Around the Group of 7: Sept. 12

The Power 5 conferences took a backseat in Week 2 as teams from the Mid-Atlantic Conference (MAC) and the Mountain West Conference showed out.

MAC

No. 25 Northern Illinois University

The biggest upset of Week 2, the Huskies beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 16-14. Profiting $1.4 million for playing at Notre Dame Stadium, the Huskies made history.

Head coach Thomas Hammock spoke postgame on how they develop and recruit players and how that consistency within the program leads to victory.

It marks the first time a MAC team has upset a Top 5 ranked opponent. Ultimately, this upset raises questions about the future of the transfer portal and how sustainable maintaining a winning program is as countless players transfer in and out, especially within the Power 5 Conferences.

NIU is the only team outside of a Power 5 conference to be ranked in the top 25 for Week 3.

Their program received the Key to Deklab, IL this past week in recognition of their upset.

They’re running a ticket special this weekend against Buffalo charging just $19 for West Reserved seats or $12.50 for General Admission, trying to profit off of their shocking upset.

Bowling Green

Bowling Green is another team that has a chance to win the MAC. Their biggest game of the season aside from Penn State is at Texas A&M on September 21.

They stayed competitive against Penn State last week, eventually losing 34-27 after taking a 24-20 lead into halftime.

Connor Bazelak, the starting quarterback, finished his day 25 of 39 for 254 yards and two touchdowns. He played under Tom Allen, Penn State’s new defensive coordinator and former Indiana University head coach.

Bazelak played for IU in 2022.

Mountain West

Four teams will be leaving the Mountain West and joining the Pac-12 in July 2026.

These teams are Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State.

To qualify as an FBS Conference an NCAA league needs eight teams. Time will tell what other two or more teams will jump on the rebuilding of the Pac-12, which has just Oregon State and Washington State as members now.

Boise State

Boise State traveled up north to Eugene, OR last week to face the Week 2 No. 7 ranked Oregon Ducks.

Following a close game, Oregon dropped to No. 9 for Week 3.

The Boise State Broncos, who will join the Pac-12 in 2026, lost 37-34 on a last-second field goal by Duck’s kicker Atticus Sappington.

Ashton Jeanty, of the Broncos, led the game in rushing yards with 192 for three touchdowns.

The Broncos led 20-14 at halftime but weren’t able to sustain their momentum in the second half.

Oregon was their toughest opponent of the season, so they may find themselves the winner of the 2024 Mountain West.

Julia Henry is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism and labor and human resources, to contact her please email jbh6443@psu.edu.