Week 7 MACtion Power Rankings & A pregame snoozer carried on to field
EMU lacked energy, from the sidelines to the tailgate lot, before yesterday's game even started.
I still can’t believe how quiet everybody was yesterday. In general, nobody should expect Eastern Michigan fans to show out by the tens of thousands and get unreasonably rowdy and downright belligerent about much. The attendance, of course, doesn’t reach Power 4 levels of interest, which really doesn’t bother me much but the game day engagement from the few fans that do show up to these home games is non-existent and contagious in the worst way.
Actually, I’m starting to think that “fanatic” is the wrong choice to let people have just because they went to a football game and wore school colors. Until further notice, EMU’s home stands will be recognized as “game-attenders.”
Turn the volume up in your headphones as much as you can and listen to EMU’s tailgate scene, a little over an hour before kickoff:
Feel the passion. Feel the excitement.
Even during the game, there were a lot of stretches where the home side was just quiet. The crowd barely got loud for its defense, and the Miami players could easily communicate without screaming and hovering over any noise. Sure things got much more dim when Miami ran away with the game in the fourth quarter, but the crowd didn’t help create an atmosphere where there could’ve been a home-field advantage in the first place.
A win wouldn’t have clinched anything for EMU, but yesterday really should’ve been treated as a must-win opportunity for the football team. The Detroit Tigers were in the middle of a playoff game that received video board updates and viewings, and The Temptations came through with a special halftime performance with EMU’s band, and those moments got some rise from the crowd.
Why didn’t EMU’s game-attenders come with any real excitement for the game, even when the team was down in the second half?
The same can be said for what happened on the field. In the pregame, only one team got loud and amplified for the conference matchup, and it was the team with the lower record (Miami entered 1-4 overall). Miami chanted and rooted together as a team toward the end of its pregame time, and I don’t recall EMU matching that level of excitement one time in the three-and-a-half hours that followed.
EMU didn’t match Miami’s aura, and falling behind just 10 seconds into the game felt symbolic of how casually EMU, from its sideline to its home stands, treated the afternoon.
MAC Football Power Rankings through Week 7
I, too, love how true this has been across the sport this season:
Even if we narrow our scope to this conference, Chris Vaninni’s note isn’t something nobody’s thinking about. No team has been consistently on top of any league and there’s no bottom-feeder that looks completely hopeless for the entire season. I’m not willing to bet that anybody’s a safe pick to finish the year 0-12 or 1-11. We haven’t gotten to this point yet, but it’s already looking like one of those seasons where a #12 team from one of my MAC power rankings lists is going to beat a #1 team and we’ll all have to act like we didn’t see any of it coming.
Here’s how I have the MAC’s teams listed in this week’s hopeless exercise:
Buffalo (4-2, 2-0 MAC | Last week’s rank: 3) — Ranked Northern Illinois: defeated. Toledo: dismantled. Buffalo’s off to the most impressive start in the MAC with this win, and a 30-15 victory over Toledo’s a good way to get everybody to forget that they ever got blown out by UConn.
Toledo (4-2, 1-1 MAC | LW: 1) — Rough loss at Buffalo, and it seems like I might’ve been onto something with my suspicions about Toledo’s run game (46 rush yards, 1.8 per carry). Doesn’t help when Toledo scores zero points with its starting QB and the backup comes in to finally give his team some scores.
Western Michigan (3-3, 2-0 MAC | LW: 7) — This is where the rankings get fun and nearly impossible to stand on. Nobody’s had a perfect start to the year, and so much of the middle can be re-ordered for whatever reason people decide. Even though WMU had a weak start to Akron, the offense still got 24 points on the board in the second quarter and scored 10 more points in the second half after a lengthy weather delay.
Ohio (4-2, 2-0 MAC | LW: 6) — A 21-point third quarter gave Ohio enough of a boost to need just three more points in each of the first and fourth quarters to get by CMU (27-25). Also, 283 rushing yards is a good look no matter who the opponent is.
Northern Illinois (4-2, 1-1 MAC | LW: 5) — NIU’s defense must’ve put a scare into Bowling Green’s offense in yesterday’s 17-7 road win. The Falcons were limited to 1 of 13 on third downs and its passing attack was slightly out-played by NIU’s. Huskies went 3 of 4 in field goals, and Gavin Williams had his second-straight 100-yard rushing performance without Antario Brown Saturday.
Miami OH (2-4, 1-1 MAC | LW: 8) — Is Miami swinging in the right direction? Or did they meet EMU at a very opportune time? Opening MAC play with Toledo was tough, but bouncing back and never trailing in a road game has got to feel good for the traveling team.
Eastern Michigan (4-2, 1-1 MAC | LW: 4) — EMU regularly struggles to find a rhythm on offense, and that really bit the team yesterday against Miami. Seeing 8 of 18 on third downs in the box sheet means that there were a lot of failed first and second downs just to get to that many third down tries.
Bowling Green (2-4, 1-1 MAC | LW: 2) — BG just isn’t playing up to its capabilities. For as much as I think BG won some goodwill with its Penn State and Texas A&M showings, losing to both NIU and Old Dominion at home while losing a step on offense has been rough to watch.
Central Michigan (3-3, 1-1 MAC | LW: 9) — Fought back in the second half to get into Ohio’s big first-half lead. If it weren’t for all of the other movements in this ranking, I’d probably consider moving the Chips up here.
Ball State (2-4, 1-2 MAC | LW: 10) — Ball State’s looking like the most MACtion-y team in the league right now. I’m serious, look at these final scores: 37-34 loss to CMU, 45-42 loss to WMU, and now a 37-35 win over Kent State. That’s just good stuff.
Akron (1-6, 0-3 MAC | LW: 11) — Got off to a two-score lead before Western Michigan wiped it away. I really, really do love that everybody at the bottom-end of this list played with a pulse over the weekend.
Kent State (0-6, 0-2 MAC | LW: 12) — I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Tommy Ulatowski is the MAC’s biggest arm since Ben Roethlisberger. Dude turned a 3rd & 24 into a 63-yard touchdown throw to Chrishon McCray. He finished the day 47% passing, but with 394 yards, 4 TD and 1 INT. (Also: if it weren’t for a missed field goal in the first half, Kent State probably would’ve come away with the win.)
Glad you're addressing the crowd noise. We had a pretty good sized crowd yesterday for the MAC home opener, yet it seemed like the quietest game this year. I think between the low energy look of the team, first play Miami touchdown, and all the costly penalties, it sucked any and all enthusiasm from the crowd...I caught myself yawning during the game.
It is a problem though. I'm one of usually two or three people in my vicinity that gets loud on third downs. I heard the crowd cheer after The Temptations and couldn't help but think, "what if it sounded like this before big plays on defense?" It frustrates me to see people take in the game like they're watching a theater performance. Get involved people!
Regardless, the product on the field has to warrant it. Yesterday's performance felt lifeless and it never really seemed like EMU was threatening. There wasn't a whole lot for the crowd to cheer for after the initial response touchdown.
Last note, I think splitting up the parking definitely has an effect on the tailgating scene. Driving by, it seems the VIP lot has bigger tailgates than those in the general lots. In person though, I didn't feel that the scene yesterday was that bad. We just really need to work on fan involvement during the games.