Last week, we previewed the Sun Belt, providing a list of players to watch, a few surprise teams, and our respective picks to win the conference championship.
This week, we’ll examine the Mid-American conference, which we refer to as #MACtion because of all of the exciting contests that it produces during throughout the course of the year.
Question: Who is the player to watch in the MAC in 2016?
Terry Johnson:
On Twitter @SectionTPJ
Without question, it’s Toledo’s Kareem Hunt.
Make no mistake about it: when he’s healthy, Hunt is one of – if not the – top running backs in the country. Assuming the starting role midway through the 2013 campaign, Hunt didn’t disappoint, running for 91 yards or more in every start, cracking the century mark in all but one of them. In 2014, he was even better, finishing third in the country in rushing yards per game, averaging 163.1 yards per contest and a whopping 7.96 yards per carry. Those numbers include a stellar 15-carry, 148-yard performance against SEC East Champion Missouri early in the season.
Last year, he was equally impressive even though his numbers weren’t as high. Despite the fact that he hampered by injuries early in the year and ran behind an inexperienced offensive line, Hunt led the MAC in yards per game again in 2015 with 108.11 per contest.
Expect him to pick up right where he left off last year when ran for an average of 136.25 yards per game in the last four contests of the regular season. Even if he splits carries with Terry Swanson (943 yards, 6.45 yards per carry last year), he’ll be the MAC’s leading rusher for the third straight season.
Kevin Causey
On Twitter @CFBZ
My pick for player to watch is Western Michigan QB Zach Terrell. Terrell’s 67% completion rate was second in the MAC in 2015 to only BGSU’s Matt Johnson. Terrell also had a very good TD to INT ratio of 29:9 and averaged a MAC best 9.0 yards per attempt.
Terrell took a ton of sacks last year and if he can make improvements in that department, he can really help his team and his stats will only improve. Returning experience on the offensive line will also help this.
Western Michigan looks like they could be on the verge of something special and Terrell is the most pivotal player on the team.
Bart Doan
On Twitter @TheCoachBart
So I’ll be doubling down on my adoration of Buffalo Bulls adoration under Lance Leipold and go with running back Jordan Johnson. He rumbled around for 811 yards and 12 touchdowns as a backup to Anthone Taylor, who has departed.
Johnson is a former high school quarterback converted and is a pile driver once he gets into the second level. It looks like Buffalo, breaking in a new quarterback to replace Joe Licata, will lean heavily on that running game. Johnathan Hawkins is his backup and he should get some good run, too, so maybe the answer to this is “the Buffalo running game” rather than a single player.
If there’s an issue, it’s that only one starter returns along the offensive line, so there’s a lot working against this running game being potentially as stellar as they’ll need it to be. Just, the guess here is that you haven’t heard the last of Johnson, and in some cases probably, even the first. That should change this fall.
Joe Dexter
On Twitter @BuckeyeRadio
Though many believe that the Bowling Green aerial offense won’t miss a beat under new head coach Mike Jinks — Central Michigan’s Cooper Rush is the best pure passer in the conference and makes the big plays that make any quarterback a player to watch.
Generally, you want the running game to give you a really good chance to convert on third down. The Chippewas just didn’t have that ability in 2015. They averaged less than 105 running yards per game, which was 12th best in the conference.
Central Michigan averaged nearly eight yards to go per third down last season. Yet somehow, Rush and the offense were able to convert 44 percent of those conversion attempts.
That’s what makes Rush an exciting player. When his offense is against the wall, he makes things happen.
On third down with 10 or more yards to go, Rush completed 72 percent of his passes last season. With the game tied, he completed 73 percent of his passes. Sixteen of those 25 pass touchdowns came in the red zone — with zero interceptions.
What adds to the excitement is the hype from pro scouts and media types, who believe Rush is a top five quarterback in the 2017 draft class.
Not only will the Lansing Catholic prep legend have every chance to break any records still left standing CMU legend Dan LeFevour — he can prove on a national scale that he belongs with the big boys.
How do you match a program record 3,848 yards passing in the the Morris Watts up-tempo offense?
It starts with major performances against power five opponents Oklahoma State in week two and Virginia in week four.
Rush went 91/131 (69%) for 940 yards and three touchdowns last season against power five foes Oklahoma State, Syracuse, and Michigan State.
Having the best receiving corps as a whole in the MAC conference certainly will help Rush as well in 2016.
