MAC holds its own on Thursday

Football

Sure the win-loss record last night wasn't great.

Still, Toledo, Central Michigan and even Miami proved the MAC will be strong this year.

• Toledo lost 45-43 at Iowa State in triple-overtime.


• Central Michigan lost by one score to Boston College, 31-24.


• Miami played Northwestern close for most of the game before losing 21-3.

This morning an ESPN anchor said, "This shows, if you schedule a MAC team, don't make it one from the top half of the conference."

The bottom half is a different story. Pay attention, Kirk Herbstreit and Phil Steele. Kent State flopped at home against Minnesota, 44-0.

The real tests for the MAC, of course, are tomorrow with Akron playing at Penn State and Northern Illinois visiting the Horseshoe at Ohio State.

Here are today's news stories about Akron-Penn State...

• FightOnState.com talks about the changes since the teams' matchup in 2004.


• Joe Paterno's biggest concern is his inexperienced offensive line, which hasn't practiced against J.D. Brookhart's 3-3-5 defense, the Carlisle Sentinel reports.


• The ABJ's story compares the experience in the teams' offensive lines.