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# Eastern Michigan 45, Western Michigan 23
# Buffalo 38, Bowling Green 7
# Ohio 55, Akron 34
# Ball State 17, Central Michigan 16
# Toledo 52, Northern Illinois 32
# Miami 27, Kent State 24
KALAMAZOO, Mich (EMUEagles.com) -- Eastern Michigan used dominant performances on both sides of the ball en route to a 45-23 victory over Mid-American Conference and in-state rival Western Michigan Saturday at Waldo Stadium. The win is a program-best fourth straight for the Green and White in the annual "Battle for I-94."
With the outcome, Eastern (4-2, 1-1 MAC) moves back to a pair of games above .500 on the season, and evens its record at 1-1 in MAC play. WMU (2-4, 1-1 MAC) absorbed its first conference loss while falling to 2-4 overall.
Senior QB Taylor Powell led Eastern Michigan's passing attack with 293 yards through the air, tossing for a career-best (tied) three touchdowns without throwing an interception.
Fellow upperclassman, running back Samson Evans led all EMU rushers with 90 yards and three touchdowns in the contest. Junior Jaylon Jackson also added 32 yards on the ground, averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
Powell's most prolific target in the ballgame was junior Darius Lassiter, who caught six passes for 104 yards and one score. Senior wideout Hassan Beydoun got in on the action in the passing game as well, hauling in three balls for 57 yards and one touchdown.
Defensive lineman Jose Ramirez led the Eastern Michigan defensive effort, collecting six tackles, 4.0 TFL, four sacks, and one forced fumble. Senior Jordan Crawford added 0.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks, and one recovered fumble.
The Eastern Michigan offense was effective keeping drives alive, converting on 53.8 percent of third-down attempts.
Defensively, Eastern Michigan was stout against the normally high-powered Bronco scoring unit, holding WMU to 299 total yards. EMU turned up the pressure on Western Michigan, collecting seven sacks.
How It Happened
-- Eastern Michigan took a 7-0 lead over Western Michigan after scoring the game's first points on the opening drive of the game. EMU then increased its lead to 14-0 with another score.
-- The Eagles added a touchdown with 14:23 left in the second quarter to make it a 21-0 lead. Eastern kept building its lead after Western Michigan closed the gap to 21-7, scoring again to go on top 28-7.
-- Eastern Michigan continued to increase its advantage, scoring again with 0:29 left in the second quarter to go on top 35-7. WMU rallied, tallying six points before the EMU responded with a touchdown to extend their lead to 42-13.
-- Eastern Michigan held onto their lead despite allowing three WMU points before scoring for a final time with 9:51 left in the fourth quarter, bringing its lead to 45-16. Western added one more score to close the game, 45-23.
BOWLING GREEN, OH – The Buffalo Bulls moved to 3-0 in Mid-American Conference play with a decisive 38-7 win over Bowling Green at Doyt Perry Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Bulls jumped out to a 31-0 lead at the half and never looked back.
After starting the season 0-3, Buffalo has won three straight and sit atop the MAC standings at 3-0. The Falcons dropped to 2-4 overall and are now 1-1 in MAC play.
The Bulls had their best rushing performance of the season, totaling 280 yards on the ground. Mike Washington ran for a career-high 155 yards on only 16 carries (9.7 ypc) and scored two touchdowns. Ron Cook, Jr. added 89 yards rushing and two scores of his own.
The Bulls were dominate on defense, forcing four Bowling Green turnovers, highlighted by a 97-yard fumble return for a touchdown by linebacker James Patterson early in the third quarter.
For the third straight game, Buffalo scored on its opening drive, marching 75-yard down the field, capped off by a short touchdown run by Cook.
On Bowling Green's first possession, Marcus Fuqua stepped in front of a Matt McDonald pass for his second interception of the season. It set up an Alex McNulty field goal to give the Bulls a 10-0 lead.
Cook scored his second touchdown of the game on UB's next possession and the Bulls led 17-0 after the first quarter.
On a 3rd-and-3 at the UB 8-yard line, Washington made the play of the game by ripping off a 92-yard touchdown run to extend the Buffalo lead to 24-0. It burst tied James Starks for the second longest run in program history. Washington added a 1-yard touchdown run in the final seconds of the first half.
Dolac had 14 tackles (all solo), a tackle for loss and two pass breakups to lead the defense. Along with his interception, Fuqua had six tackles, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. Patterson had six tackles to move into seventh place in program history in career tackles at UB.
ATHENS, Ohio--The Ohio Bobcats (3-3, 1-1 MAC) secured their first Mid-American Conference win of 2022 Saturday, defeating the Akron Zips (1-5, 0-2 MAC) 55-34 at Peden Stadium.
Redshirt junior quarterback Kurtis Rourke finished the game 24-for-27 with 427 yards in the air and three passing touchdowns. Wide receiver Sam Wiglusz led the receivers, going for a personal-best 144 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman running back Sieh Bangura finished the game with four touchdowns, three of which were rushing, while recording 90 rushing yards and 25 receiving yards.
Defensively, redshirt senior linebacker Keye Thompson recorded the Bobcats' first interception and finished the day leading the team with 11 tackles. Redshirt senior defensive end Jack McCrory's fumble recovery in the third quarter marked Ohio's second defensive touchdown of the season.
The Bobcats opened the game with touchdowns on back-to-back drives. Wiglusz completed a 75-yard pass from Rourke for the first touchdown and redshirt freshman running back Nolan McCormick extended Ohio's lead to 14-0, ending a 12-play, 63-yard drive with an eight-yard rushing touchdown.
"The first play of the game was the best way to start the game," said Wiglusz. "We got a couple plays that we know we were going to get a chance to call out if we got the right look. It could not have played out much better and it really got us off to a hot start, so it felt great."
Akron scored their first three points with 13:26 remaining in the second quarter with a 25-yard field goal, but Bangura quickly followed with a 12-yard rushing touchdown, giving Ohio an 18-point lead. Akron put pressure on Ohio's defense, scoring on a 42-yard field goal with 6:28 remaining the half.
With 45 seconds remaining in the quarter, the Zips scored their first touchdown of the game. The Bobcats answered with a one-yard rushing touchdown from Bangura completed a six-play, 78-yard drive and put the score at 28-13 heading into the third quarter.
The Zips cut Ohio's lead to eight points with a rushing touchdown, but a 30-yard reception by Wiglusz with 9:14 left in the third quarter put the score at 35-20. Bangura scored his third touchdown of the day with 5:13 left in the quarter. McCrory then followed with a fumble recovery for a touchdown to give the Bobcats a 48-20 lead.
Two Akron touchdowns in the fourth quarter put the score at 48-34, but Bangura's fourth touchdown of the day extended the Bobcats' lead once again. With 1:21 remaining in the game, an interception by Thompson finished off UA's final drive.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - While it was the offense that showed out the previous week, Ball State's defense took center stage and put forth an impressive display to key a hard-fought 17-16 win at Central Michigan Saturday inside Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
With their victory, the Cardinals improved to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in Mid-American Conference play, while the Chippewas dropped to 1-5 and 0-2 in league action.
Ball State's defense stymied Central Michigan all afternoon, which brought in one of the conference's top offenses, including a preseason All-American at running back. Despite being on the field for 89 plays and 36:16 in game time, the Cardinals limited the Chippewas to just 3.8 yards per play and forced a pair of fumbles.
In total, Ball State held Central Michigan to just 2.7 yards per rush, 19-of-40 through the air and 5-of-20 on third-down conversions.
"They were huge," Neu added. "I think they took it personal coming out of last week's game giving up over 300 yards rushing. We faced a great running back today in Lew Nichols. The defense rose to the occasion. We held him in check - he had 97 yards - and our defense tackled well all game long. The few times we did give up a little bit, we just kept battling back. It was an awesome defensive performance from start to finish."
Eighteen different defensive players recorded at least one tackle, led by inside linebackers Clayton Coll (13) and Cole Peace (10). Coll also forced a fumble, while Pearce had 2.0 tackles-for-loss and two pass breakups.
Kyle King, Jack Sape and Tavion Woodard each tallied a sack, while Sidney Houston Jr. and Loren Strickland added a tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
Carson Steele led the offensive output with 124 yards on 28 carries. John Paddock completed 15 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown. Yo'Heinz Tyler caught five passes for 46 yards, while Jayshon Jackson added four receptions for 49 yards.
On special teams, Lucas Borrow had his arguably his best game in a Cardinal uniform with nine punts for an average of 45.6 yards per boot and had four land inside the 20-yard line. Ben VonGunten added a 22-yard field goal, which put Ball State ahead in the fourth quarter.
After falling behind 10-0 in a frustrating first quarter, Paddock led a scoring drive on a short field that went 40 yards on five plays and was capped by a 2-yard touchdown to Brady Hunt. The Chippewas took a 10-7 lead into the locker room shortly after.
The play of the game came from Houston midway through the third quarter.
After the Cardinals were stuffed twice at the goal line and turned it over on downs, Houston picked up an errant handoff and ran it into the end zone for a scoop-n-score to make it 14-10 in favor of the road team.
That lead, however, lasted just over four minutes as Central Michigan scored a touchdown on a seven-play, 62-yard drive. However, CMU missed the point-after attempt, making it 16-14.
Steele produced 35 of his 109 second-half rushing yards on the opening drive of the fourth quarter to set up VonGunten for a 22-yard chip shot, giving the Cardinals a one-point lead, 17-16.
The defense bowed up and forced a pair of punts on the ensuing Chippewa possessions and clinched it on the final drive, which started with 1:23 remaining, with three pass breakups. Ball State took over on downs and took two knees to secure their third straight win in Mount Pleasant.
DEKALB, Ill. – Sophomore cornerback Quinyon Mitchell recorded four interceptions, returning two for touchdowns, to lead Toledo (4-2, 2-0 MAC) to a decisive 52-32 victory over Northern Illinois (1-5, 0-2 MAC) at Huskie Stadium on Saturday.
Mitchell returned two of his three first-half interceptions for touchdowns as Toledo bolted out to a 35-7 lead at the break. Mitchell snuffed out a potential NIU touchdown with 16 second left by grabbing his third pick of the half in the NIU end zone on a pass from three-yard line. The four interceptions were the first four of Mitchell's career, tied the school record set back in 1950, and was the first time a Rocket had two pick sixes in one game.
"I think Northern is a really hard place to come and play," said Head Coach Jason Candle. "They've got good players. They're a good team. They're defending MAC champs. This is a team where you have to come to their place, and you've got to beat them. They don't give you anything. You have to play for all 60 minutes.
"Momentum is huge in college football, whether it's good or whether it's bad.," Toledo Head Coach Jason Candle. "To get turnovers, to capitalize and get points off turnovers, play efficiently offensively, you can turn the course of a game quickly if you do that."
In addition to Mitchell's heroics, Toledo had a dominating performance on offense. Sophomore quarterback Dequan Finn completed 13-of-19 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore Jerjuan Newton led the receiving corps with five catches for 89 yards and a career-best two touchdowns. Sophomore Jacquez Stuart rushed for 73 yards and one score on 11 attempts.
Toledo's defense was also led by junior linebacker Dallas Gant, who had a career-high 15 tackles.
The Rockets now have sole possession of first place in the MAC West Division, holding the tie-breaker over both Central Michigan and Northern Illinois, heading into next week's home game vs. Kent State.
First Quarter
Toledo took the opening kickoff and marched 69 yards in eight plays for the opening score. The big play on the drive was a 43-yard completion from Dequan Finn to Jerjuan Newton. Finn hit Newton again from four yards out on fourth down for the score. Moments later the Rockets made it 14-0 on a 25-yard interception return for a TD by Quinyon Mitchell to make it 14-0. Northern Illinois cut the lead to 14-7 on a 15-yard TD run by quarterback Justin Lynch with 4:57 left in the quarter. Toledo wasted no time in countering, moving 73 yards in four plays to take a 21-7 edge. Jacquez Stuart had a 35-yard on the drive, which was finished off by an 11-yard pass from Finn to Newton.
Second Quarter
The Rockets made it 28-7 on a one-yard run by Jacquez Stuart, capping a nine-play, 70-yard drive to open the second quarter. Mitchell struck again late in the half, snagging his second pick six of the game, this time from 20 yards out, padding Toledo's lead to 35-7 with 3:27 left in the half. Mitchell ended the half with an interception in NIU's end zone, giving him three picks for the half.
Third Quarter
Mitchell picked off where he left off, grabbing his fourth interception of the game on NIU's opening drive of the second half. Later in the half, Thomas Cluckey nailed a 33-yard field goal with 7:03 left in the quarter to move Toledo's lead to 38-7. Toledo made it 45-7 on a 15-yard TD throw from redshirt freshman Tucker Gleason to tight end Jamal Turner.
Fourth Quarter
Northern scored its second touchdown of the game on a five-yard run by Antonio Brown on the first play of the fourth quarter. With a successful two-point conversion, NIU cut the lead to 45-15. The Huskies converted an on-side kick recovery into three more points, with John Richardson connecting on a 44-yard field goal to cut the lead to 45-18 with 10:03 left. NIU followed that up with another on-side kick recovery that led to another touchdown (failed two-point conversion), trimming the Rocket lead to 45-24. Northern was successful on its two-point conversion following a touchdown pass with 48 seconds on the clock, and trimmed its deficit to the final score of 52-32.
By MIKE SMITH
OXFORD, OH -- Caiden Woullard's field goal block on Kent State's first drive of the day was one of several key plays that enabled hosting Miami to edge the Golden Flashes 27-24 Saturday at Yager Stadium.
After losing their conference opener at Buffalo last week, the RedHawks bounced back to raise their record to 3-3 overall 1-1 MAC. Kent State fell to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in league play.
"It's been a hard week to come off that loss (at Buffalo)," Martin said. "If you have any chance to stay in this (conference) race, you have to win."
Tyre Shelton scored two touchdowns and Graham Nicholson booted two long field goals (49 and 45 yards) to pace the offense. Matt Salopek registered two sacks and Ryan McWood recorded 11 tackles for a RedHawk defense that held the league's top scoring offense to seven points through two -plus quarters. The Flashes passing game started clicking after intermission, and quarterback Collin Schlee tossed two touchdown passes after Shelton's second touchdown (a 3-yard run) put Miami up 24-7 with 9:20 remaining in the third period.
Schlee's TD passes were sandwiched around a Nicholson field goal, so KSU made it 27-21 at 12:18 of the fourth quarter. After forcing a RedHawk punt, Kent State still had 9:09 remaining.
Schlee found Devontez Walker for a 43 yard gain to move KSU in the red zone. However, MU's defense forced the visitors into a 4th and 13 at the Miami 21. Andrew Glass came on and was successful from 38 yards on his second try of the day.
It appeared as though Kent State would quickly get the ball again as the RedHawks drew a pair of quick flags to set up a 1st and 20. Freshman quarterback Aveon Smith, however, came up with another key RedHawk play when he zig-zaged his way though the Flashes defense for a 31-yard gain that kept the drive going.
Although KSU was loading the box, Miami stayed on the ground, rushing eight more times and picking up two more hard-earned first downs before stalling at the Flashes 28-yard line. Facing fourth and six with 1:12 left and KSU out of time outs, the RedHawks eschewed a 45-yard field goal attempt. Smith then validated the decision with a 16-yard pass to tight end Jack Coldiron. After a kneel down to close the verdict, Miami celebrated a homecoming win that raised its extended its winning streak at Yager Stadium to 16 games.
"I (just) thought we had a chance to end this thing," said Martin, also noting a field goal try would have been from 45 yards and it would only have put MU up by six.
In Kent State's previous outing, the Flashes rolled up 736 yards while edging Ohio 41-24 in overtime. Miami limited KSU to 415 yards and then matched that figure with 415 of its own. Both teams committed one turnover, with each miscue setting up opponent points -- three for Miami and seven for Kent State.
A muffed punt reception KSU led to the game's first points as Nicholson followed with a first quarter field goal from 49 yards. After Kent State went three-and-out, the RedHawks struck quickly. Smith hit Miles Marshall on a 72-yards play with MU's first play. Shelton covered the last two yards to give MU a 10-0 lead.
Miami again forced a quick punt in Kent State's next drive and then scored four plays into its own drive. Kevin Davis took it off the right side 41 yards, leaving MU up 17-0 with 1:09 still left in the opening stanza..
KSU finally got on the board thanks, in part, to Khali Saunders' interception at the Flashes 35-yard line. Eight plays late, Schlee hit walker for a 27-yard score to close first half scoring.
Overall, Schlee completed 23 of 40, good for 306 yards with three touchdowns. Two went to Walker, who finished with 11 catches for 159 yards. Dante Cephas caught nine balls for a total of 118 yards and one TD. Bryan Bradford (9 carries, 43 yards) and Marquez Cooper (13 carries, 32 yards) led Kent State rushers. Marvin Pierre paced defenders with 13 tackles.
On the Miami side, Smith completed 9 of 14 passes for 179 yards. Marshall (2 catches, 89 yards) and Coldiron (3 catches, 60 yards) were the only receivers with more than one catch.
"He's giving us a chance (to win)," Martin said of Smith, who was third or fourth on the depth chart in 2021. Former backup AJ Mayer transferred out and starter Brett Gabbert suffered a serious injury in the opener at Kentucky. Martin noted Smith came up big on a pair of key plays -- picking up the key first down to start Miami's last drive and closing out the victory with his fourth down pass to Coldiron later. "I know he's open, but you've (still) got to hit him. It's fourth and six, and the game is on the line."
The RedHawks run game, which has been improving over the last couple weeks, accounted for 236 yards (4.7 ypc) and all three TDs. Davis (8 carries, 72 yards, 1 TD) and Smith (10 carries, 71 yards) led the way.