We have a complete rundown of this past weekend's action below with notes and quotes from each game. Also keep reading for our choices for this week's offensive and defensive players of the week and a look at how our predictions performed this past week.

 

 

Around The Conference

Northwestern 16, Ohio 8.
Quick Take: In a game that featured nine turnovers and only two touchdowns, the Ohio Bobcats could not climb out of a 16-0 hole that they had dug for themselves. Northwestern built a 16-0 led by halftime and then withstood its own flurry of turnovers to turn back Ohio. The Bobcats drew to within 16-8 after QB Boo Jackson connected with TE Andrew Mooney and then Jackson found LaVon Brazill in the end-zone for a two-point conversion but Brazill would also figure on a critical turnover late in the game. Trailing 16-8, the Bobcats were driving when Jackson again found Brazill at the Northwestern 18-yard line but Brazill fumbled the ball, ending Ohio's last serious threat.

 

Notable:
**Ohio is 0-4 for the first time since the 2002 season.

**The Bobcats recorded four interceptions and recovered one fumble while Northwestern forced a pair of Ohio fumbles and picked off two passes.

**Ohio PK Barrett Way was 0-3 in FG attempts, having two kicks blocked (27, 38 yards) in the second half after missing a 42-yarder in the first quarter.

 

Quotable:
** "Football is all about how you prepare. Everyone wants to win, and it's easy to play when things are going your way. You find out about what kind of team and what kind of people you have when things aren't going your way." Ohio head coach Frank Solich.

** "We should have scored several times. We had opportunities to score but Boo and I couldn't connect." Ohio WR LaVon Brazill
** I feel like we fought hard. I can look at every guy on that (defensive) side of the ball and say that they gave it their all. I can say the same and they can say the same to me. From knowing those guys on offense, I know they did the exact same thing." Ohio SS Michael Mitchell.

Maryland 51, Eastern Michigan 24.

Quick Take: The Eagles were unable to recover after going down 17-0 early to Maryland thanks to a blocked punt that set up the Terrapins first score and a pair of interceptions thrown by QB Kyle McMahon that led directly to Maryland touchdowns in the first half. McMahon, who threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns, was starting in place of injured QB Andy Schmitt and guided the Eagles down to the Maryland five-yard line after the Terrapins had taken a 3-0 lead but his pass into the end-zone was intercepted and the Terrapins drove 80-yards to take a 10-0 lead. The Eagles closed to within 24-14 by halftime and trailed 37-24 midway through the fourth quarter until Maryland added two late touchdowns to put the game away.

 

Notable:
**EMU LB Daniel Holtzclaw recorded a game-high nine tackles and one interception. Holtzclaw is now fourth all-time at EMU in career tackles.

**The two teams combined for 939 yards in total offense (Maryland: 486; EMU: 453).
**The 51-points scored by Maryland were the most for the Terrapins since posting 55-points against Duke in 2004.

Quotable:
** "I was really surprised we were able to move the ball the way we did. I think our offensive line did a great job blocking. I thought Kyle (McMahon) made a lot of plays in the passing game." Eastern Michigan head coach Jeff Genyk.

** "We executed our base plays pretty well, but there were times we could have executed just a little better which would have made a difference in the game. I think our defense played a really great game, tackling wise, execution wise; giving us chances to make the plays that we needed to make." Eastern Michigan QB Kyle McMahon.

** "Our young quarterback has to execute. Our plan worked very well. We just have to make sure that we execute when the plays present themselves." Genyk.
 

Penn State 45, Temple 3.

Quick Take: Temple starting QB Adam DiMichele was knocked out of the game on the Owls' first offensive possession, suffering a shoulder injury that could sideline him for most of the season. Without DiMichele in the lineup the Owls sputtered on offense while the Nittany Lions, after a scoreless opening quarter, rolled to a 31-0 halftime lead, coasting to a 45-3 victory.

 

Notable:
**Penn State was shutout in the first quarter for the first time this season.

**Temple has not defeated the Nittany Lions since posting a 14-0 win over Penn State in 1941.

**Penn State's 31 second-quarter points were the most in a single quarter since they scored 31 in the third quarter against Indiana in 2003.

 

Quotable:
** "I don't know what the complete diagnosis is. He will be out for a considerable amount of time. Temple head coach Al Golden on QB Adam DiMichele's injury status.

** "It was a very, very sloppy performance - fumbles, we had an interception. Coverage was terrible. I felt sorry for Temple; their quarterback goes down on the second or third play. He's the guy who's really been driving them. Penn State head coach Joe Paterno.

** We just came out flat, maybe thinking it was going to be a little easier. We obviously stepped it up in the second quarter, scoring 31 points." Penn State RB Evan Royster.

 

Akron 22, Army 3.

Quick Take: The Zips, playing without starting RB Alex Allen and with a half-dozen defensive linemen out with injuries, forced seven Army turnovers and limited the Black Knights to only 223 yards in total offense. The Zips built a 9-3 halftime lead and added thirteen unanswered second-half points. QB Chris Jacquemain connected with WR Andre Jones for a TD in the second quarter and the Zips added their only other TD when RB Dennis Kennedy scored from one-yard out in the fourth quarter.

 

Notable:
**Converted DB Andre Jones had a game-high 100 yards receiving for the Zips.

**Army made only two trips inside the Akron 20-yard line.

**Neither team had success on third down. Akron was 1-9 on third down conversions while Army converted on 2-11 third downs.

**Army has now committed 12 turnovers in its first three games.

 

Quotable:
** If someone said six weeks ago that Shawn Lemon, Wally Pendleton and Dan Marcoux would be the key to this game, I would have said they arent even on the two-deep roster. But they started for us on the defensive line. You dont have an excuse, you play who you have. They fought very hard and did some good things. Akron head coach JD Brookhart

** We just have to keep pushing and play with what we have on the field. We just have to worry about the offense. We lost Alex Allen at running back, but the line is healthy and the receivers are healthy, so we are in good shape for the rest of the season. Akron QB Chris Jacquemain.

** "You cant win making that many turnovers. It puts everybody in a tough position. Army head coach Stan Brock.

 

Purdue 32, Central Michigan 25.

Quick Take: The Chips and Boilermakers hooked up for the third time in less than two seasons and for the second time the Chips suffered a tough, last minute loss despite their best defensive effort of the season. CMU held Purdue to season lows in rushing and total offense in the contest and took a late 25-24 lead when QB Dan LeFevour found RB Ontario Sneed for a six-yard TD with 1:18 left in the game followed by LeFevour finding Antonio Brown in the end-zone for a two-point conversion. But the lead was short-lived as the Boilermakers scored on one play on their next possession on Kory Sheets' 46-yard TD run that was set up by a 15-yard facemask penalty on CMU on the ensuing kickoff. The loss followed a similar script to CMU's Motor City Bowl loss when the Chips fell to Purdue 51-48 on a last-second field goal.

 

Notable:

** CMU QB Dan LeFevour had 403 yards in total offense, passing for a game-high 291 yards and two touchdowns and a game-high 112 yards rushing and one touchdown.

** LeFevour moved into tenth place all-time in the MAC in career passing yards with 7,802 yards, passing former EMU QB Charlie Batch.

** Chippewas OL Andrew Hartline has now started 43 consecutive games, tying him for the longest active starting streak in the nation.
 

Quotable:
** I think that was the best our defense played all year. Any time you play a team with the talent of Purdue, you have to play at a high level and I thought our guys came out with a lot of fire." Central Michigan head coach Butch Jones.

** The whole thing that was stressed to us this week by our coaches was 'do your job.' Unfortunately, on the big run, someone was out of their assigned gap and allowed the run to break free." CMU DT Sean Murname on Kory Sheets' game-winning TD run.
** "I saw daylight, and the hole couldn't get any bigger. Any runner could have made it through that hole - it just happened to be me in this instance." Purdue RB Korey Sheets on his game-winning TD run.

 

Missouri 42, Buffalo 21.

Quick Take: The Bulls gave fifth-ranked Missouri all they could handle throughout most of the contest before falling 42-21. The Bulls forced three turnovers and kept pace with the Tigers, trailing only 10-7 at the end of the first quarter, 20-14 at halftime and 27-21 in the third quarter, scoring twice through the air and once on a 97-yard kickoff return for a TD by Ernest Jackson. But Missouri added a third quarter TD run by Der Washington and a four-yard TD pass from Heisman contender Chase Daniel in pulling away late.

 

Notable:
** Buffalo's leading ground gainer, James Starks, did not start due to injury with Brandon Thermilus rushing for 23 yards in his first start. The Bulls were led by Mario Henry's 60 yards rushing.

** Bulls TE Ernest Jackson had a career high 201 yards of all-purpose yards for Buffalo and scored all three of Buffalo's touchdowns, one on a 97-yard KO return and two TD receptions.

** Missouri QB Chase Daniel passed for a career-high 439 yards and set a Big 12 record with twenty consecutive completions.
 

Quotable:
** "I'm really down about this loss. Missouri executed. They were the better team." Buffalo CB Josh Thomas.

** "Our goal was to come in here and keep fighting, but it didnt work out in the end. We have to build on this going into our MAC schedule." Buffalo FS Mike Newton

** We talked about playing with great effort and we did that. We talked about playing physically and they played physically but we didnt do the third thing and that was execution. Buffalo head coach Turner Gill.

Northern Illinois 48, Indiana State 3.

Quick Take: The Sycamores were overwhelmed as Northern Illinois coasted to an easy 48-3 victory Saturday over Indiana State. The Huskies scored early and often, using three quarterbacks in the win (Dan Nicholson, Ryan Morris and DeMarcus Grady) as the trio helped lead the Huskies to 363 yards of total offense. The Huskies did most of their damage however on the ground with 285 yards rushing and forced four Indiana State turnovers in getting their first win of the season.

 
Notable:
** NIU WR Matt Simon has now caught a pass in 20 straight games, going back to the 2006 season.
** The Huskies scored 21 points off of four turnovers.

** Indiana State has now lost 17 straight games and 41 of its last 42 games going back to 2004.

Quotable:
** The defense did a great job of stripping the football. That has been something that we have been working on in practice a lot throughout the week." Northern Illinois head coach Jerry Kill.
** "It was a total defensive effort. The line got great pressure on the quarterback. We've practiced reading the jump all year and that helped me." NIU CB Bradley Pruitt who had a 54-yard interception return for a TD.
** "I plan on a multi-quarterback approach if we can do it. It seems to be working very well right now. This is a team game and I will play all my quarterbacks when we are still able to move the ball with all three." NIU head coach Jerry Kill.

Louisiana-Lafayette 44, Kent State 27.
Quick Take: The Golden Flashes traveled to the Bayou and were swamped by the Ragin' Cajuns in a 44-27 loss. Kent State is still looking for its first win over a FBS opponent this season after snapping a nine-game losing streak last week with a win against Delaware State. Kent State got on the board first with a Julian Edelman 11-yard TD run but trailed 23-14 by halftime and fell behind by a 44-21 count before QB Anthony Magazu, in for Edelman who was suffering from cramps in the heat, connected with Alan Vanderink for an 81-yard TD pass midway through the fourth quarter. The Cajuns however nearly hung fifty points on KSU but a late fourth quarter drive ended inside the Flashes five-yard line.

Notable:
** Louisiana-Lafayette set a school record with 667 yards in total offense.

** The Ragin' Cajuns racked up 414 yards in rushing, led by Tyrell Fenroy's 194 yards and QB Michael Desormeaux's 150 yards. Desormeaux also had 253 yards passing

** KSU QB Julian Edelman racked up 217 total yards and three touchdowns.

** Kent State TB Eugene Jarvis was held out of the contest with an injured ankle.

 

Quotable:
** "We got overwhelmed defensively," Kent State head coach Doug Martin.

** "I told our players this was our last preseason game, and now we start our real season, which is the Mid-American Conference (next week against Ball State). We are getting ready to play against one of the best quarterbacks in the conference." Martin.

** "It feels so good you really can't put it into words." ULL QB Michael Desormeaux on getting the first win of the season.

 

Western Michigan 41, Tennessee Tech 7.

Quick Take: Western Michigan romped to an easy 41-7 win over FCS-member Tennessee Tech behind five touchdowns from QB Tim Hiller who led a WMU offense that rolled up 633 yards in total offense. The Bronco cruised out to a 27-7 halftime lead by which time Hiller had already thrown three of his five TD's before adding two more in the third quarter to give the Broncos their final margin of victory at 41-7. Hiller connected with four different receivers among his five scoring strikes, including two to Kirk Elsworth.

 
Notable:
** The five TD performance by WMU QB Tim Hiller represented the second time Hiller has thrown five touchdowns in one game, the other game being a five OT affair against Ball State in 2005.
** It was also Hiller's 16th multiple touchdown game of his career.

** Both Kirk Ellsworth (two) and Schneider Julien recorded their first career receiving TD's for the Broncos.

Quotable:
** He (Tim Hiller) is the catalyst for this whole thing right now, the way hes running the offense. The offense is pretty good right now; we got the game breakers out there." Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubit.
** "We just wanted to start fast. Thats something we havent been great at the past few seasons."  WMU QB Tim Hiller.
** Its just everybody working hard and doing their job. Everybodys just doing their assignments." WMU DB Londen Fryar.

 Ball State 42, Indiana 20.

Quick Take: In a game that was overshadowed by a serious injury to Cardinals' WR Dante Love, the Ball State Cardinals remained the MAC's only undefeated squad by defeating Indiana 42-20. The teams engaged in an entertaining first half battle that saw Ball State leading 28-20 at the break. After a scoreless third quarter, the Cardinals finished off their second-half shutout of the Hoosiers on the strength of RB MiQuale Lewis' third and fourth rushing touchdowns of the contest in the fourth quarter.

 
Notable:
** Ball State WR Dante Love remains listed in "satisfactory" condition after undergoing a five-hour surgical procedure to stabilize his spine after suffering what doctors described as a "cervical spine fracture and spinal cord injury" following a hit in the first quarter after making a two-yard reception. Love was reported able to move all of his extremities following surgery.

** BSU TB MiQuale Lewis rushed for a career-high 166 yards and recorded a career-high four touchdowns.

** The victory over Indiana was Ball State's first win in 44 tries over an opponent from a BCS conference and Indiana's first loss to a MAC squad since 1947.

Quotable:
** "We were told the surgery went well. Sunday morning Dante was alert and extremely tired. His attitude and spirits are good, and we are praying for him right now." Ball State head coach on the health status of WR Dante Love.

** "This is great for the university, but the biggest thing is we have to keep moving on," BSU QB Nate Davis
** I thought we played pretty good against Kellen (Lewis). "He's so versatile and is such a good player. I was pretty happy with our effort." BSU LB Bryant Haines.

 

 

Cincinnati 45, Miami 20.

Quick Take: The Bearcats claimed their third straight Victory Bell win over Miami, downing the RedHawks 45-20. Miami's defense did not force a single punt in the contest but the RedHawks kept it close for awhile, pulling to within 24-20 in the third quarter and were driving for a potential go-ahead TD when QB Daniel Raudabaugh was picked off by Cincy DB Mike Mickens who returned the pick 72-yards for a touchdown. The Bearcats added two more touchdowns later in the contest to put Miami away for good.

 
Notable:
** The RedHawks have now surrendered 498 yards passing in their last two games.

** Making his first career start, Cincinnati QB Tony Pike did not toss an interception and registered a completion percentage of 83.3% (20-24) to go along with three touchdowns.

** Miami sophomore Jamal Rogers had 128 return yards and already ranks second all-time at Miami in all-time kickoff return yardage.

Quotable:
** "I threw it into coverage, and thats my fault. We were executing well and doing the right things, and then I go and shoot us in the foot. Miami QB Daniel Raudabaugh on his pass that was picked off by UC DB Mike Mickens and returned for a touchdown.

** "I thought Daniel played a pretty good game. He had one mistake, and that was a big one. Miami head coach Shane Montgomery.
** Weve got a long ways to go. I think we have a lot to work on this week, but I think we could be a pretty good football team. We have not played anywhere as well as were capable of playing, and we cannot wait any longer. We need to get playing well by the time we play Temple (in two weeks). Montgomery.

 

Fresno State 55, Toledo 54 (2OT).

Quick Take: The MAC saved its wildest game of the day for the nightcap as Toledo fell in double OT to 25th-ranked Fresno State, 55-54. The Bulldogs appeared to have the contest in hand, holding a 41-31 lead late in the fourth quarter but QB Aaron Opelt found Stephen Williams in the end-zone with less than three minutes remaining to make it 41-38. The Rockets then recovered an onside kick and tied the game on Alex Steigerwald's 33-yard FG with fifteen seconds left in regulation. Toledo opened the first OT with a gadget play with WR Nick Moore connecting with Stephen Williams on a 24-yard pass to FSU's one-yard line. Opelt then ran it in to give Toledo a 48-41 lead. FSU answered and then took a 55-48 lead in the second OT. The Rockets answered with a TD of their own in the second OT but instead of going for a PAT to send the game into a third OT, the Rockets opted to go for two-points and the win but Opelt's pass intended for TE John Allen fell incomplete, clinching the win for the Bulldogs.

 
Notable:
** Toledo PK Alex Steigerwald has now successfully connected on a MAC record 20 consecutive field goal attempts.

** The loss was Toledo's first-ever at home to a ranked team (4-1).

** Toledo redshirt freshman RB Morgan Williams rushed for a career-high 142 yards on 23 carries.

Quotable:
** It was time for the game to go. Thats the one thing about college overtimes, you get to a point where it gets a little bit dangerous for the players. It was time to decide the game. We had a two-point play weve been working on all year. We felt confident in it and we went for it. I would do it again just the same way, other than we would catch it. Toledo head coach Tom Amstutz on the decision to go for a two-point conversion in the second overtime.

** I dont think we got tired. We battled until the last second, to the last play. Thats what we pride ourselves in." Toledo QB Aaron Opelt.
** In my 143 games, that is the greatest effort Ive ever gotten out of a team in a hostile environment, on the road, against a team that played their hearts out too." Fresno State head coach Pat Hill.

 

 

Ball State RB MiQuale Lewis

Buffalo DB Josh Thomas

Players of the Week

 

Offensive Player of the Week

MiQuale Lewis, RB, Ball State, 166 yards rushing, four touchdowns.

Lewis accounted for four of Ball State's five offensive scores in leading the Cardinals to their fourth straight win this season and their first-ever victory over a Big Ten squad in defeating Indiana 42-20, which also snapped Ball State's 0-for-44 streak against schools from BCS conferences. Lewis recorded career highs in both rushing yards and touchdowns in the victory.

 

Defensive Player of the Week

Josh Thomas, DB, Buffalo, 8 tackles (6 solo), 2 TFL's, 2 Forced Fumbles and 1 Pass Breakup
Thomas was a key component of Buffalo's defense that caused three turnovers as the Bulls battled fifth-ranked Missouri to a near-stalemate through three quarters in Buffalo's 42-21 loss. Thomas was responsible for causing two of Missouri's three turnovers, including one that set up Buffalo's third TD of the game to bring the Bulls to within 27-21. Thomas also added a pair of tackles for loss and a pass break up.

 

Prognosticating Prowess

Ho-hum, another stellar week for our picks which this past week registered an 11-1 mark, bringing our season record up to 36-8.

Of course with conference play heating up next week, things will become far less predictable and our record will no doubt reflect that (we're getting the excuses ready in advance -- a sign of solid planning).
  

Our only miss this week was on the Ohio-Northwestern game. 
 

Here is the breakdown from the past weekend: