Western Michigan defeated Bowling Green, Louisville rebounded from last week’s loss, and Cincinnati made it three in a row as the top of the MAC tightened up.

Western Michigan edged Bowling Green 24-17 in a game that lived up to the intense rivalry between these two teams. 

WMU Head Coach chalked it all up to the early losses to Notre Dame College and Indiana.

“I think we learned from both of those games,” said Allen. “They exposed our weaknesses and that’s what we’ve been working on since.”

Better attack structure and better running lines, especially, are what made the Broncos better in conference play. With hooker and captain Manny Bravo leading the effort on defense, WMU came away with a key victory.

But Western Michigan has beaten Bowling Green before only to see the Falcons go further in the playoffs. The key now, said Allen, is to keep learning.

Bearcats On A Roll

Cincinnati started the season with a distressing 38-0 loss to IUPUI. But since then the Bearcats have been unbeaten, taking down Ohio, Louisville, and this week, Dayton. John George scored three tries in a 48-10 Cincy win as the Bearcats move to 3-1.

Louisville Rebounds

Louisville was not happy about last week’s 22-17 loss to Cincinnati, and bounced back nicely this week.

“It was a good feeling to win,” said Louisville Head Coach Emil Walton. “Last week we shot ourselves in the foot by playing an over-complicated gameplan. This week we simplified the system a bit and we played a little bit better than they did.”

They being IUPUI, as the Cardinals ran out 48-12 winners.

“Last week was a good eye-opener for us, and we realized you can’t take a step back against anyone,” said Walton. “This is one of the toughest conferences in the country.”

Terran Meek came off the bench to score three tries.

There’s still plenty of rugby to play, with Louisville against Western Michigan October 12, Cincinnati against Bowling Green October 19, and Louisville vs Bowling Green as well as WMU v UC a week later.

The conference playoffs commence November 9.