He spent the last five conference games watching his teammates fulfill that goal.

Now, the almost completely healed 24-year-old quarterback begins his fourth and presumably final season as Miami’s starter hoping to do it all again.

“It’s never easy to get injured, have surgery and be out because you always want to be out there,” Gabbert said. “It was just a tough time. I thought I was having a good year, but I’m a firm believer everything happens for a reason, so I was just really glad that my team was able to finish the job.”

Since 2001, only two MAC teams, Central Michigan in 2006-07 and Northern Illinois in 2011-12, have won consecutive titles.

Bowling Green running back Terion Stewart (4) rushes in the first half against the Akron on Oct. 21, 2023, in Bowling Green, Ohio. AP File Photo

Miami is a prohibitive favorite to match that feat. It has the longest tenured head coach in school history, Chuck Martin; the 2023 conference defensive player of the year, Matt Salopek; and Gabbert, a third-team all-conference selection despite suffering the season-ending injury to his right leg.

Toledo, the 2022 MAC champion, was the only other school to earn a first-place vote in the coaches’ preseason poll.

Even with so many familiar names and faces back from both teams, plenty has changed. The MAC, like the Big Ten, scrapped its division format and will now put the top two teams in college football’s most stable league in the Dec. 7 title game in Detroit.

And this time, the winner actually could qualify for the expanded 12-team playoff.

“It’s a motivating factor for all of us,” Toledo coach Jason Candle said. “You’ve got to work hard preparing this year’s team, and we’re working hard to do that right now.”

Then-Ball State head coach Pete Lembo watches play from the sidelines during the first half against Army on Oct. 4, 2014, in West Point. The University at Buffalo hired Lembo, who has 15 years of experience as a college head coach, to lead the Bulls in January. AP File Photo

CENTRAL QUESTIONS

Central Michigan starts its sixth season under coach Jim McElwain facing questions about its coaching staff. FootballScoop.com reported two weeks ago that the shakeup includes the departure of quarterbacks coach Jake Kostner, who spent four years as a Michigan assistant while working with Connor Stalions, the Wolverines’ alleged sign stealer.

McElwain has not announced any changes but said he saw a photo of Stalions on Central Michigan’s sideline during the 2023 season-opener at Michigan State and wanted the school to determine how Stalions got his sideline pass. The Chippewas went 9-15 overall and 6-10 in league play over the past two seasons.

STATE OF MICHIGAN

Eastern Michigan coach Chris Creighton and Martin are both in their 11th seasons and are the league’s coaching deans. Creighton has won virtually everything — except a MAC title — and will try to change that with former Rutgers and Buffalo quarterback Cole Snyder.

“We had three new quarterbacks come in in January and Cole was a known commodity,” Creighton said. “Knowing who he is as a player, as a leader, we thought it would be an awesome fit.”

Western Michigan hopes to rebound from a 4-8 mark in coach Lance Taylor’s first season. Taylor has 16 starters back. Quarterback Hayden Wolff made four starts last season after leaving Old Dominion and will be working with his seventh offensive coordinator.

AROUND O-H-I-O

The RedHawks and Rockets have plenty of in-state competition to make the Dec. 7 title game.

Bowling Green will rely on the backfield tandem of NFL prospect Terion Stewart and Connor Bazelak as well as a defense that shared the FBS lead with 38 takeaways in 2023.

Ohio will try to end its 56-year title drought with new quarterback Parker Navarr, and Kent State hopes third-year receiver Crishon McCray leads the Golden Flashes to their second MAC crown — and first since 1972. And Akron will lean heavily on new quarterback Ben Finley, who has played at North Carolina State and California and whose brother, Ryan, played in the NFL. The Zips were 2-10 last season.

RE-PETE

The league’s only new coach, Pete Lembo, is a familiar face to MAC fans.

Buffalo hired the former South Carolina assistant in January, giving Lembo his first head coaching job since going 35-22 in five seasons with Ball State. Since leaving Muncie, Indiana, for Maryland, Lembo has ditched his trademark glasses.

Buffalo hosts Ball State on Nov. 12.

Games to watch

The championship finalists could come down to these games: Oct. 5, Miami at Toledo; Oct 19, Ohio at Miami; Oct. 26, Bowling Green at Toledo; Nov. 20, Ohio at Toledo; and Nov. 29, Miami at Bowling Green.