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Photo: Jim Klapthor

Bowl Eligible, Part One
Central Michigan started the week of MAC football this past Tuesday by defeating rival Western Michigan and earning a trip to the MAC Championship Game on December 1 in Detroit. The victory earned Central Michigan its second straight MAC West title and in the process the Chippewas also became the first team in the MAC to reach "official" bowl eligibility, earning their sixth win of the season (6-4 overall).

Also notable during Central Michigan's wild comeback 34-31 win over Western Michigan was the fact that freshman WR/KR Antonio Brown shattered the old record for all-purpose yards by a freshman. Brown now has 1,667 all-purpose yards, topping the old MAC record of 1,550 yards set by Central Michigan's Jerry Seymour in 2003.

Bowl Eligible, Part Two
Three days later Bowling Green (6-4) joined Central Michigan as the only other MAC team to reach the magic number of six victories to also become bowl eligible when the Falcons defeated Eastern Michigan 39-32. But unlike Central Michigan, Bowling Green has not secured a postseason destination.

The Falcons currently reside in second place in the MAC East and with two losses would need Miami to lose twice to climb back into contention for the divisional title. However a strong finish of 8-4 or even 7-5 could have Bowling Green heading to Toronto for the International Bowl but that too is far from being a certainty with Miami, Toledo and Ball State also closing in on being bowl eligible with each needing only one more victory.

Potentially the MAC could have more than three teams finish at 7-5. So, are there additional options beyond the MAC's three bowl tie-ins with the Motor City Bowl, GMAC Bowl and International Bowl? Possibly. Keep an eye on Conference USA.

Currently Conference USA has four teams that are bowl eligible with Memphis and Southern Mississippi sitting on the outside at 5-5 and may have a difficult time filling all six of its allotted bowl slots. In the event that Conference USA cannot fill its bowl allotment, the MAC could snag a spot in either the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, AL or the New Orleans Bowl.

It's a longshot, but if the MAC fulfills its bowl tie-ins and still has a team sitting at 7-5, a fourth bowl may be possible.

New Attendance Record
Earlier this season Northern Illinois set a new home MAC attendance record when a sell-out crowd of 61,500 watched the Huskies season opener against Iowa. That record was broken however when 69,209 attended Temple's contest at Lincoln Financial Field against Penn State this past Saturday.

Quick Stat Check
This week we take a look at the Top Five MAC teams in three categories:

Here is our recap of the past week's action, with notes and quotes from each game. Also be sure to keep reading for our choices for MAC offensive and defensive players of the week.  

Around The Conference
Central Michigan 34, Western Michigan 31.
Quick Take: Central Michigan clinched the MAC West title and remained the only team with an unblemished conference record, defeating rival Western Michigan in a wild 34-31 come from behind victory. The teams entered the third quarter with CMU up 10-7 but then combined for 48 points and nearly 400 yards of offense in the fourth quarter. Western Michigan appeared to have the game in hand after recovering a fumble deep in CMU territory and then scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 1:34 remaining to take a 31-27 lead. Central Michigan however responded and after a crucial pass interference call on the Broncos and a 39-yard pass completion from QB Dan LeFevour to WR Bryan Anderson, LeFevour ran one-yard for the game-winning touchdown with twelve seconds remaining.

Notable:
**Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour accounted for 307 yards of total offense and is now CMU's all-time leader with 6,748 career total yards.
**CMU freshman Antonio Brown set the new MAC record for all-purpose yards by a freshman in a single season (1,667).
**Western Michigan TE Brandon Ledbetter recorded his 13th career TD, tying him for first all-time among Broncos tight ends with Tony Scheffler and Jake Moreland.

Quotable:
** "The last five minutes everybody was standing up but I just sat on the bench and prayed. It's just a great feeling to go back to the championship." Central Michigan LB Ike Brown.
** "That kind of thing happens all the time in college football. The guy grabs his ankles and he tries to get away and they (the officials) think he kicks him. He's just trying to get off the ground, it happens all the time. I don't understand it." Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubit on the ejection of WMU WR Jamarko Simmons after being called for a personal foul in the first quarter.
** "Repeating as champion is the toughest thing to do in college football. When we had that ball with just a little over a minute to go, the look in every man's eyes was 'we're going to get this done coach.' I can't say enough about everyone in our program" Central Michigan head coach Butch Jones.

Akron 48, Ohio 37.

Notable:
**Akron's 48 points were the most scored by the Zips since Akron defeated Northern Illinois 48-42 in OT in 2005.
**Ohio RB Kalvin McRae rushed for 109 yards, his 20th career 100-yard rushing game which set a new school record.
**The 95-yard kickoff return for a TD by Akron's Bryan Williams was the first allowed by Ohio since October 22, 2005 against Ball State.

Quotable:
** "I told the guys to remember the Temple game when we didn't finish and how bad that felt. I told them we were not going to let that happen again." Akron QB Chris Jacquemain.
** "I didn't think we came out with a lot of energy at the start of the game. We found ourselves behind early and were never able to come all the way back." Ohio head coach Frank Solich.
** "I was happy for the players tonight. People have questioned our team, but we played hard and physical football. We were able to take advantage of momentum shifts and the opportunities we had." Akron head coach J.D. Brookhart

Bowling Green 39, Eastern Michigan 32.
Quick Take: Bowling Green QB Tyler Sheehan scored on a one-yard run with 3:54 left to lead Bowling Green past Eastern Michigan 39-32 Friday night in Ypsilanti. The game was a back and forth affair throughout with EMU taking a late 32-31 lead on QB Andy Schmitt's second rushing TD of the game with just over six minutes remaining but the Eagles could not hold on and Bowling Green came away with its sixth win of the season, becoming bowl eligible in the process.

Notable:
**Bowling Green has now won nine straight over EMU with the Eagles' last win in the series coming in 1989.
**The Falcons did not attempt a single punt during the contest.
**Eastern Michigan RB Pierre Walker had a career single-game best of 155 yards rushing.

Quotable:
** "We got bowl eligible tonight, which is huge for this football program right now. For us to come back and get bowl eligible and win six football games right now from where we were less than a year ago is a huge credit to the kids in this program." Bowling Green head coach Gregg Brandon.
** "We didn't have to punt all day and when you don't have to punt all day something good is going to happen for you." Bowling Green QB Tyler Sheehan.
** "We (as coaches) put them (the players) in position to make the plays and that's all that we can do. We have to remain fundamentally sound and that is something we are not doing." Eastern Michigan head coach Jeff Genyk.

Penn State 31, Temple 0.
Quick Take: Temple hosted the Nittany Lions and set a new MAC home single-game attendance record with 69,029 fans showing up at Lincoln Financial Field. The Nittany Lions led 17-0 at halftime but were held scoreless again until the fourth quarter before adding a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to account for the final margin of victory. The Owls had their chances including driving down to the PSU five-yard line on their opening drive before QB Vaughn Charlton was sacked and then Jake Brownell shanked a 23-yard field goal attempt, ending Temple's best scoring opportunity.

Notable:
**The Owls were held to four yards net rushing.
**Temple WR Bruce Francis has now caught at least one pass in 26 consecutive games.
**Owls QB Vaughn Charlton was 26-43 for 238 yards, all career single-game highs.

Quotable:
** "There is no comparison between our teams from last year to this year. There is no comparison. Every coach on their team came up to me afterward and said you can't even compare." Temple head coach Al Golden.
** "I thought we played a good solid game. Temple started well, and they had a couple of shots at it, and they didn't get them and that was obviously discouraging to Al and the Temple kids, but I thought we played a solid football game. Temple's got a nice squad. They are going to be okay." Penn State head coach Joe Paterno.
** "We came to play, but we made mistakes, critical mistakes." Temple DB Dominique Harris.


Northern Illinois 27, Kent State 20.
Quick Take: It was a game of attrition as by the end of the contest Kent State was down to its third string quarterback, Jon Brown, and Northern Illinois starting quarterback Dan Nicholson was sidelined as was starting RB Justin Anderson but the Huskies prevailed 27-20 and in the process secured their first MAC win of the season. The teams exchanged scoring throughout the game with NIU opening a 10-point lead late in the game 27-17 and then held on for a 27-20 win when NIU LB John Tranchitella intercepted Brown with Kent State driving for the tying touchdown with 1:25 left in the game at the Huskies' 10-yard line.

Notable:
** Two weeks after allowing a MAC record 812 yards in offense against Toledo, Northern Illinois limited Kent State to 363 yards and only 159 yards passing.
** Kent State RB Eugene Jarvis rushed for 170 yards and set a new Kent State season record with 1,429 yards on the season.
** Northern Illinois now owns a nine-game winning streak in DeKalb over Kent State that dates back to 1972.
**NIU RB Justin Anderson topped the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the season by running for 98 yards. He now has 1,096 yards on the year.

Quotable:
** "I will take this win. I am happy for these kids, I am happy for these seniors. It was good to come out tonight and get a win for them and this home crowd. I would like to enjoy this one for a while because it hasn't happened very much this year." Northern Illinois head coach Joe Novak.
** "This was a tough loss. We played a good Northern Illinois team today that fought hard to the end. Our team took it to the wire but just came up short." Kent State head coach Doug Martin.
** "NIU came after it today. We just had too many mistakes that ended drives." Kent State QB Jon Brown.

Players of the Week
MAC Report Online announces its choices for offensive and defensive players of the week for week eleven of the MAC season.

Offensive Player of the Week
Dan LeFevour, QB, Central Michigan: 23-38 235 yards and one touchdown passing. 72 yards and two touchdowns rushing.
Comment LeFevour accounted for 307 total yards and three touchdowns in leading Central Michigan past Western Michigan in a 34-31 comeback victory to claim CMU's second straight MAC West title.