MAC off to shaky bowl start

Just to be clear, no gloating will be done here.  UT beat BG and BG's game still lies ahead.

The simple fact is that Utah State beat UT by a wide margin last night, although the game was much closer than all that.  Utah State only led 13-9 with 7:00 left in the game, and then scored four times in the last 7 minutes to create what appears to be a blow out.

David Fluellen re-injured his ankle and left the game after a few carries and Dan Molls was injured on the opening kickoff and did not return, and so you had a UT team playing against a very good Utah State team without arguably its two best players and eventually that showed up on the field, both in all those 4th Quarter TDs but then also in a missed 4th and 1.

Anyway, my point is this.  The MAC landed on the radar this year, and when you do that, expectations get raised.  Everyone--us included--talked about the great year the MAC had.  Now, the league has to deliver in these bowl games, and the MAC is an underdog in every single game.

If the conference lays an egg during bowl season, the football establishment will gleefully shove the league back in a drawer--or off the radar, if you don't want to mix metaphors.

People were hard on the NIU choice, and we chirped back.  Now, it has to play out on the field.