MACtion Did MACtion Things: Central Michigan Rolls, UMass Steals One in Overtime

Wednesday night in the MAC is college football's beautiful little fever dream, and Nov. 4 delivered the full menu: a rivalry blowout at Ford Field, an overtime game in Amherst that turned on a missed extra point, and a road team flying to California and grinding out a three-point win. Three games, three completely different kinds of MACtion.

Central Michigan 35, Eastern Michigan 7 — a rivalry game that was over early

The 104th meeting between Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan, played Wednesday night at neutral-site Ford Field in Detroit, was not close for long. Central Michigan scored the game's first five touchdowns, led 35-0 early in the fourth quarter, and claimed the rivalry's new trophy with a 35-7 win. The Chippewas now lead the longest-running series in the MAC 66-32-6.

It started with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Jadyn Glasser to Nasir Williams in the first quarter, and then running back Woodford took over, scoring three rushing touchdowns — including an 11-yard run in the second quarter — before Vaughn Blue's fourth-quarter score pushed it to 35-0. Eastern Michigan's defense held Central Michigan's offense to nothing like that efficiency in reverse: the Chippewas, who entered allowing more than 360 yards a game, held the Eagles to just 177 total yards. Eastern's only score came with 10 seconds left, a six-yard pass from backup quarterback Jace Stuckey to Harold Mack — long after the benches had emptied.

The numbers tell the story of two seasons. Eastern Michigan falls to 4-6 overall and 3-3 in the MAC, its losing streak at three, and its seven points were its lowest total in this rivalry since 2015. Central Michigan improves to 4-5, snapping its own three-game losing streak in the loudest way available to it. The Eagles now get 12 days off before a trip to Western Michigan that amounts to a bowl-eligibility elimination game.

UMass 31, Ball State 30 (OT) — the extra point was the game

In Amherst, Ball State thought it had the night won. The Cardinals scored first in overtime on a one-yard touchdown run by Jalen Bonds — and then Brody Boehm missed the extra point, leaving the door at 30-24. UMass walked straight through it. Quarterback Pop Watson finished the drive with his legs, a 13-yard touchdown run, and Derek Morris converted the extra point Ball State could not, giving the Minutemen a 31-30 win at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

Regulation ended 24-24, and it is worth noting how it got there: UMass chose to kneel out the end of regulation rather than chase a winning score, backing its defense and its kicker in the extra period. The gamble looks smart now. Ball State falls to 3-6 and 2-3 in the MAC, its second overtime game of the season ending the wrong way after an October OT win at Bowling Green. UMass improves to 5-4 and snaps a four-game losing streak — one point, one kick, season steadied.

Toledo 20, Sacramento State 17 — the long trip, handled

Toledo made the cross-country trip to Hornet Stadium in Sacramento and treated it like a business trip. Down 10-7 at halftime, the Rockets flipped the game in the third quarter to lead 17-10, added a fourth-quarter field goal, and held on for a 20-17 win. Toledo's running back pair of CJ Miller and Autavius Ison both went over 100 rushing yards, the kind of ground control that travels. The Rockets are 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the MAC, still right in the thick of the race to the MAC title game in Detroit with three games left.

Zoom out and the MAC picture after the midweek slate is this: Ohio, which beat Akron on Tuesday, sits on top of the league at 5-0 in conference play, with Toledo in the chasing pack. Buffalo's 34-31 win over Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday night kept the Bulls in that same chase. November in this league is a round-robin of elimination games played on weeknights in front of the whole country's second screens, and nobody in it is safe.

Thursday night: two more, on national TV

The week is not done. Tonight, Thursday, Nov. 5, UTSA (7-1) visits Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), and James Madison (7-2) goes to Southern Miss in Hattiesburg (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2). And on Saturday, the whole sport turns its head to the playoff race — Miami at Notre Dame headlines seven ranked-versus-ranked games on the first Saturday of the CFP rankings era this season. Full coverage continues on the Previously sports front.