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MAC roundup
MAC Game of the Week
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No. 12 Marshall 31, Western Michigan 17 |
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The debate was minimal, and now it's over -- at least for two weeks. In a battle of the MAC's best teams and best quarterbacks, the Thundering Herd won unanimous decisions on both counts. Despite trailing briefly in the first half, the Herd did anything they wanted to against the Broncos, even getting two TDs from Doug Chapman, who missed last week's Kent game with a hyperextended knee and was listed as questionable entering today. Chapman finished with 108 yards on 29 carries.
In the battle of the QBs, Marshall's Chad Pennington didn't have an explosive game, but still got the better of WMU's Tim Lester, who was harassed all day and sacked four times. The Broncos were intent on taking away the big play from Pennington, and found success. What they couldn't stop, however, was the mid-range passes, leaving Pennington to pick them apart with 10-15 yard completions all afternoon. He completed 27 of 40 passes for 339 yards, two TDs and was not intercepted. His second scoring pass, a 19-yarder to Lanier Washington, sealed a 17-point third quarter for Marshall. Lester completed 24 of 43 passes for 193 yards, a TD and an interception.
The Herd's victory sealed what has been a foregone conclusion since the season began -- Marshall (10-0, 7-0 MAC) and Western Michigan (7-3, 6-1) will meet in the MAC Championship Game to be played in Huntington, W. Va. Dec. 3. It's the third such berth for Marshall in their three years in the conference since moving up from Division I-AA. This will be the first year the Herd has not met Toledo for the title. |
Other MAC action
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Virginia 50, Buffalo 21 |
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Virginia QB Dan Ellis threw six touchdown passes as the Cavaliers (6-4, 4-3) used the occasion of playing the hapless Bulls (0-10, 0-7) to pick up their sixth win of the year and become eligible for the postseason. The Bulls managed to keep UVA RB Thomas Jones out of the end zone until the fourth quarter, but despite already holding a healthy lead, the Cavaliers found a way to get him there eventually. Ellis and Jones hooked up on an 84-yard catch-and-run TD, while the senior also scored the last touchdown of the day on a 37-yard scoring run with less than four minutes to play. Mercifully, the Bulls season ends next week at Miami (Ohio).
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Bowling Green 35, Ball State 14 |
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Ball State, suffering through one of the worst seasons in school history, managed to score first, cashing in on a four-yard Nick Dunbar run. From there, however, Bowling Green scored 21 straight points to put the Cardinals in a hole they could not crawl out of and sent them to their 16 consecutive loss. If there was good news on the day for coach Bill Lynch's team it's that South Carolina also lost, meaning the Cardinals' losing streak is still just the nation's second longest. |
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Central Michigan 29, Eastern Michigan 26 |
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Maybe it took their coach announcing his resignation to bring the Chippewas to life. Four days after coach Dick Flynn announced that he would step down following the season, Central Michigan (3-7, 2-5) put together its best effort of the season, jumping out to an early lead and never trailing against high-flying Eastern Michigan (4-6, 4-3). CMU QB Pete Shepherd had a big game, throwing two scoring passes and catching another from Ira Gooch. The Chippewas' only other wins have come against winless Buffalo and Division I-AA Eastern Illinois. CMU has a chance to close the season with consecutive wins, traveling to face winless Ball State next week.
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Toledo 44, Northern Illinois 14 |
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Toledo (5-5, 4-3) had no interest in nurturing Northern Illinois' dreams of finishing with a winning record for the first time since 1990. Instead, the Rockets, who have had their problems this year, used the game as an opportunity to work out some offensive kinks and roll up the Huskies (4-6, 4-3), who will finish with a losing record for the ninth straight year. Toledo, meanwhile, faces a daunting task next week. The Rockets have to beat Western Division champion Western Michigan in order to avoid their first losing season since 1993.
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Ohio 40, Miami (Ohio) 28 |
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Miami of Ohio's Travis Prentice tied Ricky Williams' record for career rushing TDs, but it was the Bobcats' option offense that won the day, as Joe Sherrill scored on a pair of one-yard runs and Ohio (5-5, 5-2) ran away and hid. Trailing 14-12 at half, the Bobcats outscored the RedHawks (6-4, 5-2), 21-0, in the third quarter and then held on in the fourth. Next week, Prentice concludes his fine career at home against Buffalo. He should have little problem taking sole ownership of the record against the hapless Bulls. |
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Akron 37, Kent 34 |
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Trailing 21-6 early in the third quarter, Akron (7-4, 5-3) woke up and avoided its third straight loss to end the season, scoring 31 of the game's final 44 points to overcome the Golden Flashes (2-9, 2-6). For the season, Akron outscored its opponents, 315-314.
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