Toledo Blade Rocket beat writer picks BG in East and Northern in West. The rest of his picks here

East 1. Bowling Green.

Falcons have been building for this season. If defense can dominate again (tough to do with the loss of Chris Jones), and quarterback Matt Schilz performs like a four-year starter (he struggled last year), BG should win the division.

West

1. Northern Illinois. Defending MAC champion brings back league player of the year in quarterback Jordan Lynch. The promoting of Rod Carey to head coach from offensive coordinator is reason for pause. Carey began last season coaching offensive line before assuming coordinator duties in September when Mike Dunbar took a step back to battle cancer. That's quite a progression in four months, leaving me skeptical. If NIU got it right in hiring Carey, just as it did before him

Are you sure he's picking NIU? That blurb almost sounds like it caused him pain.

(07-17-2013 06:57 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  Are you sure he's picking NIU? That blurb almost sounds like it caused him pain.

No, but BGSUCKS losing to the Rockets again will.

hmmm, We have a chance for 5th in the east with both Akron and Miami as home games.

Where are you Miami oh!

From his picture looks like he's still in Journalism 101 at Lorain CC, like he's all of about 19.

Guess that's where the newspaper business has gone.

(07-17-2013 09:27 PM)Steve1981 Wrote:  hmmm, We have a chance for 5th in the east with both Akron and Miami as home games.

Where are you Miami oh!

?

Here.

(07-18-2013 06:51 AM)MajorHoople Wrote:  From his picture looks like he's still in Journalism 101 at Lorain CC, like he's all of about 19.

Guess that's where the newspaper business has gone.

Huh?

And this is just a blog posting, not an article going in the paper.

(07-18-2013 07:04 AM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  

(07-17-2013 09:27 PM)Steve1981 Wrote:  hmmm, We have a chance for 5th in the east with both Akron and Miami as home games.

Where are you Miami oh!

?

Here.

Hope you can make the trip. The only trip this year is to Buffalo so understand if your not msaking the trip. It could be our Homecoming game.

Need to start working on the passport. Understand it's required to attend a Bulls game. (-:

Are we surprised the Knife picks BG?

Toledo's chance of an upset in week 1 v Florida just improved as the Florida starter at QB had an apendectomy today. His backup has not yet completed a pass in 3 career appearances.

Go Rockets

Has he been officially ruled out?

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/appendi...e-remedies

Quote: Expect a few weeks of recovery from an appendectomy. If your appendix burst, it may take longer to recover. During this recovery time, you can take steps to help your body heal, such as:

- Avoid strenuous activity at first. If your appendectomy was done laparoscopically, limit your activity for the first three to five days after surgery. If you had an open appendectomy, limit your activity for the first 10 to 14 days after surgery. Ask your doctor when you can go back to your normal activity.

Looks like he may still play.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nca...y/2600965/

Quote:"Jeff had acute appendicitis and fortunately the medical staff caught it very quickly," said Muschamp in the release. "His surgery went well and how long he is out will be determined by how his body responds, which could be two weeks."

Maybe he can practice after 2 weeks. You do not want a guy getting hit after a surgery in a meaningless game when he needs to be ready for SEC competition. I doubt if he will see the field v Toledo a month from now.

(07-30-2013 05:43 PM)Rocket75 Wrote:  Toledo's chance of an upset in week 1 v Florida just improved as the Florida starter at QB had an apendectomy today. His backup has not yet completed a pass in 3 career appearances.

Plus FLorida has traditionally started slow in it's OOC openers. They only have 14 starters returning and with theif QB having an appendectomy and another player suspended this could be enough to tip the scales in the Rockets favor. Imagine the NIU Toledo game with the Huskies having wins over Iowa & Purdue while the Rockets come into that game with wins over Florida & Mizzou!

(07-30-2013 06:55 PM)Rocket75 Wrote:  Maybe he can practice after 2 weeks. You do not want a guy getting hit after a surgery in a meaningless game when he needs to be ready for SEC competition. I doubt if he will see the field v Toledo a month from now.

It won't be meaningless if Toledo wins, that would be the end of Florida's national title hopes. They still are in the SEC title hunt

Honestly, I didn't give Toledo much of a chance at Gainesville but if the QB can't play they definitely have a shot.

That brings the total to 4 (in my opinion) MAC teams that can realistically come out of the OOC unscathed. Toledo joins BG, Ball State, and NIU as teams capable of running the OOC table including all of their "AQ" opponents.

This could be another record year for MAC football.

As bad as Miami may be, if they can beat Cincy in Oxford, Kentucky and Illinois aren't out of the question.

We play UK, Illinois, and Marshall before we finally play UC in Oxford. None of those games are locks like SIU was last year, we could very well be 0-4 going into MAC play.

I would expect the Florida QB to play Week 1 vs. Toledo, unless there was something particularly complicated about the surgery or his postoperative course.

He wont miss the opener. Some people are back 3 days after this procedure.