MAC Championship: #21 Northern Illinois vs #17 Kent State Preview

The Mid-American Conference has been quite the impressive conference this season. Most notably, the Northern Illinois Huskies and the Kent State Golden Flashes. Both teams I'm sure weren't projected to do much this season, but both have broken into the Top 25. Also, both teams have only had one loss each! Northern Illinois lost to Iowa while Kent State lost to Kentucky. Both teams are also obviously undefeated in the MAC. But that stops Friday!

Friday at 7:00 PM NIU takes on Kent State on ESPN2, for the MAC Championship. And although most people probably don't look toward the MAC for a good football game, they'll be in for a treat Friday night!

Northern Illinois is led by the MAC MVP, Jordan Lynch, a red-shirt junior, has had quite the impressive season this year, throwing for 2,750 yards for 23 touchdowns and only four touchdowns. Yeah, only four...

Jordan Lynch has over 2,750 yards passing, and 39 total TDs.

He has also rushed for 1,611 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns! I know Collin Klein, Johnny Manziel, Braxton Miller and others are being hyped for the Heisman, but why this guys name hasn't come up is beyond me.

Lynch has two very capable receivers in Martel Moore and Tommylee Lewis, who have combined for over 100 receptions, 1,400 yards and 16 touchdowns. But the help doesn't stop there. Northern Illinois also has running back Akeem Daniels, who has rushed for 304 yards and eight touchdowns.

NIU is obviously ranked high in rushing yards, averaging 245 yards per game (ranking them 9th in the nation for rushing). They are also averaging 40.5 points per game, and only allowing 17.5 points per game. Very impressive numbers.

Kent State isn't far behind NIU in passing yards, being ranked 11th in the nation with an average of 241.5 yards per game.

Kent State's QB, Spencer Keith has had a good season as well, throwing for over 1,500 yards, tossing 11 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. He has also punched four touchdowns into the endzone.

Kent State also has two very reliable running backs in Dri Archer and Trayion Durham.

Dri Archer has a total of 18 TDs this season.

Dri Archer has 138 carries this season for 1,337 yards. He has scored 14 rushing touchdowns. He also has 30 receptions for 458 yards, and four receiving touchdowns. Quite a dual-threat, he is quite the weapon Spencer Keith has at his side.

Trayion Durham has rushed the ball 236 times for 1,176 yards and scored 14 rushing touchdowns just like Archer.

Kent State's receivers haven't had quite the year as Northern Illinois'. The Golden Flashes have Josh Boyle and Eric Adeyemi as their two top receivers. They have combined for over 500 yards receiving, and 6 total touchdowns.

Both teams have been quite impressive this year. It has been fun watching them, and this game Friday should be very entertaining.

I just don't see Kent State being able to slow down Jordan Lynch. With Lynch being able to throw the ball, or rush it, he seems to be quite an unstoppable QB. I think the NCAA needs to look at this guy for a few more awards than what he's already got. But that's just my opinion...I'm just a writer!

I have NIU winning in this championship game! Make sure to tune into ESPN2 Friday night at 7:00!

Northern Illinois: 42
Kent State: 31

- Jackson McNamara

@jacksonmcnamara

Two MAC Matchups Tonight!

Tonight I encourage you to at least watch one of the two games that are lined up. I of course will be flipping channels between both. The Ohio Bobcats at Ball State Cardinals game kicks off at 8:00 PM ET on ESPNU, while the Toledo Rockets at Northern Illinois Huskies game begins at 9:00 PM ET and will air on ESPN2. Both games are MAC matchups featuring teams that have anywhere from only one to three losses on the season.

The Ohio Bobcats are sitting at 8-2 and are looking to take down the Ball State Cardinals who are 7-3. The Cardinals have the homefield advantage. The Bobcats have the higher rankings when it comes to rushing the ball, and allowing the least amount of points, meanwhile the Cardinals lead in passing yards. Both teams are scoring an average of about 33 points a game.

Beau Blankenship looks to lead the Bobcats past Ball State tonight.

The key here will be the Cardinals defense, who needs to be able to shut down the Bobcats rushing game, which is led by Beau Blankenship who has nearly 1,200 rushing yards, and eight touchdowns. They will also need to keep an eye on Ohio's dangerous junior quarterback Tyler Tettleton who has only thrown two interceptions in 171 completions, and 16 touchdowns. Tettleton's ability to throw the ball so accurately really opens up the running game for Blankenship, who is now in his junior year.

Ball State's offense is equip as well, with a junior quarterback by the name of Keith Wenning who has thrown for 2,705 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 10 picks. Also their running back Jahwan Edwards has over 1,000 rushing yards this season, and has punched it into the endzone 10 times.

Although neither team look to be able to be contenders for the MAC title, this game should definitely be a nice chess match of offense and defense. I'm looking forward to it.

At 9:00, the Toledo Rockets will travel to Huskie Stadium and look to beat the Northern Illinois Huskies. The Rockets are 8-2 overall this season while the Huskies are 9-1, only losing to Iowa in the beginning of the season. This is a big matchup as both teams are fighting for the top spot in the MAC West.

The Rockets are led by junior quarterback Terrance Owens who has thrown for 2,412 yards, 14 touchdowns, and only five interceptions. One of his favorite targets, junior wide out Bernard Reedy has over 900 yards receiving with six touchdowns. Also Rockets running back David Fluellen has surpassed the 1,000 yard mark and scored 12 rushing touchdowns.

Jordan Lynch is a dual-threat QB with over 3,000 total yards this season.

The Huskies will look to their 10th ranked rushing offense to wear the Rockets down and send the home fans happy. Although the Huskies rushing offense is ranked so high, most of the yardage is not coming from their junior running back who has recorded five touchdowns on the ground. Instead, the yards are coming from junior dual-threat quarterback Jordan Lynch, who has racked up 1,342 yards on the ground, and 16 touchdowns (that's not including his passing touchdowns)! Lynch also has 2,175 yards rushing, 19 touchdowns, and only three interceptions thrown.

I usually give keys to the game in the previews that I write. In this game, I really can't imagine saying there is any other key to the game than Jordan Lynch. Lynch has been amazing this year, with over 3,000 total yards and 25 total touchdowns. The Rockets need to shut this guy down to win this game. Putting pressure on him, causing him to make mistakes, and keeping him in the pocket is the way to win this game. If you let him run on you, or throw on you, it's all over.

The Rockets don't have the greatest defensive rankings, allowing about 27 points a game. Meanwhile the Huskies are only allowing an average of 17 points a game. NIU also averages scoring about 40 points a game, which makes them ranked 9th in the country for points scored. Most of those points are coming from Jordan Lynch. Again, stopping him is the key.

I think it's going to be rough for the Rockets to stop Lynch, but if they can, like I said before, they can win this ball game. This is another game that although it comes under the radar, it could be a really good game.

I hope you guys tune in to at least one of the two of these games. Like I said, I'll be watching both!

- Matt Lytle

@mattlytle