Saturday's MAC Football Results
Central Michigan 48, NIU 10
Buffalo 43, Eastern Michigan 14
Bowling Green 35, Akron 6
Game stories courtesy of MAC Athletic Communication Departments
Central Michigan 48, NIU 10
Box Score
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. -- Central Michigan scored touchdowns on their first three drives en route to a 28-point halftime lead on Saturday as they rolled past Northern Illinois, 48-10, in a MAC game before 10,438 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. The win kept the Chippewas, 6-4, 4-2 MAC, in the hunt for the West Division title and it came one week after they took a 43-20 beating in a league game at Buffalo.
"Pretty awesome," first-year CMU coach Jim McElwain said. "Can't tell you how proud I am and how happy I am for that locker room. That team that is in that locker room, in the beginning of the season, was picked dead last in the conference (poll).
"We kind of used the term judgement. This was an opportunity to find out exactly who we are, and the guys responded. I think we learned something about our team today."
The Chippewas rolled through the Huskie defense to the tune of a season-high 615 yards. They did not commit a turnover after giving it away five times a week ago. With six wins, CMU is bowl eligible for the 11th time in the last 14 seasons and is 5-0 at home for the first time since 2009, when they won the MAC championship.
Kobe Lewis ran for 143 yards and Jonathan Ward had 138 to lead a Chippewa ground game that churned out 327 yards. CMU quarterback Quinten Dormady had 288 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-24 passing.
Dormady capped CMU's opening drive with a 14-yard TD pass to Kalil Pimpleton, then Tommy Lazzaro scored on a 3-yard run to give CMU a 14-0 lead.
After an NIU field goal, Lewis scored on a 16-yard run and Ryan Tice kicked a 32-yard field goal to up CMU's lead to 24-3 just three minutes into the second quarter. Dormady tossed a 39-yard TD pass to Tony Poljan and then hit Tyrone Scott for a 16-yard score as CMU took complete control, leading 38-10 at halftime.
The 38 points was the most a Chippewa team has scored in the first half of a game since 2006.
The Chippewa defense forced four turnovers and limited NIU running back Tre Harbison to 17 yards on 10 carries. Harbison had run for a combined 500 yards in the Huskies' previous four games. The Huskies finished with 251 total yards, just 22 of which came on the ground.
Buffalo 43, Eastern Michigan 14
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- Buffalo won its third straight game in convincing fashion, defeating Eastern Michigan, 43-14, at Rynearson Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It was Buffalo's first-ever win at Eastern Michigan in five tries. The win was arguably the Bulls' most complete performance of the season, dominating on both offense and defense.
Starting with the defense, the Bulls held Eastern Michigan to only 25 rushing yards in the game and 210 total yards with most coming late in the contest. The Bulls had five sacks and limited the Eagles to only six first downs in the game, tying the fewest by an opponent in UB's FBS era.
Offensively, UB doubled the Eagles in yardage, rolling up 460 yards of total offense. It was a balanced attack with 252 rushing yards and 208 yards passing.
Quarterback Kyle Vantrease had his best game as a Bull. The redshirt-sophomore threw for a career-high 208 yards and a touchdown and rushed for two other scores. Jaret Patterson rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns on the day. The sophomore running back went over 2,000 yards for his career.
Antonio Nunn had a career-high seven catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. Kevin Marks also found the endzone to go along with 90 rushing yards.
Eastern Michigan, the top passing offense in the MAC, struck first in the game by connecting on an 80-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. However, it was all UB from there.
The UB defense made another statement play late in the first quarter, when Chibueze Onwuka sacked the EMU quarterback in the endzone for a safety to cut the lead to 7-2. On the ensuing possession, the Bulls marched 61 yards on 11 plays and took the lead when Marks, with the help of the entire offensive line, willed his way into the endzone, from nine yards out, to give the Bulls a 9-7 lead.
Marks' touchdown sparked a 27-point second quarter for the Bulls. On a fourth down play at the Eastern Michigan 16-yard line, Vantrease called his own number on a bootleg and fooled everyone, waltzing into the endzone untouched. Vantrease added his second score of the game on a quarterback sneak to extend the UB lead to 22-7. The Bulls capped off their tremendous second quarter, with just nine seconds left on the clock, when Vantrease found Nunn on a fade in the corner of the endzone to give Buffalo a 29-7 lead at the half.
The second half was the Jaret Patterson show as the elusive running back ran for 91 yards and two touchdowns to help seal the win for the Bulls.
Onwuka led the UB defense with five tackles and a sack. He had one of UB's five sacks on the day. Tyrece Woods, Taylor Riggins, Frendy Darelus and Max Michel also added sacks for the Bulls. Aapri Washington secured his second interception of the season in the fourth quarter.
Bowling Green 35, Akron 6
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Bowling Green celebrated Senior Day successfully with an emphatic 35-6 victory against the University of Akron on Saturday (Nov. 2) at Doyt L. Perry Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio. The win gives BGSU a 3-6 overall record and maintains hope for bowl eligibility. The Falcons also improve to 2-3 in Mid-American Conference play.
The Falcons fell behind 6-0 early after Akron made field goals on their first two possessions. However, BGSU marched 72 yards for a touchdown on its second drive. Andrew Clair dove in from two yards out, and Nate Needham's extra point gave the Falcons all the points they needed. The game marks the first come-from-behind victory in the Scot Loeffler era.
Bowling Green extended the lead in the second quarter by intercepting Akron on consecutive drives and scoring touchdowns after each. The Orange and Brown defense racked up season-highs in sacks, tackles for loss and interceptions, and they allowed their fewest rushing yards since 2016.
Bowling Green produced 156 rushing yards, marking the fifth time in 2019 they have surpassed the 150 mark. They are now 18 yards from the 1,500 yard mark for the season.
The Falcons held the ball for 37:02, just 1:05 shy of their season high for time of possession. In the second half, they possessed the ball for 22:39 while Akron managed only 7:21.
BGSU was very efficient, as they converted 10 of 21 third down attempts. The ten conversions were the most in a single game in 2019, while the conversion percentage of 47.6 is second-best behind only 52.9 (9-for-17) against Morgan State. The Falcons were also 5-for-7 in the red zone.
Andrew Clair led all rushers in his return to the field with 86 yards; he also doubled his season touchdown total with two scores. Bryson Denley added 62 yards and his third rushing touchdown of 2019.
Grant Loy rushed for ten yards and a touchdown, giving him 363 yards and four rushing touchdowns for the season, both of which are team highs. He also completed 12 passes for 113 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.
Quintin Morris leads the Falcons in season totals for receptions, receiving yards, and now touchdowns. He caught four passes for 53 yards and a touchdown, which gives him 44 catches, 515 yards and three touchdowns in 2019.
