The MAC's appeal
Tom Mulhern

So, how did so many big schools miss out on Jacobs? Academic concerns reportedly scared away many schools.

"There are football players all over this country," Ball State coach Brady Hoke said. "They are out there, and the right fit for every school. You have to be willing, you have to have the resources to go find those people." - College Football -

Finding them is just the first step. The MAC coaches say their offensive systems, as well as player development, are the other pieces to the puzzle.

"That is a true part of the story, the coaches in our conference do develop their players," Toledo coach Tom Amstutz said. "They have to go out and find a guy maybe the whole world isn't after yet, but has talent."

MAC schools also usually offer a chance to play earlier than at bigger schools.

"I think it's easy for us to say, 'You're going to play earlier here than you might at Wisconsin or Michigan,' " Novak said. - College Football -

"We can then show (recruits) the Roethlisbergers and the (Chad) Penningtons and the Leftwichs and Jacobs, kids like that, that have had greatcollege careers and gone onto the pros because they got a chance to play."

Brandon credited Marshall, which is no longer in the MAC but started the QB craze with Pennington and Leftwich, with raising the bar in recruiting and forcing the other conference schools to do a better job finding players to keep up.

Several schools, such as Toledo, Miami (Ohio) and Bowling Green, also emphasize the passing game in offenses that prepare quarterbacks for the next level. Even though it used to be said that quarterbacks from smaller schools took longer to adjust to the NFL, Leftwich and Roethlisberger disproved that theory with strong rookie years.

"I think the style of our offenses in the Mid-American Conference now help develop a quarterback quicker," Amstutz said. - College Football -

"The spread-style offense is going to help them once they reach the NFL level. I think the style of offenses in our league, the way the coaches develop the players, I think all those are factors."

Even with a sidearm delivery, Jacobs is regarded as a sure first-round draft pick if he comes out after this season, as many expect. - College Football -

The success of MAC quarterbacks might not make the conference a first-choice destination for the nation's top prep quarterbacks, but it could at least put those schools in the mix more often, Jacobs believes.

"I don't know about first (choice), but I think they'll be (among) their top schools, or top conferences to look (at)," Jacobs said. - College Football -

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