Saturday’s Football Results
Toledo 41, Mississippi State 17
Buffalo 34, UMass 3
Ohio 21, Morgan State 6
Akron 31, Colgate 20
Eastern Michigan 37, Jacksonville State 34 (2OT)
Western Michigan 59, Bethune-Cookman 31
Cincinnati 27, Miami 16
Illinois 30, Central Michigan 9
Miami (FL) 62, Ball State 0
Tennessee 71, Kent State 0
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments and the Associated Press
Toledo 41, Mississippi State 17
Box Score
STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Toledo Rockets defeated SEC opponent Mississippi State, 41-17, dominating both sides of the ball in Starkville, Miss. on Saturday.
The victory was Toledo's first win against a "Power Four" opponent in nine years and just its second ever vs. an SEC opponent. The last time Rocket victory over an SEC foe was a 16-12 triumph over No. 18 Arkansas in 2015. But unlike that nail-biter, this victory was a one-sided affair, as Toledo was never seriously challenged.
The Rockets held a 7-0 first-quarter lead and upped the margin to 28-3 by halftime. The Rockets led 35-10 headed into the fourth quarter, then played ball control in the final 15 minutes.
"I'm very proud of our football team," said Head Coach Jason Candle. "These games are not easy to win on the road. That was a good team that we just played. I'm really proud of our execution from start to finish. All we did all week long was ask the team to respond to adverse moments. I thought there would be more adversity in the first half than what we were dealt with. We did have a little bit in the second half and the response was really, really good."
Junior quarterback Tucker Gleason was brilliant, putting together perhaps his best overall game as a collegian. He connected on 23-of-38 passes for 285 yards and three TDs. He completed passes to nine receivers, did not throw an interception and also kept MSU off balance by running for 44 yards. Junior Vandeross III led the Rockets with seven receptions, 73 yards and one touchdown, while senior Jerjuan Newton added two touchdown grabs.
Toledo's defense was stellar for all 60 minutes. The Rockets held Mississippi State to 385 yards of total offense, much of it coming after Toledo held a 35-3 second-half lead. Toledo, which racked up five sacks and forced two turnovers on the evening, set the tone early by holding MSU to just eight yards of offense in the first quarter. Senior safety Maxen Hook led Toledo with a season-high 12 tackles, senior linebacker Dan Bolden added 1.5 sacks and junior safety Avery Smith grabbed a key interception in the end zone on the final play of the first half.
Buffalo 34, UMass 3
Box Score
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo football team scored 24 second-half points to defeat UMass, 34-3, on a sunny and hot Saturday afternoon at UB Stadium. Once again, the defense shined, keeping the Minutemen out of the endzone.
The Bulls marched right down the field and scored on their first possession of the game when C.J. Ogbonna connected with J.J. Jenkins for a 40-yard touchdown pass to give UB an early 7-0 lead. It would prove to be all the points the Bulls needed as the defense was in shutdown mode after that.
Shaun Dolac had 14 of his career-high 16 tackles in the first half to set the tone. He added a sack and two tackles for loss. Fellow linebacker Red Murdock had a career-high 12 tackles and added a career-best three tackles for loss and a sack.
Cornerback Marquis Cooper had another standout performance, finishing with eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and returned his first career interception 100 yards for a touchdown. It was the longest interception return in program history, a record that stood for nearly 60 years.
All told, the Bulls had a season-high 12 tackles for loss in the game.
Offensively, Ogbonna had a solid game under center, finishing 14-of-22 for 185 yards and a touchdown and adding an eight-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He hooked up with nine different receivers in the game. The Bulls were able to connect on big plays as Jenkins, Victor Snow and Taji Johnson all had receptions of 30+ yards.
Lamar Sperling led the rushing attack with the best game of his young career. The redshirt-freshman rushed for 86 yards on 16 carries and scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter for his first career touchdown.
The Bulls improved to 2-1 with the win. They will next play at Northern Illinois next Saturday.
Ohio 21, Morgan State 6
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio football team honored Turn It Gold and defeated Morgan State 21-6 today (Sept. 14), marking the first time since 2019 Ohio's defense didn't allow any touchdowns.
"Playing on the Frank was fun again. It's my second time getting to do it, and it's an honor every time running out there, those stands are packed. It's a fun atmosphere, and today we had a little extra motivation with the Turn It Gold Initiative," graduate student linebacker Blake Leake (Culpepper, Va.) said. "Going out there and playing a football game is nothing compared to what those families and what those kids have to go through. That was a little extra motivation for the whole team. Today, we had the yellow socks on yellow wrist bands and shirts, so we went out there and football is easy compared to some other things that could go on in life."
Ohio's defense proved its worth in the first half, holding Morgan State to just two field goals and an average of three yards per play. Sophomore defensive end Kadin Schmitz (Ashland, Ohio) recorded 1.5 tackles per loss in the first half, one of which he knocked Morgan State back six yards. Alongside him in effort was Leake, who led the defense with seven total tackles before halftime.
Leake led the Bobcats in tackles at the end of the night. He had 12 total tackles, including four solo and one for loss.
"We had some big stops. I just thought that going in the game we had an advantage with our with our defensive line versus their offensive line. I thought we had an advantage in the special teams, and that that's how it played out." said head coach Tim Albin.
After the Bobcats recorded their first touchdown in the air, they switched their game to the ground. Graduate student quarterback Parker Navarro (Tempe, Ariz.) pulled off a trick play for a 10-yard rush before the end of the first quarter. In the third quarter, graduate student running back Anthony Tyus III (Portage, Mich.) picked up his second touchdown of the day on a 13-yard rush.
All of sophomore kicker Gianni Spetic's (Chardon, Ohio) extra point attempts were good on Saturday. He ended the day 3-for-3 to become 7-for-7 in PATs on the season.
"We rep things like that through all week in practice. We watch film, and we just saw that from film, that it could be there when we get into that red zone area," Tyus said. "We got in there first drive, and after watching film and just being in sync with the office coordinator, we had to play call. I knew what I had to do, and we executed high level and ended up with a six in the endzone."
The defense came back to life in the third quarter. After a weak snap, redshirt junior defensive end Bradley Weaver (Hilliard, Ohio) blocked a 22-yard field goal attempt from Beckett Leary. Redshirt junior linebacker Shay Taylor (Mount Perry, Ohio) recovered the ball for 21 yards.
That wasn't the only time Ohio took the ball away from Morgan State. Back in the second quarter, graduate student Marcel Walker-Burgess (Piscataway, N.J.) intercepted a pass intended for Jaden Coffen. Although Walker-Burgess only gained a yard, the catch helped Ohio end the quarter safely.
Ohio had good hands on both sides of the ball. Graduate student wide receiver Coleman Owen (Gilbert, Ariz.) recorded 112 yards on six receptions, including a 53-yard trip in the first quarter. Tyus recorded the second-most yards with 38 yards on three receptions.
Tyus led Ohio in rushing yards with 90 yards on 16 attempts. Redshirt junior quarterback Nick Poulos (Granite Bay, Calif.) had the second most with 37 yards on eight attempts. Poulos replaced Navarro at the beginning of the second half.
Navarro finished the game 12-for-15 with 162 yards in one half. Polous ended his half 2-for-4 with 25 yards.
Akron 31, Colgate 20
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Ben Finley threw for 358 yards and four touchdowns, and Bobby Golden and Adrian Norton each had 100-plus yards receiving and a touchdown as Akron took a break from power-conference opponents to beat FCS foe Colgate 31-20 on Saturday.
Akron (1-2) and Colgate (0-3) were both trying to avoid an 0-3 start for the second straight season.
Akron surrendered the opening 17 points of the game before Finley had touchdown passes of 7, 2, 56 and 18 yards to take a 28-17 lead with 30 seconds left in the first half.
Colgate’s Luke Vogeler booted a 51-yard field goal in the third quarter and Akron’s Garrison Smith matched it with a 32-yarder early in the fourth.
Akron sealed it when CJ Nunnally IV knocked the ball out of Colgate QB Jake Stearney’s hands and Nathan Kapongo recovered it with 1:01 left in the fourth quarter.
Golden finished with 125 yards and Golden added 119 for Akron, which lost at No. 2 Ohio State and Rutgers to begin the season and now travels to Columbia, S.C., to battle the South Carolina on Saturday.
Western Michigan 59, Bethune-Cookman 31
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — Hayden Wolff threw three touchdown passes and Western Michigan added 372 yards on the ground to beat Bethune-Cookman 59-31 on Saturday night.
Wolff was 15-of-19 passing for 305 yards, and he hit Chris Toudle, Anthony Sambucci and Devaughn Mortimer each for long scores in the first half as Western Michigan (1-2) built a 35-14 halftime lead.
Darnell Deas’ 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown pulled Bethune-Cookman to 35-21 to open the third quarter. Jaden Nixon broke loose on a 37-yard touchdown run and Zahir Abdus-Salaam added a 1-yard TD run to stretch the Broncos’ lead to 49-21 heading into the fourth.
Jamal Hailey’s 48-yard touchdown run for the Broncos capped the scoring with 2:39 left.
Nixon ran for 189 yards rushing on 17 carries. Abdus-Salaam ran 18 times and finished with 104 yards. They had two touchdown runs apiece. Hailey added 53 yards on the ground.
Cam’Ron Ransom threw for 116 yards and had a pair of touchdown runs for Bethune-Cookman (0-3).
Eastern Michigan 37, Jacksonville State 34 (2OT)
Box Score
Postgame recap coming soon.
