Bowling Green Mac Championship Game

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Published 10:39 AM EST Dec 4, 2015

Bowling Green and Northern Illinois will meet for the third consecutive season in the Mid-American Conference football championship game on Friday night at Ford Field in Detroit (8 p.m., ESPN2).

Dec 04, 2015  But Bowling Green (10-3) quashed NIU's momentum and re-established a commanding lead as Travis Greene punched it in from 1 yard out for his second touchdown of the game to make it 34-14 early in. Dec 01, 2014  Bowling Green doesn't have a long history in the MAC Championship Game, but last year might have been the start of a run of appearances for the Falcons. Nov 23, 2018  Either a win at Bowling Green or an Ohio loss to Akron guaranteed the Bulls a spot in the MAC championship game in Detroit. Mar 09, 2020  Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. 2 Bowling Green (6:30 PM) Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. 3 Ball State (9:00 PM). Ball State won its third MAC West championship in the last five years, beating out Northern.

The next act in this rivalry has a different feel from the prior two productions. That's because the Falcons (9-3, 7-1) boast the nation's top passer in Matt Johnson while the Huskies (8-4, 6-2) will start a freshman walk-on in Tommy Fiedler. Fiedler began the season fifth on the depth chart.

Bowling Green Mac Championship Game

Injuries at the quarterback position could have crippled NIU but somehow coach Rod Carey got his team through to its sixth consecutive MAC West Division crown.

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Nov 30, 2015  The Falcons appeared in just one of the first 16 MAC Championship games, but 2015 will mark their third straight shot at a MAC crown. Detroit really is. 24 rows  The MAC Football Championship Game is a football game between the winners of the East and West divisions of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) to determine the conference champion. The game has been played since 1997, when the conference was first divided into divisions and since 2003 has been sponsored by Marathon Petroleum (officially known as the. Kartridge mac vs pc games.

Huskies starter Drew Hare, a standout in last year's MAC title game, suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in a victory over Toledo on Nov. 3. Veteran backup Anthony Maddie, a junior, was lost for the season in September after having back surgery. So on came redshirt freshman Ryan Graham, who led NIU past Toledo, Buffalo and Western Michigan, before injuring his leg in a loss to Ohio on Nov. 24.

Ready or not, it's now Fiedler's time. The 6-foot-2, 192-pound left-hander out of LaGrange, Ill., completed 9 of 17 attempts for 113 yards and a touchdown in his pressed-into-action debut against Ohio.

'I think a lot of people would like to have our problem where you're in a championship game and you're starting a fifth-string, walkon quarterback,' Carey said. 'We give a lot of credit to our guys. They've persevered. They've done what we've asked them to do. They've really listened and that's the key. They've taken the attitude that it doesn't matter who is in (at quarterback). We have expectations and we are going to meet them. '

Behind a potent ground attack led by Joel Bouagnon, the MAC's leading rusher who ranks fourth in the country in rushing TDs with 18, the Huskies put aside their issues at QB and are again on the cusp of a conference title.

Games like word crossy for mac. 'That's been the thing we've had to hang our hat on this year,' Carey said. 'It really starts and ends with the running game. Joel has been a huge part how he's handled this role. We said that going into the year. He took it seriously in his preparation of how he attacked things. '

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Standing in the way is Bowling Green and Johnson, who tossed a MAC championship game record five touchdown passes in a win over NIU in 2013. Johnson has empathy for the wounded NIU QBs. He missed most of the 2014 season due to a hip injury.

The time away from the playing field actually wound up paying dividends, Johnson said.

'It was a huge year for me last year because everything I couldn't do physically I was able to do mentally,' Johnson said. 'I wasn't able to practice in the offense or play in the offense but I was able to watch the offense grow. I got to see why things were done, why plays were called in certain situations. When the offense was having success I got to see why. I also got to see why were struggling.

'I really got to get an almost behind-the-scenes look through a coach's eyes because all I could do was watch and stay locked in mentally. '

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The 6-foot, 219-pound senior from Harrisburg, Pa., seems laser-focused, throwing for 4,465 yards and 41 touchdowns completing 68.9% of his passes in coach Dino Babers' fast-paced, wide-open offense. Babers who has developed NFL quarterback talent in previous coaching stops at Eastern Illinois, Baylor and UCLA, has been blown away by Johnson's play.

'I've never had a quarterback play at the level that Matt Johnson is playing,' Babers said. 'The only quarterback I've had go through two years of this system is Tom Brady's backup, Jimmy Garoppolo (at Eastern Illinois). Matt is playing at that type of level which is extremely exciting for us.'

The most valuable player in the '13 MAC title game seems fit to play the starring role again.

That brings Babers calm, Carey envy.

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'When he's relaxed and his abilities rise to the top he's an exceptional quarterback,' Babers said of Johnson.

Bowling Green Mac Championship Game 2017

'Matt really has complete control,' Carey said. 'You give him a lot of credit because he looks it on the field. He knows exactly what he wants to do and when he wants to do it. His confidence and control of what he's trying to do out there is very impressive.'

Published 10:39 AM EST Dec 4, 2015