After a brutal week last week, Saturday’s slate of MIAA games offers at least three no brainers for someone who went 2-3 six days ago — Emporia at Central, Fort Hays at Western and Omaha at Truman.

Emporia State hasn’t defeated a current MIAA team on the road since 2005, while Central is winning at Walton Stadium by an average of 21.7 points and will be looking for a little blood after that blowout loss at Pitt last week. Here in St. Joseph, Fort Hays brings its 15-game road losing streak to town and will be without its starting quarterback, Mike Garrison, Saturday. In Garrison’s place, the Tigers will start their top receiver — Anthony Smith — allowing the Griffons to focus most of their attention on stopping the run. Western’s four-game losing streak should end around 4:30 p.m. Saturday. And in Kirksville, the Bulldogs get to serve as a cathartic outlet for Nebraska-Omaha’s frustrations. I picture this one getting ugly before halftime.

That leaves the two intriguing matchups of the week — Washburn at Southern and, of course, Pitt versus Northwest. I didn’t see anything from quarterback Jake Iverson last week that led me to believe the Ichabods will be able to pass against the MIAA’s second most efficient pass defense. Washburn’s Brandon Walker and Justin Cooper are two talented backs, and Southern has struggled to stop the run. But as Western showed last week, if even average defenses make Washburn one-dimensional, the Ichabods offense struggles to score points without help from its defense.

And finally, the game of the season thus far: the Fall Classic at Arrowhead VII. This game has been decided by four points or fewer three of the past five years — and the other two were three-touchdown-plus routs. So what’s it going to be Saturday? It would take a brave man to pick against the Bearcats after last week, but if this game is close at the end, it favors the battle-tested Gorillas. As for my pick, the Mules’ egg last week eliminated any bold pick on my part for this game. So with much regret, I give the nod to the Bearcats because I’m scared to pick against them at this point.

Emporia State at No. 22 Central Missouri — R.J.: Mules, 42-24; Rick: Mules, 33-14

Fort Hays at Missouri Western — R.J.: Griffons, 28-12; Rick: Griffons, 31-14

No. 16 Nebraska-Omaha at Truman State — R.J.: Mavericks, 56-10; Rick: Mavericks, 48-14

Washburn at Missouri Southern — R.J.: Lions, 20-14; Rick: Ichabods, 28-17

No. 6 Pittsburg State vs. No. 7 Northwest Missouri — R.J.: Bearcats, 38-35; Rick: Bearcats, 41-24

Last week — R.J.: 2-3; Rick: 4-1

Overall — R.J.: 25-8; Rick: 24-9