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Mitten Masterkey

Mitten Masterkey Week 8: WMU can seize control of MAC fate, EMU playing on national TV

The Broncos have a chance to make a statement that they're still waiting to be knocked off the top of the MAC.

Andrew Graham

— 3 min read
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Mitten Masterkey Week 8: WMU can seize control of MAC fate, EMU playing on national TV
(Via Western Michigan Athletics/Kimberly Moss)

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It's setting up to be an impactful weekend of football around the state, with numerous Mitten teams hurtling toward big inflection point results.

Michigan hosts Indiana and Western Michigan visits Toledo at noon, while Central Michigan hosts Miami (OH) at 1 p.m., Michigan State kicks off at UCLA at 3:30 p.m. and Eastern Michigan wraps up the in-state FBS slate at Ohio with a 4 p.m. kickoff.

Dig in to your guide for Saturday below. 

Mitten Football will be at…

Michigan Stadium, making a brief pit stop in Ann Arbor for a second Michigan game coverage this season. 

The schedule and TV assignments

Games are Saturday unless otherwise noted. Two national TV games for MAC teams!

Noon — Western Michigan at Toledo, CBSSN
Noon — Michigan vs. Indiana, Fox
1 p.m. — Central Michigan vs. Miami (OH), ESPN+
3:30 p.m. — Michigan State at UCLA, CBS
4 p.m. — Eastern Michigan at Ohio, ESPNU

And for the uninitiated, this master schedule absolutely rocks (just be aware times are central).

Listen to “In The Pocket”

Mitten Football is doing a podcast, with Andrew Graham and the Detroit News’ Connor Earegood covering all the CFB news, notes, happenings and the like across the Mitten each week. 

Pregame, halftime reading from Mitten Football, others

Picks, preview

Read the full joint here with all the analysis and scores.

  • Indiana over Michigan
  • Western Michigan over Toledo
  • Central Michigan over Miami (OH)
  • UCLA over Michigan State
  • Ohio over Eastern Michigan

A unit to watch: Michigan’s offensive line

Indiana ranks No. 4 nationally in total sacks, with 24 in seven games. The pass rush has been a definitive force for the Hoosiers and now get to face a Michigan offensive line that’s been up and down through six games. The biggest problem for Michigan has been health up front. Andrew Sprague is out with a weird and undisclosed ailment, while Brady Norton missed time at guard. Evan Link, Blake Frazier and Jake Guarnera have also been banged up but mostly gritted things out. And Andrew Babalola is just now getting healthy to perhaps debut after tearing his ACL ahead of last season. 

All that, and now the group has a true freshman making his first start behind them. The pressure will be on, metaphorically and literally, for the Michigan offensive line. But if that group can play some good ball and be a strength for the offense like it was originally imagined to be, it could go a long way to keep Indiana’s pass rushers and run front off the back of Michigan’s offense. 

A fun prediction: Nick Marsh gets another TD in Michigan Stadium

It’d be cathartic for one reason, after he became the poster child for Indiana’s near-win over Ohio State, stepping a toe or two on the boundary on what should’ve been a go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes. And it’d be cool, personally, for Marsh, a southeast Michigan native, to pick up a second receiving touchdown at Michigan Stadium in as many tries. Keen observers will recall he scored a touchdown for MSU back in 2024, cutting the margin to 24-17 with about six minutes to go in an eventual Michigan win, by that same score. Now he’s in crimson and not green, but Marsh is still a dangerman. 

He’ll get another stern test from the Michigan defense, but Indiana will give him chances to make plays and play his co-starring role opposite Charlie Becker in the pass game. Marsh is a Sunday player, just like a lot of the Michigan defenders, and it’ll be exciting to watch him ply his trade at Michigan Stadium one last time. 

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