NICK ROSI NOMINATED FOR BURLSWORTH TROPHY
TOLEDO, Ohio - Sophomore offensive lineman Nick Rosi has been nominated for the Burlsworth Trophy, the organization announced on Tuesday.
The Burlsworth Trophy is given to the most outstanding football player in America who began his career as a walk-on and has shown outstanding performance on the field. Each nominee must have begun his first season of participation with an FBS football program without financial aid of any kind from his university's athletic department. Past Rockets who have been nominated for the award include current Samuel Womack (2020), Reggie Gilliam (2019) and Ka'dar Hollman (2018). Gilliam currently plays for the NFL's Buffalo Bills, while Womack and Hollman play for the San Francisco 49ers. Rosi, who has started every game on the offensive line this season, is a three-year starter for the Rockets. He was named to the FWAA Freshman All-America team in 2019 and was a Third-Team All-MAC honoree that season as well. The Burlsworth Trophy is named in honor of Brandon Burlsworth, former University of Arkansas walk-on and All-American offensive lineman. He became a three-year starter and was eventually named an All-American in 1998. Burlsworth was selected as the 63rd overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1999 NFL draft, but was tragically killed in a car accident 11 days later. The Brandon Burlsworth Foundation was created in his memory and supports the physical and spiritual needs of children, in particular those children who have limited opportunities. The Burlsworth Trophy award ceremony to honor the three finalists and to announce the 2022 winner will be held on December 5 at 7:00 p.m. CST at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Ark. 
Week three ending 9.17.22
Indiana, Ohio State and Penn State Earn Weekly Football Honors
Hoosiers’ Campbell, Buckeyes’ Stroud, along with Nittany Lions’ Brown and Singleton garner accolades Following Week 3 contests, the Big Ten Conference Offensive, Defensive, and Special Teams Players of the Week, and the Freshman of the Week were announced this morning. Below are this week's honorees: Offensive Player of the Week C.J. Stroud, Ohio State QB – So. – Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. – Rancho Cucamonga
Defensive Player of the Week Ji'Ayir Brown, Penn State S – Sr. – Trenton, N.J. – Trenton Central
Charles Campbell, Indiana PK – Jr. – Jackson, Tenn. – University School of Jackson
Nicholas Singleton, Penn State RB – Shillington, Pa. – Governor Mifflin
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B1G Football Standings and Notes
• All 14 schools are in action this week, with seven Big Ten contests highlighted by four divisional matchups. The complete schedule can be found to the right.
• Two Big Ten teams remain undefeated on the season, as Michigan and Ohio State are both 8-0. The Wolverines and Buckeyes are both undefeated in conference play at 5-0. • Four Big Ten teams appear in the AP Poll this week, highlighted by two of the top four teams. Ohio State leads the conference at No. 2, followed by No. 4 Michigan, No. 14 Illinois and No. 16 Penn State, with Maryland also receiving votes. • Michigan and Ohio State are two of only four teams in the country with top-10 rankings in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The Wolverines rank third defensively (11.5 points per game) and eighth offensively (41.0 points per game), while the Buckeyes check in at second offensively (48.9 points per game) and 10th defensively (16.9 points per game). The only other teams to appear in the top 10 of both categories are Alabama and Georgia. • Three additional Big Ten teams rank in the top five in terms of scoring defense: Illinois (1st, 8.9 points per game), Minnesota (4th, 14.4 points per game) and Iowa (5th, 15.8 points per game). • Ohio State’s J.T. Tuimoloau recorded six tackles, three solos, two sacks, three tackles-for-loss, two interceptions and a forced fumble in Ohio State’s 44-31 win against Penn State. He also deflected a pass that resulted in a pick, making him responsible for all four Buckeyes takeaways. Ohio State has forced 10 turnovers in its last two games, the most in a two-game stretch since 2000. • Michigan improved to 8-0 for the second time under head coach Jim Harbaugh and the first since 2016. The Wolverines improved to 72-38-5 all-time against Michigan State on Saturday, including a 39-29-2 mark since the two teams began playing for the Paul Bunyan Trophy in 1953. • Wolverine running back Blake Corum set a career high against the Spartans with 33 carries, notching 177 yards with two touchdowns (one receiving), marking his fifth straight 100-plus yard game. Corum now has nine career 100-yard rushing games and has eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards on the season for the first time in his career. The junior ranks second nationally in rushing touchdowns (14), second in total points scored (90) and fourth in rushing yards (1,078). • Illinois leads the nation in both scoring defense (8.9 points allowed per game) and total defense (224.5 yards allowed per game). The Illini also rank in the top two nationally in passing efficiency defense (1st; 77.94), passes intercepted (1st; 15) and rushing defense (2nd; 75.6). • Led by running back Chase Brown, Illinois ranks sixth nationally in relative rushing offense and 18th in the country in relative total offense. Brown leads the nation with 1,208 rushing yards this season, with 707 of those yards coming after contact. He also ranks second in the nation in all-purpose yards (1,328) without having return duties. • Iowa’s Jack Campbell was named a finalist for the 2022 William V. Campbell Trophy on Oct. 26. Now in its 33rd year, the Campbell Trophy is presented annually to the nation’s top football scholar-athlete. The finalists will travel to the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 6, where one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 33rd Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000. • Seven Big Ten Conference programs appear in the top 25 of the latest NCAA attendance rankings, including four of the nation’s top 10 schools: No. 1 Michigan (110,224 fans per game), No. 2 Penn State (107,540), No. 3 Ohio State (104,438), No. 10 Nebraska (86,822), No. 19 Wisconsin (73,866), No. 20 Michigan State (72, 786) and No. 21 Iowa (69,250). Additionally, Big Ten teams own 14 of the top 15 single-game attendance highs this season, including the top nine spots. • The 2022 Big Ten Football Championship Game will be played at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 3, at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium and will be televised nationally on FOX. The winner will earn the Amos Alonzo Stagg Championship Trophy and a chance to play in one of the six bowls that comprise the College Football Playoff, including the Rose Bowl Game. 
B1G Week 10 Football w/o 10.31UB’s Fuqua Named National Defensive Player of the Week
Buffalo safety Marcus Fuqua was named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week following his standout performance against Toledo. He’s the first UB player to ever earn the honor. The junior had a career-high three interceptions against the Rockets to become just the fourth UB player to record three interceptions in a game. Fuqua leads the MAC and is tied for the FBS lead with five interceptions. He was named the MAC East Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season following his performance against Toledo. Bulls on Parade When Buffalo takes on Ohio on Tuesday night, they will be in search of a sixth straight win for just the second time in their FBS era (2013). The Bulls will also be looking to improve to 5-0 in MAC play for the fourth time in program history (2013, 2018, 2020). A win would make the Bulls bowl eligible for the seventh time in program history and the fifth time in the last six seasons. UB played in bowl games in 2008, 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Buffalo is coming off a comeback victory over Toledo in which they scored 24-unanswered fourth quarter points. Buffalo forced six turnovers against Toledo in the win - the most by a UB team in its FBS era. Not 1, Not 2, Not 3 ... Sophomore cornerback Quinyon Mitchell was named the Walter Camp Football Bowl Subdivision National Defensive Player of the Week following his four-interception performance in Toledo’s 52-32 victory at Northern Illinois on Oct. 8. Mitchell returned two of his three first-half interceptions for touchdowns as Toledo bolted out to a 35-7 lead at the break. Mitchell snuffed out a potential NIU touchdown by grabbing his third pick of the half in the NIU end zone on a pass from three-yard line with 16 seconds left. He gathered up his fourth pick of the game in the third quarter, a diving catch on NIU’s opening drive of the half, giving him four interceptions in slightly more than 30 minutes of play. The four interceptions were the first four of Mitchell’s career, tied the school record set back in 1950, and was the first time a Rocket had two pick sixes in one game. The Toledo standard of four interceptions in a game was set by Jerry Palmer vs. Western Reserve in 1950. Mitchell is the only FBS player since 2000 with four INTs and two pick-sixes in a game. The NCAA record for interceptions is five, held by four players, most recently Dan Rebsch of Miami (Ohio) vs. Western Michigan in 1972. Mitchell is the second Toledo player to earn Walter Camp National Player of Week honors. Safety DeJuan Rogers earned the award following the Rockets’ upset of No. 18 Arkansas on Sept. 12, 2015. Ramirez Earns National Recognition Eastern Michigan senior defensive lineman Jose Ramirez has garnered national acclaim after a career-best performance against Western Michigan University Saturday, Oct. 8. Ramirez was named the Reese’s Senior Bowl Defensive Player of the Week as well as the East-West Shrine Bowl’s Breakout Defensive Player of the Week. Ramirez made history Saturday when he recorded a career-high 4.0 sacks against Western Michigan en route to a 45-23 victory over the Broncos. The sack total is a single-game record at Eastern Michigan, and is the second-best individual performance in the NCAA this season. Comeback Cards Down by as much as 21 and trailing 24-7 heading into the locker room, Ball State flipped a switch in the second half. The Cardinals scored 38 points in the second half to force overtime and then clinched the victory on a Carson Steele touchdown and a defensive stand to take the result Saturday, 44-38. With the win, Ball State reclaimed the Bronze Stalk trophy from Northern Illinois in another classic MAC West battle at Scheumann Stadium. Ball State’s 21-point comeback marked the third-largest comeback in program history, trailing only a 22-point comeback vs. Eastern Michigan on Nov. 12, 2005 and a 27-point come-from-behind win vs. Toledo on Oct. 9, 1993 that was quarterbacked by none other than head coach Mike Neu. Flashes of Brilliance The Kent State Golden Flashes re-wrote the program record books and held off a feisty Ohio Bobcats squad in a thrilling 31-24 overtime victory on a homecoming Saturday at Dix Stadium. The Flashes rolled up 736 yards of offense in the game, the second-most in school history and the second-most this season in an FBS game. Kent State also became the ONLY team in FBS HISTORY to have a 240 yard rushers (Marquez Cooper) and 240 yard receiver (Dante Cephas) in the same game. Cephas set a program-record with 246 yards, breaking a the record set by Eugene Baker in 1997. The Golden Flashes have won eleven-straight home games, tied for the ninth-longest streak in the FBS and a new program record breaking the streak set September 1949 through October of 1951 and again October of 2011 through August of 2013 B1G Wins The MAC has won a regular season game vs. Big Ten opponents in each of the last 16 consecutive seasons (2006-2022*) the longest streak in MAC history. Miami’s 17-14 win at Northwestern on Sept. 24, 2022 extended the streak. During this 16-year stretch, MAC teams have defeated 12 different Big Ten programs—Illinois (4); Indiana (5); Iowa (3); Maryland (1); Michigan (1); Michigan State (1); Minnesota (3); Nebraska (1); Northwestern (4); Penn State (1); Purdue (6) and Rutgers (2) for a total of 32 wins during this stretch. Miami (14), Bowling Green (9), Toledo (6), Central Michigan (6) and Northern Illinois (6) have the most wins vs. Big Ten opponents. *The MAC did play any non-conference games in 2020 due to the pandemic. Say Cheez Eastern Michigan was named the Cheez-It Bowl National Team of the Week following the Eagles 30-21 win over Arizona State on Sept. 17, as selected by the FWAA. EMU’s win over the Sun Devils marked the first regular season win for a MAC school over a Pac-12 opponent. It also marked the first time that EMU earned Team of the Week honors and the first for a MAC school since Buffalo on Nov. 28, 2020. The Eagles became only the sixth MAC school to win the award since it debuted in 2002. EMU’s Evans Named Doak Walker Running Back of the Week Eastern Michigan running back Samson Evans exploded through the Arizona State defense, rushing for 258 yards on 36 carries in the win. His career-best numbers for carries and yards that led to the first regular-season win for a MAC school over a Pac-12 opponent earned Evans the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week honors. Six Named As Campbell Trophy Semifinalists The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) proudly announced the 156 semifinalists for the 2022 William V. Campbell Trophy®, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award. The impressive list of candidates boasts an impressive 3.62 average GPA, with more than half of the semifinalists having already earned their bachelor’s degrees. Among those listed were a total of six student-athletes from the MAC.
Fly The Flag! The MAC has totaled eight FBS non-conference wins over Northwestern (Big Ten), Arizona State (Pac-12), Georgia State (Sun Belt)Marshall (Sun Belt), Florida Atlantic (C-USA), UConn (Independent) and UMass (Independent) twice. In 2017, the MAC concluded its non-conference regular season schedule with 14 FBS wins, which tied for second most for the MAC since 2000. The most non-conference regular season wins by the MAC in a single year is 16 FBS wins in 2012, while the 14 FBS wins during the 2017 season matched the total from 2008. A “Fly the Flag” victory is a win an over “Autonomous Conference”. This season the MAC has two “Fly The Flag” wins as Eastern Michigan topped Arizona State (Pac-12), while Miami defeated Northwestern (Big Ten). Motor City #MACtion MAC Commissioner Dr. Jon A. Steinbrecher announced in conjunction with the Detroit Lions, that the MAC has secured a three-year contract extension to host the MAC Football Championship Game at Ford Field in Detroit through the 2024 football season. The MAC is the only non-autonomous FBS conference to sustain a championship game at a neutral site. The MAC has a long association with Detroit and Ford Field as the MAC has held its MAC Football Championship Game as a neutral site championship event at Ford Field since 2004. This year’s MAC Football Championship will be played on Saturday, Dec. 3 at Noon ET on ESPN. This will mark the 20th MAC Football Championship Game hosted at Ford Field, and the 27th overall in the history of the Conference. Welcome to the #MACtion Coach Moorhead Joe Moorhead was named the new head coach of The University of Akron football program, Director of Athletics Charles Guthrie announced on Dec. 4, 2021. A native of Pittsburgh, Moorheadhas returned to the Midwest, where he was a member of the Zips coaching staff from 2004-08, including serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2006-2008. Moorhead, who spent the last two seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Oregon, has a proven track record of success over his nearly quarter century in coaching, including six seasons as a head coach at Mississippi State (2018-19) and Fordham University (2012-15). Moorhead has been the play-caller for five programs that have won a conference championship, including Oregon (2020), Penn State (2016), Fordham (2014), Connecticut (2010) and Akron (2005). #MACtion Made When the NFL opened the 2022 season, a total of 64 former MAC student-athletes were on NFL active rosters. Last year the MAC had a pair of former student-athletes named to the 2022 NFL Pro Bowl – Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby (Eastern Michigan) and Pittsburgh Steelers WR Diontae Johnson (Toledo). Crosby was named a Pro Bowl starter and also earned Pro Bowl Defensive MVP honors. NIU, Kent State Selected in Football Head Coaches Preseason Poll NIU and Kent State were been selected to win their respective divisions in the 2022 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Football Head Coaches Preseason Poll. The Huskies also received four votes to win the MAC Football Championship Game title, while the Golden Flashes received three votes when it came to selecting who will take home the MAC crown. MAC East Division (First Place Votes) 1. Kent State (5) – 61 points 2. Miami (6) -- 60 3. Buffalo -- 43 4. Bowling Green (1) -- 36 5. Ohio -- 35 6. Akron -- 17 MAC West Division (First Place Votes) 1. Northern Illinois (6) – 61 points 2. Toledo – 51 3. Central Michigan (2) – 50 4. Western Michigan (3) -- 45 5. Eastern Michigan -- 24 6. Ball State (1) -- 21 MAC Champs: NIU (4), Kent State (3), Miami (2), Western Michigan (2), Ball State (1) |