The 2019 Mid-American Conference football season was the 74th season for the Mid-American Conference (MAC). and is part of the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season will begin on August 29 and will end on November 30. The entire schedule was released on February 20, 2019. The MAC Championship Game will be held on December 7, 2019.
Preseason
Preseason Poll The MAC Preseason Poll will be released at the MAC Media Day On July 23, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan.
East
Ohio (24), 144 points Miami 107 points Buffalo 100 points Kent State 62 points Akron 54 points Bowling Green 37 points
West
Toledo (15), 127 points Western Michigan (5), 112 points Northern Illinois (3), 103 points Eastern Michigan 83 points Ball State 43 points Central Michigan (1), 36 points
(first place votes)
MAC Championship Ohio received 13 votes as the predicted 2019 MAC Championship Game winner. Toledo (7); Western Michigan (2); Northern Illinois (1) and Central Michigan (1) also received votes.
Head coaches
Coaching changes There will be three new head coaches in MAC for the 2019 season.
Mike Jinks was fired and replaced by Scot Loeffler at Bowling Green.
John Bonamego was fired and replaced by Jim McElwain at Central Michigan.
Rod Carey left Northern Illinois for Temple and was replaced by Thomas Hammock.
Coaches Team Head coach Previous Job Years at school Overall record MAC record MAC titlesAkron Tom ArthChattanooga 1 0Ball State Mike NeuNew Orleans Saints (QB coach) 4 0Bowling Green Scot LoefflerVirginia Tech Hokies (QB Coach) 1 0Buffalo Lance LeipoldWisconsin-Whitewater 5 0Central Michigan Jim McElwainFlorida 1 0Eastern Michigan Chris CreightonDrake 6 0Kent State Sean LewisSyracuse (Co Off. Coordinator) 1 0Miami Chuck MartinNotre Dame 5 0Northern Illinois Thomas Hammock Baltimore Ravens running backs coach 1 0Ohio Frank SolichNebraska 15 0Toledo Jason Candle Toledo (Off. Coordinator) 4 1Western Michigan Tim LesterPurdue (QB coach) 3 0
Schedule
Regular season The Regular season will begin on August 29 and will end on November 30
Index to colors and formattingMAC member wonMAC member lostMAC teams in bold
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
Week Eleven
Week Twelve
Week Thirteen
Week Fourteen
Championship Game Week Fifteen (MAC Championship game)
Mid-American vs other conferences 2019–2020 records against non-conference foes:
Regular Season
Power 5 ConferencesRecordACC0–4Big Ten1–9Big 120–1BYU/Notre Dame1–1Pac-120–2SEC0–4Power 5 Total2–21Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican1–1C-USA1–3Independents (Excluding BYU and Notre Dame)1–2Mountain West1–0Sun Belt2–2Other FBS Total5–8FCS OpponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision10–0Total Non-Conference Record17–29
Post Season
Power Conferences 5RecordACC0–1Big Ten0–0Big 120–0BYU/Notre Dame0-0Pac-120–0SEC0–0Power 5 Total0–1Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican0–0C–USA1–1Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)0–0Mountain West2–1Sun Belt0–1Other FBS Total3–3Total Bowl Record3–4
Mid-American vs Power 5 matchups This is a list of games the MAC has scheduled versus power conference teams (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, BYU, Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score August 29 Pac-12 Kent State Arizona StateSun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ L 7–30 August 31 SEC Toledo KentuckyKroger Field • Lexington, KY L 24–38 August 31 Big Ten Akron IllinoisMemorial Stadium • Champaign, IL L 3–42 August 31 Big Ten Indiana Ball StateLucas Oil Stadium • Indianapolis, IN L 24–34 August 31 Big Ten Miami (OH) No. 20 IowaKinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA L 24–38 September 7 ACC Ohio PittsburghHeinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA L 10–20 September 7 Big 12 Bowling Green Kansas StateBill Snyder Family Stadium • Manhattan, KS L 0–52 September 7 Pac-12 Northern Illinois No. 13 UtahRice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT L 17–35 September 7 Big Ten Central Michigan No. 17 Wisconsin Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI L 0–61 September 7 SEC Eastern Michigan KentuckyKroger Field • Lexington, KY L 17–38 September 7 Big Ten Western Michigan No. 19 Michigan StateSpartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI L 17–51 September 7 Big Ten Buffalo No. 15 Penn StateBeaver Stadium • University Park, PA L 13–45 September 14 Big Ten Eastern Michigan IllinoisMemorial Stadium • Champaign, IL W 34–31 September 14 SEC Kent State AuburnJordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL L 16–55 September 14 Big Ten Northern Illinois NebraskaMemorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE L 8–44 September 21 Big Ten Miami (OH) Ohio StateOhio Stadium • Columbus, OH L 5–76 September 21 ACC Central Michigan Miami (FL)Hard Rock Stadium • Miami, FL L 12–17 September 21 ACC Ball State NC StateCarter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC L 23–34 September 21 ACC Western Michigan SyracuseCarrier Dome • Syracuse, NY L 33–52 September 28 SEC Northern Illinois VanderbiltVanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN L 18–24 September 28 Independent BYU ToledoGlass Bowl • Toledo, OH W 28–21 October 5 Big Ten Kent State No. 8 WisconsinCamp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI L 0–48 October 5 Independent Bowling Green No. 9 Notre DameNotre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN L 0–52
Mid-American vs Group of Five matchups The following games include MAC teams competing against teams from the American, C-USA, Mountain or Sun Belt.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score August 31 Sun Belt Eastern Michigan Coastal CarolinaBrooks Stadium • Conway, SC W 30–23 September 7 C-USA UAB Akron InfoCision Stadium • Akron, OH W 31–23 September 14 American Miami (OH) Cincinnati Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH L 13–35 September 14 C-USA Florida Atlantic Ball State Scheumann Stadium • Muncie, IN L 31–41 September 14 C-USA Louisiana Tech Bowling GreenDoyt Perry Stadium • Bowling Green, OH L 7–35 September 14 C-USA Ohio MarshallJoan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, WV L 31–33 September 14 Sun Belt Georgia State Western MichiganWaldo Stadium • Kalamazoo, MI W 57–10 September 21 Mountain West Toledo Colorado StateCanvas Stadium • Fort Collins, CO W 41–35 September 21 American Temple BuffaloUB Stadium • Buffalo, NY W 38–22 September 21 Sun Belt Louisiana OhioPeden Stadium • Athens, OH L 25–45 September 21 Sun Belt Troy AkronInfoCision Stadium • Akron, OH L 7–35
Mid-American vs FBS independents matchups The following games include MAC teams competing against FBS Independents, which includes Army, Liberty, New Mexico State, or UMass.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score September 14 Independents Buffalo Liberty Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA L 17–35 September 28 Independents Akron UMass Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Amherst, MA L 29–37 October 12 Independents New Mexico State Central MichiganKelly/Shorts Stadium • Mount Pleasant, MI W 42–28
Mid-American vs FCS matchups
Date Visitor Home Site Score August 29 Albany Central MichiganKelly/Shorts Stadium • Mount Pleasant, MI W 38–21 August 29 Morgan State Bowling Green Doyt Perry Stadium • Bowling Green, OH W 46–3 August 29 Robert Morris Buffalo UB Stadium • Buffalo, NY W 38–10 August 31 Rhode Island OhioPeden Stadium • Athens, OH W 41–20 August 31 Illinois State Northern Illinois Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL W 24–10 August 31 Monmouth Western Michigan Waldo Stadium • Kalamazoo, MI W 48–13 September 7 Kennesaw State Kent State Dix Stadium • Kent, OH W 26–23 (OT) September 7 Fordham Ball State Scheumann Stadium • Muncie, IN W 57–29 September 7 Tennessee Tech Miami (OH) Yager Stadium • Miami, OH W 48–17 September 14 Murray State Toledo Glass Bowl • Toledo, OH W 45–0 September 21 Central Connecticut State Eastern Michigan Rynearson Stadium • Ypsilanti, MI W 34–29
Postseason
Bowl games Legend MAC win MAC loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (EST)MAC teamOpponentScoreAttendance Bahamas Bowl December 20 Thomas Robinson Stadium • Nassau, Bahamas ESPN 2:00 p.m. Buffalo Charlotte 31–9 13,547 Frisco Bowl December 20 Toyota Stadium • Frisco, TX ESPN2 7:30 p.m. Kent State Utah State 51–41 12,120 New Mexico Bowl December 21 Dreamstyle Stadium • Albuquerque, NM ESPN 2:00 p.m. Central Michigan San Diego State 11–48 18,823 Quick Lane Bowl December 26 Ford Field • Detroit, MI ESPN 8:00 p.m. Eastern Michigan Pittsburgh 30–34 34,765 First Responder Bowl December 30 Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX ESPN 12:30 p.m. Western Michigan Western Kentucky 20–23 13,164 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl January 3, 2020 Albertsons Stadium • Boise, ID ESPN 3:30 p.m. Ohio Nevada 30–21 13,611 LendingTree Bowl January 6, 2020 Ladd-Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL ESPN 7:30 p.m. Miami (OH) Louisiana 17–27 29,212
Rankings are from CFP rankings. All times Eastern Time Zone. MAC teams shown in bold.
Selection of teams Bowl eligible: Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami, Ohio, Western Michigan, Toledo Bowl-ineligible: Akron, Bowling Green, Ball State, Northern Illinois
Awards and honors
Player of the week honors East Division Week Offensive Defensive Special Teams Player Team Position Player Team Position Player Team Position Week 1 (Sept. 2) Darius Wade Bowling Green QB Jared Dorse Ohio LB Derek Adams Kent State P Week 2 (Sept. 9) Dustin Burkhart Akron WR Joey Banks Buffalo S Matthew Trickett Kent State K Week 3 (Sept. 16) Nathan Rourke Ohio QB Kameron Butler Miami (OH) DL Derek Adams (2) Kent State P Week 4 (Sept. 23) Dustin Crum Kent State QB Joey Banks (2) Buffalo S Louie Zervos Ohio K Week 5 (Sept. 30) Jaylon Bester Miami (OH) RB Mike Brown Miami (OH) DB Sam Sloman Miami (OH) K Week 6 (Oct. 5) O'Shaan Allison Ohio RB Taylor Riggins Buffalo DE Derek Adams (3) Kent State P Week 7 (Oct. 12) Grant Loy Bowling Green QB Elvis Hines Kent State DB Matthew Trickett (2) Kent State K Week 8 (Oct. 19) Nathan Rourke (2) Ohio QB Ledarius Mack Buffalo DE Maurice Thomas Miami (OH) KR/PR Week 9 (Oct. 28) Nathan Rourke (3) Ohio QB Joey Banks (3) Buffalo S Sam Sloman (2) Miami (OH) PK Week 10 (Nov. 4) Kyle Vantrease Buffalo QB Chibueze Onwuka Buffalo DT Mason Lawler Bowling Green K Week 11 (Nov. 11) Dustin Crum (2) Kent State QB Sterling Weatherford Miami (OH) DB Sam Sloman (3) Miami (OH) K Week 12 (Nov. 18) Xavier Williams Kent State RB Travion Banks Miami (OH) DB Matthew Trickett (3) Kent State K Week 13 (Nov. 25) Ivan Pace Jr. Miami (OH) LB Louie Zervos (2) Ohio K Week 14 (Dec. 2) Jaret Patterson (2) Buffalo RB KJ Sherald Kent State DB Lonnie Phelps Miami (OH) DL
West Division