The reduction of the size of the MAC may have helped the teams moving down to D2, but there is concern in the remaining four-team D1AA conference.
First off, Cincinnati had been touted by some coaches as an up-and-comer, but in the wake of the tragic death of one of their team leaders, the UC team has struggled mightily. They lost big in their opening conference matches and this past week lost via forfeit to Western Michigan.
That's a problem, especially in a four-team conference.
However, what this does is put control of their destiny in the hands of Western Michigan. The Broncos are 2-2, with two wins over Cincinnati and one loss each to Louisville and Bowling Green, both competitive. They could, conceivably, win their rematches to UofL and BGSU and finish 4-2 and perhaps even 1st. It won't be easy, but it's possible.
Meanwhile, just before Louisville took on Bowling Green in their second matchup in three weeks, Cardinals Director of Rugby Emil Walton announced to his team that he was stepping down. Did this announcement throw off the team? John-Henry Carstens, the 15s Head Coach, said no.
Carstens was still running the team and preparing them for the Bowling Green game.
"We played a very good Bowling Green team that was prepared for us," Carstens told GRR. "We got a red card and after that pur discipline let us down. We didn't maintain our composure, and we allowed 19 points in the last 17 minutes."
Carstens is big on clarity of role for each player, but "we lost sight of what we wanted to do and it became a scramble. All credit to Bowling Green, they really did their homework."
Still, Gus Dwyer has been a strong leader for the Louisville and he will be key for them going forward.
