combined score of 145-5. Kent State has now lost 32 consecutive regular season non-conference games to FBS teams, most recently defeating Army in 2014.
• The lack of a run game has really put the pressure on Dru DeShields to produce this year. Only Oklahoma averages fewer rushing yards per carry than Kent State's 2.93. Quarterback Dru DeShields remains the only player on the roster to exceed 70 yards rushing this season, doing so in both wins.

Ohio 48, Sacramento State 7

• I'm still getting used to MAC teams playing in the traditional #Pac12AfterDark timeslot.
• Things went from bad to worse for Sacramento State. Starting quarterback Carson Conklin remains out with a wrist injury and backup quarterback Jackson Sharman left the game after taking a brutal hit. That leaves Brian Salazar Jr. as the Hornets' QB. At least he showed signs of promise in garbage time, leading the only touchdown drive of the night.
• Ohio has been a completely different offense with Nick Poulos this year. The Bobcats average 32.3 points per game with Poulos in the lineup and have won their first halves by a combined score of 58-0 the last two weeks. The quarterback went 11-of-14 for 165 yards and rushed for 48 on five attempts in Saturday night's blowout.
• Ohio is really good at running the dang ball, and it doesn't matter who. Duncan Brune, Irving Brown, Victor Rosa, or any of the quarterbacks. The Bobcats rank top 25 in rushing for a third-straight season.