Campus Watch

DeKalb, Ill. -- It's dark. It's dreary. The rain's arrived and is expected to fall most of the day. If it wasn't for the artificial turf the mud would be flying in a few hours, when UB and Northern Illinois get at it on Homecoming here at Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium.

Can I get on my soapbox for a minute? Doesn't matter. I am anyway. It cost $4.20 in tolls to drive the 30 miles from Naperville -- where there are hotels -- to DeKalb. There wasn't one toll stop, but three. Two of them were unattended and require exact change because, you know, everybody carries around $3-5 in change in their cars. Make that $6-10, presuming you're going back from where you came.

Luckily the personable and helpful women attending the one booth was able to clue me in and give me $2 in quarters so I could get off at the DeKalb exit. Thank you!

Why is it that states awash with toll booths all seem to be Democratic Party strongholds? Doesn't charging people to drive roads maintained with the help of federal dollars amount to double taxation?
Or is this how we raise taxes without raising taxes and maintain the large public sector work force that, in turn, keeps the party in the driver's seat? We certainly can ponder that question in good ole NY.

I could go on and on but enough. The rainy, windy conditions probably take the long passing game out of the equation today. Would expect NIU to stack the box against UB and force QB Alex Zordich to convert some first downs through the air. That hasn't been his forte although -- and this needs to be understood -- the receiving corps minus Alex Neutz has not impressed. You can't complete passes to receivers who can't get open.

I would expect to see the Bulls take the same approach to containing NIU running QB Jordan Lynch. Zordich's one third-down pass conversion last week was one more than Lynch had against Ball State. The conditions suggest this could turn into a low-scoring, defense-dominated affair although I've said that before and missed the target by miles.

Two hours til kickoff.....

-- Bob DiCesare

DeKalb, Ill. -- If the forecast proves accurate then thunderstorms could complicate UB's 3:30 start at Northern Illinois today. They're calling for a 90% chance of rain around kickoff with the potential for strong storms. If lightning's spotted the game is delayed for a specified period. I can't remember how long that is though. Thirty minutes? An hour? Hopefully we won't find out.

-- Bob DiCesare

ATHENS, Ohio -- We're headed to the fourth quarter tied at 24 with Ohio at the UB 1.

-- Bob DiCesare

ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio has scored 21 unanswered points to lead UB, 21-14, at halftime at Peden Stadium. The Bobcats have taken advantage of two UB fumbles for scoring drives of 14 and 15 yards, along with a 100-yard kickoff return for a TD.

Devin Campbell got the call at RB for UB and is well on pace for a 100-yard-plus game.

-- Bob DiCesare

It look like a whole new offensive playbook as UB takes a 14-7 lead after the first quarter at Peden Stadium. The Bulls ran double reverses, used Alex Dennison at QB in the wildcat and started Devin Campbell at running back. They also forced a turnover for just the second time this year, as Najja Johnson picked Tyler Tettleton on a long pass thrown to the UB 7. Campbell (4-yard run) and Devon Hughes (10-yard reception) have the UB TDs. Ohio's score came on Daz Patterson's 100-yard kickoff return after UB made it 14-0.

-- Bob DiCesare

ATHENS, Ohio -- Made it to my second Athens of the season (Georgia in September) and third career (Greece, 2004). The area reminds me of St. Bonaventure in that the campus sits alongside a river in rather rural country.

Peden Stadium's another sweet Mid-American Conference facility. Love the brick facades that encircle the stadium and the proximity of the seats to the playing field. Very intimate feel.

Other MAC games on the schedule today:
Kent Sate at Eastern Michigan
Bowling Green at Akron
UMass at Western Michigan
Central Michigan at Toledo
Northern Illinois at Ball State

There's one non-conference game: Miami at Cincinnati

MAC Standings
EAST
Kent 2-0
Miami 2-0
Ohio 1-0
Bowling Green 0-1
Buffalo 0-1
Akron 0-1
UMass 0-2

WEST
Toledo 2-0
Northern Illinois 1-0
Ball State 1-1
Central Michigan 0-1
Western Michigan 0-1
Eastern Michigan 0-1

-- Bob DiCesare

There were five MAC matchups last weekend. In three of them it took at least 35 points to pull out a victory. In the other two the winning team scored at least 37 anyway.

The points are coming fast and furious, none quicker than in Saturday's Big 12 shootout between West Virginia and Baylor (70-63. Are you kidding me?).

Here's what current Ohio and former Nebraska coach Frank Solich had to say this week on offenses run amok:

"I think defenses have had trouble adjusting to the style of offensive play now. Usually that happens for a while and they catch up, but this style of offense has now been around for some time. You get the no-huddle, quick snaps. You get the spread-out formations. I think everyone's able to recruit really talented skill people. I think there's a lot of talented receivers out there, enough for everybody to have talented receivers on their football team. The MAC's got a history of being able to recruit very, very talented quarterbacks.

"And so I think in our league, we're utilizing all that now. And it's making it tough on defenses. And everybody has such a good short-passing package, it's almost like a running play, some of the short passing game. And so it's very difficult to blitz those kind of routes and get to the quarterback. I think it's a tough package to handle and I think defenses around the country are finding that to be true.

". . . I don't think anybody's got a direct answer for it right now."

-- Bob DiCesare

UB junior linebacker Khalil Mack was named MAC East Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against UConn. Here's the announcement from the release on the MAC Web site:

UB coach Jeff Quinn said on this morning's MAC coaches conference call that RB Bo Oliver remains day to day and would have played Saturday at UConn is he'd had his way. I'm not so sure about that. Oliver was walking with an obvious limp and wouldn't have been able to give the Bulls much if anything against the Huskies. Could he play Saturday at Ohio? I'd say he's doubtful but we'll see if the Bulls main offensive weapon makes it back to practice this week. He hasn't been on the field since hurting the leg (I'm guessing knee) late in the first half against Kent State.

-- Bob DiCesare

Nothing rivaled West Virginia-Baylor but the offenses went wild in the Mid-American Conference over the weekend. Here's a look at what went down aside from UB's 24-17 loss at UConn:

Ohio (5-0, 1-0) 37, UMass (0-5, 0-2) 34: The Minutemen are no longer the pushovers they were early in the season. Unbeaten Ohio needed a 17-point fourth quarter to escape with a road win. JR RB Beau Blankenship had the third-biggest running day in school history, rambling for 269 yards on 43 carries and scoring twice. He was a high school teammate of Bobcats QB Tyler Tettleton (son of former MLB catcher Mickey Tettleton). UB's at Ohio at noon Saturday.

Toledo (4-1, 2-0) 37 , Western Micigan (2-3, 0-1) 17: Lockport High's Dave Fluellen continues to excel for the Rockets. Fluellen ran 21 times for 213 yards and 3 TDs and caught five balls for another 34 yards. The Toledo @ NIU game on Nov. 14 should decide the West.

Kent State (3-1, 2-0) 45, Ball State (3-2, 1-1) 43: Freddy Cortez hit a 25-yard FG with six seconds left to rescue the Golden Flashes. KSU's Dri Archer remains the most electric player in the MAC: 8 carries for 72 yards, 3 catches for 104 yards and two TDs and a 98-yard KO return for a TD, his second of the season. Ball State QB Keith Wenning was sensation, completing 32 of 43 for 445 yards and 5 TDs a week after the Flashes held Buffalo to 5 of 25 passing. Hmmm.

Miami (3-2, 2-0) 56, Akron (1-4, 0-1): RedHawks scoreed deciding TD with 1:04 left. QB Zac Dysert lit it up, completing 34 of 49 for 516 yards and 6 TDs. Meanwhile, Terry Bowden's definitely turning things around in Akron. QB Dalton Williams went 32 of 42 for 446 with 4 TDs and RB Jawon Chisholm carried 21-152-2.

Northern Illinois (4-1, 1-0) 55, Central Michigan (2-2, 0-1) 24: QB Jordan Lynch had an off-day passing (14-32-214) but another big day on the ground (21-144-1) for the Huskies. Buffalo visits NIU in two weeks.

Bowling Green (2-3, 0-1) 48, Rhode Island 8: The Falcons stepped down in class for a routine victory. QB Matt Schilz was 20-27-281 with 2 TDs.

-- Bob DiCesare