MAC Football Scoreboard: Friday, Nov. 25
Northern Illinois 18, Eastern Michigan 12 Final
Temple 34, Kent State 16 Final
Bowling Green 42, Buffalo 28 Final
Western Michigan 68, Akron 19 Final
Toledo 45, Ball State 28 Final
Game stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Northern Illinois 18, Eastern Michigan 12 Final
DeKalb, Ill. – On a day when the normally potent Northern Illinois offense struggled to find its rhythm, the oft-maligned Huskie defense stepped up to lead NIU to an 18-12 victory over Eastern Michigan Friday morning at Huskie Stadium. With the victory, Northern Illinois (9-3, 7-1) earned its seventh-straight win and its second consecutive trip to the Marathon Mid-American Conference Championship as the MAC West Champions.
“Finally, we can quit talking about Detroit and go back [there],” said NIU Head Coach Dave Doeren, the winningest first-year head coach in Northern Illinoi history. “It’s hard to win seven straight games in college football. When you do it in conference, on the road, with injuries, it says a lot about our character, our leadership and our coaching staff.”
In keeping with one of the season’s themes, Northern Illinois won the game on Friday, “The Hard Way,” which included a defensive stand in the game’s final two minutes as Eastern Michigan (6-6, 4-4) attempted to drive for the game-winning touchdown.
EMU began its final drive on their own 32 with 3:33 left to play, but reached Huskie territory one play later on a 26-yard run Eagles’ quarterback Alex Gillett to the NIU 42. Two plays later, EMU had first and 10 at the NIU 31 with a little over two minutes remaining. Although Gillett had eluded NIU defenders all day to the tune of 67 rushing yards on 17 carries, this time, the Northern Illinois rush got to the Eagles’ QB as defensive end Alan Baxter sacked Gillett for 15 yards.
On the next play, NIU defensive end Sean Progar tripped up Gillett for a 10-yard loss and the game came down to a fourth-and-35 play with just over 1:40 on the clock. Gillett once again dropped back, once again escaped the rush and threw deep in the middle of the field toward Garrett Hoskins. NIU defensive backs Sean Evans and Demetrius Stone converged on Hoskins and knocked it out of his hands to preserve the Northern Illinois lead. Three snaps later, the Huskies celebrated a return trip to Detroit.
“There’s nothing better than stopping someone at the end of the game to win,” Doeren said. “As a defensive player, that’s a huge deal. I’m proud of those guys for sticking together and believing. You can’t win championships without defense and we took a step toward that today. We won the West because we played great defense. Our offense has carried us throughout the season; today was the defense’s turn.”
The difference on the scoreboard was a 68-yard touchdown run by Huskie quarterback Chandler Harnish that gave NIU an 18-6 lead at the end of the third quarter. Harnish ran the quarterback power play to the right looking for one yard and instead, after breaking one tackle, went all the way for his 11th rushing score of the season. He ran for 148 yards on 17 carries on the day to record his fourth straight 100-yard rushing game and his sixth 100-yard day of the season.
The touchdown run was NIU’s first since the first quarter, when Harnish hit a wide open Willie Clark in the middle of the field for a 54-yard touchdown and an early 7-0 Huskie lead.
The Huskie defense got a big stop early in the game as well. After EMU had first and goal on the NIU two in the first quarter, three runs netted minus one yards and the Eagles were forced to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Kody Fulkerson.
The defense added two points to the Huskies’ total with 8:44 to play in the second quarter when Sean Progar tackled running back Dominique Scherrer in the end zone for a 9-3 NIU lead. The play came after punter Ryan Neir’s boot was downed at the one-yard line. Kicker Mathew Sims extended the lead to 12-3 by hitting a 39-yard field goal to finish the drive following the free kick.
NIU kept the Eagles out of the endzone again after a 14-play, 57-yard drive by Eastern Michigan ended at the Huskie six-yard line with a 23-yard field goal by Fulkerson to cut the lead to 12-6 with 1:43 left in the third quarter.
On a windy day in DeKalb, Harnish completed nine-of-19 passes for 98 yards while Gillett connected on 11-of-25 passes for 147 yards. Northern Illinois was held to two-of-13 on third-down conversions. Jordan Delegal led the NIU defense with 10 tackles, one for loss, while Rashaan Melvin had nine stops. Progar, Ron Newcomb and Baxter each recorded a sack.
Northern Illinois extended its winning streak at Huskie Stadium to a school-record 15 games.
Temple 34, Kent State 16 Final
Philadelphia, Pa. -- Temple junior running back Bernard Pierce exploded for 164 yards and three touchdowns in the second half to lead Temple to a 34-16 win over visiting Kent State Friday afternoon in the final regular season game of the season for both teams. The Owls, who finish 8-4 overall and in second place in the Mid-American Conference East Division with a 5-3 mark, will wait to see if they are selected to compete in their second Bowl game in three seasons. Kent State finishes the season at 5-7 and 4-4 in conference play.
Temple honored its 19 seniors prior to the game and, with win, extended the program's school-record for wins by a senior class to 30 upon its conclusion.
One senior, fifth-year QB Chester Stewart, was a surprise factor in the contest. After relinquishing his starting spot to sophomore Chris Coyer following the Ohio game, Stewart came into the contest in the first quarter as Coyer suffered a shoulder injury.
The Hanover, Md. native struggled with three fumbles, including one on his first play from scrimmage, but settled into the game. He completed all six of his passes for 94 yards while engineering four scoring drives.
It was Pierce, however, who put on the real show. The Owls' All-America candidate rushed for a season-high 189 yards, all but 21 of those coming in the second half. His output was the most against Kent State's defense that entered play ranked first in the MAC in rush defense (123.27 ypg.).
The Ardmore, Pa. native had scoring runs of 18, 25 and 69 yards with the latter coming on a 4th and one play. It moved his school-record single season total to 25 rushing touchdowns and his season total to 1,381 yards (3rd on all-time Temple list).
The game was not that easy for the Owls, however, as Temple trailed 6-0 early on a Jacquise Terry 11-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. Senior DB Kee-ayre Griffin blocked the extra point for the Owls. The Golden Flashes TD was set up by Stewart's first fumble, off a bad snap, that gave KSU the ball at the Temple 16.
Junior RB Matt Brown, who ranks fourth in the MAC in all-purpose yardage, quickly changed the momentum. Brown took the kickoff a yard deep in his end zone and broke it for his first touchdown return of the season. He also tied the modern-day Temple school mark with a 100-yard return (NCAA rules do not go over 100 yards).
Brandon McManus connected on a 33-yard field goal, one of two on the day for the junior kicker, to make it 10-6 right before halftime.
The Owls, limited to just 10 rushing yards in the first half, moved the ball effectively on its first drive of the third quarter. Pierce alone gained 38 yards on the drive, which was aided by a costly facemask call, and capped it with his 18-yard touchdown to make it 17-6.
Kent State moved the ball through the air on its ensuing possession as QB Spencer Keith (24-40, 260 yds 1 TD) hit Chris Gilbert for a big 31-yard reception and followed with a 14-yard pass-play to Sam Kirkland that put the ball at the Temple 9. The Owls' defense then stopped the Flashes, holding KSU to a 22-yard field goal by Freddy Cortez.
Pierce was a one-man wrecking crew on the next possession, rushing seven times (55 yds) during the nine-play drive with his last the 25-yard TD on fourth down.
The Owls held that 24-9 lead until the 9:45 mark of the fourth quarter when Pierce broke off a 69-yard TD run on the first play following the Owls' defensive stop on fourth down on their own 31.
Kent State again went for it on fourth down, this time on its own 11, and the Temple defense again made the necessary stop. Three plays later McManus tacked on another field goal, this one from 28 yards out, to make it 34-9.
Keith connected with Gilbert on a 28-yard TD with just under five minute to play to account for the final score.
Although it was not easy, Temple set the school record for most rushing yards by a team with 3,080 on the season. Head coach Steve Addazio also moved past legendary Wayne Hardin for most wins by a first-year Temple coach. Hardin had seven wins in 1970, his debut season.
Bowling Green 42, Buffalo 28 Final
Buffalo, N.Y. -- The Bowling Green State University football team defeated the University at Buffalo 42-28, out-scoring the Bulls 38-3 in a span of 35 minutes on Friday (Nov. 25) afternoon. The Mid-American Conference game was held at UB Stadium in Buffalo, N.Y.
The Bulls had a 17-7 lead one minute into the second quarter before the Falcons added two second quarter touchdowns and three more scores in the third period. All five of those touchdowns were with the wind, which played a major factor throughout the game.
The turning point in the game came with the Falcons trailing 17-7 as Buffalo lined up for a punt. Senior Ray Hutson, who was playing in his final game, got his hands on the punt to give the Falcons the ball at the UB-28 yard line. The next play Matt Schilz found Eugene Cooper on a 28-yard score.
Buffalo answered with a 27-yard field, but failed to run out the clock later in the quarter. Schilz drove the Falcons 74 yards on nine plays in less than a minute, concluding on Cooper’s second touchdown of the day, this time coming from 19 yards.
BGSU scored three more touchdowns in the third quarter, getting a two-yard touchdown from John Pettigrew and a 1-yard score from Jamel Martin. After the Martin score the Falcons led 35-20. The nail in the coffin came late in the third quarter as the Falcon got aggressive with time running out with the wind. Schilz found Kamar Jorden on a deep “go route” along the sideline, connecting on a 64-yard touchdown.
Schilz, who opened the game with two interceptions in his first eight passes, played well down the stretch, throwing for 236 yards and four touchdowns.
The Falcons were without Anthon Samuel and Jordan Hopgood at running back, but Pettigrew had 50 yards on 12 carries and freshman Martin had 44 yards on 14 carries.
Bowling Green finishes the season at 5-7 overall and 3-5 in MAC play after going 2-10 and 1-7 in 2010.
Western Michigan 68, Akron 19 Final
Kalamazoo, Mich. -- Western Michigan football scored early and often against Akron as the Broncos rolled to a 68-19 win to close out the regular season. It is the program's 11th perfect season at home and third under head coach Bill Cubit.
Tyler Van Tubbergen earned his first career start, spelling Alex Carder, and all he did was complete 19-of-21 passes for 252 yards and six passing TDs. He ran in another, totaling 60 yards on the ground.
The WMU offense did not miss a beat in the first half, taking a 45-5 lead into the locker room, outgaining Akron 407-117 during the first 30 minutes.
Jordan White hauled in his 15th TD catch of the season to break the tie he shared with Greg Jennings for most in a season on a 22-yard scoring grab at the 11:41 mark of the first quarter. He would score again on a 40-yard pass from Van Tubbergen to give WMU a 24-5 lead at the 7:59 mark of the second quarter.
White finishes the regular season with 1,646 yards on 127 catches, ranking third and second in Mid-American Conference history, respectively. His 15 scores are tied for fifth in the MAC record book.
Robert Arnheim found the end zone with his arm, hitting Chleb Ravenell from 19 yards out on one of WMU's two one-play drives. He also hit Jordan White for a 23-yard gain. The wide receiver's 42 yards passing was seven more than the Zips had as a team passing.
Eric Monette scored his first career TD on a 36-yard strike from Van Tubbergen, stretching out for the goal line, on WMU's second one-play drive of the day. It was the first time since Nov. 12, 2005 that the Broncos had multiple one-play drives in a game and the 73rd and 74th one-play drives in program history.
Dallas Walker capped the first half scoring with a three-yard TD grab with 1:41 to go before the break, giving the Broncos their 40-point cushion, its largest of the season, to end the first half.
Also scoring their first career TDs were tight end Matt Cutler, from one yard out, and Mike Perish, on a two-yard run in the third quarter.
There were two safeties in the game as Brian Fields was stopped in the end zone after Akron downed a punt at the one-yard line and then at the 8:10 mark of the fourth quarter, the Zips snapped the ball over the punter's head out the back of the end zone.
This is the most points Western Michigan has scored in the MAC era and the most since scoring 76 against Kent State on Nov. 16, 1996.
Defensively, Drew Nowak was everywhere. The senior defensive tackle led Broncos with nine tackles and two solo sacks. He also had a career high 5.0 tackles for loss and forcing a fumble.
The Bronco defense had five take aways on Friday afternoon with true freshman Trevor Ishmael recovering a program record tying three fumbles with Keith Dixson recovering a fourth fumble and Rontavious Atkins hauling in his second interception of the season.
Paul Hazel had three pass break ups and a pair of quarterback pressures, while Mitch Zajac added a QB pressure of his own and Nowak added two more.
Western Michigan outgained Akron 577-208 on the day. Ben Armer matched a career long with his only punt of the day, going a distance of 66 yards. John Potter recorded 12 points to give him a team best 99 for the season, ranking first among kickers in a season in program history and fifth among players at any position. His consecutive PATs made streak now stands at 126 and his 15 field goals in 2011 are tied for fifth in a season in program history.
WMU finishes the regular season at 7-5 and 5-3 in the MAC, bowl eligible for the fifth time in seven seasons.
Toledo 45, Ball State 28 Final
Muncie, Ind. -- As it turned out, Toledo wasn’t playing for a MAC Championship on Saturday. But the Rockets nevertheless easily dispatched a respectable Ball State team, 45-28, giving them a share of the MAC West Division crown with Northern Illinois with a 7-1 league mark.
Senior Eric Page caught a career-high 16 passes for 145 yards and set the UT record for receptions in a season (112) to lead a Rocket team that arrived at Scheumann Stadium not knowing if their battle with Ball State would be for a shot at the league title. But just about as the UT-BSU game got underway, the NIU-Eastern Michigan ended with the Huskies holding on to a an 18-12 victory, clinching a share of the division title and a trip to the MAC Championship Game vs. Ohio on Dec. 2. NIU secured the nod over UT thanks to its 63-60 win over the Rockets on Nov. 1.
Toledo (8-4, 7-1 MAC) still had a lot to play for, though, namely a bowl berth. The MAC has three automatic bowl tie-ins and a couple of other back-up possibilities, so an eighth win was important to the Rockets to help their chances for post-season play.
The Rockets mostly dominated the action, outgaining Ball State, 507-395. Sophomore Terrance Owens completed his first 14 passes of the game and ended up 27-of-32 for 267 yards and a career-high tying four TDs. Senior Adonis Thomas led the ground attack with 141 yards on 25 carries. Senior Morgan Williams added 61 yards on 15 attempts. Junior Dan Molls led the defense with nine tackles and a fumble recovery. unior safety Jermaine Robinson added eight tackles and an interception,while senior CB Desmond Marrow added seven tackles and broke up two passes.
Toledo jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a pair of long drives. Thomas scored on a four-yarder with 8:31 to play in the first quarter to cap a 15-play, 80-yard drive. Early in the second quarter, Owens hit senior RB Morgan Williams for an 11-yard reception to put UT up, 14-0. During the drive, Page caught his eighth pass of the game to break the UT season reception mark of 103 set by Lance Moore in 2003.
Ball State cut the lead in half on its next possession on a 10-play, 80-yard drive that was finished off on a one-yard scoring run by Jahwan Edwards.
Toledo closed out the scoring in the first half when Owens hit sophomore WR Bernard Reedy on a crossing route for a 30-yard touchdown that put the Rockets up 21-7 at halftime.
The two sides traded touchdowns throughout the rest of the game. The Rockets made it 28-7 early in the third quarter on a three-yard pass from Owens to redshirt freshman Cassius McDowell, the first TD of his career. Ball State cut the lead to 14 early in the fourth quarter on a five-yard TD pass from Zach Wenning to Zane Fakes.
Toledo’s next score was a 14-yard TD pass from Owens to Page to make the score an insurmountable 35-14. It was the 25th TD reception of Page’s career, tying him with Lance Moore for the most in Toledo history.
The Rockets added a Ryan Casano field goal and a 58-yard interception return in the fourth quarter to counter a couple of late TDs by the Cardinals.