Monday MAC Musings: 2025 Week 4

Welcome to Week 4 of Monday MAC Musings, where we list every thought that arose during each week’s MAC football slate.

Week 4 featured 11 games, divided into 10 non-conference battles and one conference matchup between Western Michigan and Toledo. UMass was the only team in the league to take its bye. In the 10 non-conference games, the MAC finished 4-6, faring a perfect 3-0 against the FCS.

It was a great week to be from Michigan as Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Western Michigan all triumphed, with the Eagles’ clutch victory over Louisiana serving as the league’s highest-quality Week 4 win. Without further ado, here are thoughts and statistical notes from Week 4:

Louisville 40, Bowling Green 17

• We’re not going to write about Bowling Green without at least one Pudge the Cat reference. Louisville treated the MAC’s most beloved cat like royalty Saturday, and Pudge even met Donovan Mitchell for a photo opportunity. There is something good and wholesome about Pudge’s rise to fame, and it’s cool to see other opponents playing it up. Pudge seems so nonchalant to it all too.
• A 40-17 loss isn’t great, especially considering Bowling Green trailed 33-3 at one point. But I think Louisville is consistently undersold in the college football landscape, and this is an extremely talented team. I did not understand how the Cardinals finished unranked in 2024 with three close losses to top teams (Notre Dame, SMU, Miami (FL)) and a dominant road win at Clemson with a 9-4 finish. Once again Louisville is 3-0 and ranked 31st based on the AP Poll ‘others receiving votes’ column.
• Four games in and we’re still waiting for Bowling Green to develop a consistent identity offensively. The Falcons need to find an M.O. in the post-Harold Fannin Jr. era. Right now they’re 119th in passing and 83rd in rushing, yet they’re 2-2 with losses to good opponents. But we need to see a star emerge on the Falcons, like a Fannin or Terion Stewart that can be consistently relied upon for significant gains. Look for Kaderris Roberts and Tyrin Johnson as candidates to fill that need.

UNLV 41, Miami (OH) 38

• Everything about this game had to sting for Miami. RedHawks start 0-2 in Big Ten country, finally get a home game, lead by 14 on two separate occasions including at the end of the third quarter. And then they find a way to lose in regulation on a last-second field goal. Miami needed this one badly.
• Miami started 0-3 last year and wound up with nine wins and a MAC Championship Game appearance. This has been a trend lately in Oxford. The RedHawks also went 1-3 in non-conference play when they won the MAC title in 2019. But this team is repeatedly locked in when MAC play initiates, having finished .500+ in conference every year since 2016. Miami is 14-2 vs. regular season MAC opponents the last two seasons, so you can never count this team out based on non-conference results.
• Really brutal to see Dequan Finn go down. The former MAC MVP was finally enjoying a fantastic start in his new home, hitting seven of his first 11 attempts for 131 yards and two touchdowns before suffering a scary lower-body injury on a play which resulted in a UNLV pick-six. He’s dealt with far too many injury problems in a seven-year college career, and it would be good to see the longtime MAC star return in his final season — although his timetable is TBD.
• Henry Hesson’s first drive in relief of Finn was excellent. He completed a nice deep shot to Kam Perry and I loved that shovel pass to Kenny Tracy (who had a magnificent game as a rusher and receiver) for a touchdown. Hesson showed strong potential that drive as offensive coordinator Pat Welsh continued to call an aggressive game. Miami was in attack mode early on and hit more explosives than usual, but we didn’t see as many down the stretch.
• Corban Hondru is one of the best ballhawk linebackers in college football. He picked off two passes Saturday and now has SEVEN interceptions in the last three years. Hondru is basically a defensive back in a linebacker’s body, and he jumps so many routes with immaculate timing. He finally got his first pick-six in the second half off a deflection from Adam Trick. I also loved that Hondru and Trick high-fived right before the goal line too.
• This is UNLV’s first-ever win in the Eastern Time Zone. The Rebels were previously 0-14.

Central Michigan 49, Wagner (FCS) 10

• Central Michigan spent three-straight games on the road in San Jose, Pittsburgh, and Ann Arbor before playing a home game in the Matt Drinkall era. That took a while, but this had to be a cathartic day for the Chippewas scoring 49 after averaging 12 across their first three contests.
• While other MAC schools like Kent State and Western Michigan ditched theirs, the two-quarterback system remains strong at Central Michigan. A lot of positives were shown by both quarterback Saturday. Joe Labas had one of his best passing performances ever, going an efficient 12-of-14 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Angel Flores also ran in two touchdowns in a 31-yard day. Expect it to continue moving forward. Drinkall can adjust the gameplan to either quarterback depending on what the defense gives him that day.

Florida State 66, Kent State 10

• This felt like a 2024 Kent State non-conference game. Florida State posted 775 yards of offense (third-most in program history) and a program-best 498 rushing yards. The Seminoles never punted — scoring nine touchdowns and one field goal, tossing one interception, and turning it over on downs with a couple seconds left.
• Kent State and Florida State only took two weeks to tie or surpass their 2024 win totals, so this was a matchup of two vastly improved teams. However, the Seminoles’ improvement showed a lot more Saturday in the 56-point drudging. Still, Kent State producing 10 points — including a 75-yard deep shot in the first quarter from Dru DeShields to DaShawn Martin — showed significant growth from last year.
• Kent State is really infamous for concocting the most brutal non-conference schedules. The formula is one FCS home game and three non-conference road games. Somehow Kent State always seems to face those non-conference road games at the worst possible time. Texas Tech, Florida State, and Oklahoma (the Flashes’ Week 5 opponent) are all in the AP top 12 right now. None of those teams even finished close to ranked in 2024.

UConn 31, Ball State 25

• UConn quietly has some stellar skill position players. Running back Cam Edwards and wide receiver Skyler Bell are explosive playmakers that had a huge hand in leading UConn to nine wins a year ago. It’s impressive Jim Mora Jr. retained both, and Edwards (24 rushes, 194 yards, 2 TD) and Bell (14 receptions, 113 yards, 1 TD) were the main reasons UConn won this game.
• It was promising to see Ball State initiate a reliable passing attack for the first time all season. Even in last week’s 34-29 affair vs. FCS Monmouth, the Cardinals were limited to 105 passing yards on 15 attempts. Kiael Kelly enjoyed his best game in that department this season, going 17-of-24 for 209 yards — his first 200-yard game in 10 starts.
• Ball State allowed four sacks to increase its average to 3.7 allowed per contest — third-to-last in the FBS. Kelly’s eagerness to scramble to keep plays alive will naturally make that sack total higher than if Ball State had a traditional pocket passer QB, but still, the offensive line certainly needs to shore up before MAC play. Trenches were the difference in this one.

Eastern Michigan 34, Louisiana 31

• Eastern Michigan does it! The Eagles finally get on board with a win in 2025. Rudy Kessinger delivered a game-winning 41-yard field goal with three seconds left to knock off Louisiana.
• This game had 2024 Eastern Michigan vs. Jacksonville State vibes all over it (a 37-34 Eastern Michigan win that involved a game-winning field goal), and that thought entered my head as early as the eventful second quarter which featured 24 points.
• Eastern Michigan is more renowned for its defensive prowess under Chris Creighton, but the Eagles made it clear from Week 1 that this will be a more offensive-oriented team. It was a quiet day for star receiver Terry Lockett Jr., but Noah Kim and Dontae McMillan still made the unit flow well by picking up consistent chunk plays. This offense, paired with the nation’s worst run defense, is going to make for some exciting shootouts come MAC play.
• Former Eastern Michigan kicker Jesus Gomez, now with Arizona State, hit a game-winner vs. Baylor later into the night. So two Eastern Michigan kickers hit game-winners on the same Saturday.

Troy 21, Buffalo 17

• This is the type of loss where you don’t even bother scrolling on your phone. You just stare blankly at the wall behind your TV and silently think to yourself… ‘How?’
• Buffalo led 17-0 after Jack Howes’ field goal with 14:56 remaining. At that point, the main question was, ‘Is Buffalo gonna pitch a shutout?’ Instead, the Bulls proceeded to allow 21 unanswered points in the final 11 minutes of action and there wasn’t even an onside kick. Buffalo went three-and-out on three-straight possessions.
• Ta’Quan Roberson’s health is going to be essential to Buffalo’s success. The quarterback is already a capable rusher and last week in the MAC opener, he proved his passing skills with a career-high 318 yards. Roberson suffered a lower leg injury in the third quarter which silenced Buffalo’s offense for the remainder of the game. We’ll await on clarification on the severity, but Buffalo needs him.
• Buffalo’s defense was immaculate through three quarters. Red Murdock, Dion Crawford, and the troops combined for seven sacks, compared to Troy’s zero. Buffalo won the turnover battle 2-0, forced five punts, and Troy had negative yards at one point in the second quarter. Once again, it’s unfathomable that Buffalo let this one slip.

Western Michigan 14, Toledo 13

• Yup, this was the definition of MACtion right here — a game not many thought would even be close, entering a sudden chaotic finish with an unreasonable amount of twists and turns. ESPN’s win probability graph had Toledo at 96.5% chance at winning with 1:24 remaining, yet Western Michigan triumphed in Kalamazoo.
• Western Michigan is finally done with the two-QB system. Broc Lowry earned his first start and took every snap at quarterback Saturday. It wasn’t the prettiest stat-line finishing 16-of-33 with 201 yards and an interception, along with a team-high 50 rushing yards and two ground scores, but Lowry showed tremendous poise in his clutch playmaking. He delivered a 43-yard completion to Tailique Williams on a do-or-die to set up the final touchdown. Then he ran in the final touchdown and subsequently, the two-point conversion for the victory.
• As soon as Western Michigan scored the touchdown down seven with 52 seconds left, my first thought was, ‘Lance Taylor needs to go for two here.’ Not only because the Broncos were double-digit home underdogs, but because Lowry is an established rushing threat on the goal line who knows how to read defenses very well — the personnel was perfect for the situation. That’s exactly what Western Michigan ran and Lowry made the perfect read to finish in the end zone.
• Western Michigan didn’t even score until the final minute of the third quarter, which was concerning considering the Broncos’ offense was shut out in two of their first three games — at Michigan State and at Illinois. However, now that they were able to get this win, the Broncos might just be decent. Their defense looked stellar for long stretches in those Big Ten games, and they nearly knocked off a potent North Texas squad in Week 2. Sure, the offense has massive room for improvement, but could this be a top 2-3 MAC team?

Ohio 52, Gardner-Webb (FCS) 35

• It was great to see Parker Navarro back in full health after missing most of the first half vs. Ohio State.
• This Ohio game unfolded exactly as you’d expect offensively. Navarro creates his typical dual-threat highlights, Chase Hendricks enjoys his third 8+ catch, 100+ yard game of the season, and the Bobcats just run all over Gardner-Webb. Sieh Bangura and Duncan Brune both got hat tricks of rushing touchdowns, as Ohio’s run game generated 319 yards. Even though they scored a combined 26 points in Weeks 2 and 3, all signs point to this as the best offense in the MAC.
• There are many MAC teams I’d be concerned if they went down 14-3 against an FCS opponent to end the first quarter. Ohio was not one of them.
• Allowing 35 points to an FCS school with three 40+ yard explosive touchdowns wasn’t the best look for Ohio. The Bobcats’ defense struggled Week 1 at Rutgers but played perfectly against West Virginia and looked quite stout in the first half vs. Ohio State. Overall, the concern level isn’t too high given those last data points, but the tackling in the secondary is worth monitoring. Also, Ohio shockingly had zero sacks this game on 30 Gardner-Webb dropbacks.

Mississippi State 38, Northern Illinois 10

• Northern Illinois ended some very impressive defensive streaks Saturday. 38 points allowed ended NIU’s 6-game streak of allowing 20 or fewer and 19-game streak of allowing 30 or fewer. Last time an opponent scored at least 38 on the Huskies was Akron in the 2022 regular season finale.
• NIU’s passing game looked as strong as it’s been in a while through the first half of this game. Josh Holst’s first touchdown pass of the year, a 24-yard corner route to DeAree Rogers over two Mississippi State defenders, was maybe the best throw I’ve seen from him. The Huskies’ passing game tailed off in the third quarter, but that was a better showing than usual — which was necessary because Mississippi State stacked the box to silence the run game.
• The Huskies’ defense played its usual caliber in the first half, forcing two three-and-outs and a four-and-out to limit Mississippi State to 14 at halftime. It was a solid start, but NIU desperately needed a turnover opportunity to stay in this game and didn’t get one.

Akron 51, Duquesne (FCS) 7

• This had to feel good for Akron.
• What a performance for Jordan Gant, who finished with 161 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries. It wasn’t like Gant had one long 75-yard touchdown either. It was just consistent lengthy pickups the entire game. His longest run was only 27 yards, yet he averaged 12.4 yards per carry. Akron has needed this type of showing from a running back for a while.
• Akron, which has been shut out twice this year, now averages the same amount of points per game as Clemson thanks to this 51-point barrage. The Zips and Tigers both collect 19.8 per game to rank 113th in the FBS. Also, that ranks seventh of the MAC’s 13 teams.