Two Huge, Close Games in MAC Make for Exciting Late Fall
Two Huge, Close Games in MAC Make for Exciting Late Fall
In another example of how competitive it is in the Mid American Conference, GRR #11 Louisville beat GRR #12 Western Michigan 36-30 in a back-and-forth encounter.
Louisville trailed in the second half before a yellow card for a high tackle put WMU down a player, and the Cardinals punished the Broncos with two converted tries to help turn the game around.
"We had too many handling errors," lamented the winning Head Coach, Emil Walton. Despite that, Louisville battled back repeatedly in a game where the lead changed hand throughout.
"It was a really well-played game," said WMU Head Coach Mark Allen, who got big performances from No. 8 and captain Will McNamara and freshman (Neuqua HS) center Nick Pastore. "This is a competitive conference and Louisville didn't back down. We were up 12-3 and then down 19-12. It was that kind of game. It was a deserved yellow card against us and Louisville scored 14 points on us during that time and that was big."
Aaron Stevenson, who was injured while playing for Louisville against Kentucky, returned to the lineup at inside center and was monumental. With the Cardinals' leading scorer, Chris Reithmeier, out with a broken leg, they were concerned about their backline attack, but Stevenson filled that gap brilliantly.
Meanwhile, in another close one, the University of Cincinnati won a battle of 2-1 teams as the #15 Bearcats beat #30 IUPUI 15-7.
While we're still waiting on the Ohio University vs Dayton result, here's how the standings look right now:
| MAC Standings Oct 16 | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | Pts |
| Bowling Green | 5 | 0 | 0 | 259 | 62 | 197 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| Louisville | 4 | 1 | 0 | 132 | 77 | 55 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| Western Michigan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 201 | 142 | 59 | 5 | 1 | 18 |
| Cincinnati | 3 | 1 | 0 | 119 | 39 | 80 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| IUPUI | 2 | 2 | 0 | 77 | 70 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 4 | 0 | 43 | 160 | -117 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ohio University | 0 | 4 | 0 | 56 | 196 | -140 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Dayton | 0 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 174 | -151 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bowling Green and Louisville look set to be the top two going into the semifinals, however they do have two games left, with Louisville facing Ohio and IUPUI, and BGSU taking on IUPUI and Cincinnati.
For UC, they take on Pitt, Western Michigan, and Bowling Green, so have some work to do to keep that top four spot and a place in the semis. IUPUI needs to win next week at against Dayton and then see what they can get out of games against Bowling Green and Louisville. one upset could get them a semifinal spot.
After playing Cincinnati, WMU plays Dayton. You get the feeling the Western Michigan-Louisville rivalry isn't over.
