MAC Football Resumes Play

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Sept. 17, 2001

Eye On the MAC... Week 3 Games Postponed or Canceled: Eleven games involving 13 MAC teams were either postponed or canceled last week due to the national tragedy of the terrorist attack on New York City and Washington D.C. The following is a rundown of the re-scheduling, as of Sept. 17:

Games Canceled:

Marshall at TCU

Bowling Green at South Carolina

Southern Illinois at Ball State

Youngstown State at Toledo

Games Postponed/Makeup Date TBD:

Buffalo at Army

Games Rescheduled:

Western Michigan at Michigan (Sept. 22)

Ohio at North Carolina State (Nov. 24)

Northern Illinois at Wake Forest (Nov. 24)

Eastern Michigan at Akron (Nov. 24)

Miami at Kent State (Nov. 24)

Ball State at Western Michigan (Nov. 24)

Central Michigan at Boise State (Nov. 24)

Games Added:

Northern Iowa at Ball State (Sept. 22)

Games Moved:

Kent State at Akron moved from Nov. 17 to Sept. 29

Week 4 Matchups: The lone conference game this week is between preseason MAC favorite Toledo travelling to Central Michigan Saturday afternoon for each team's MAC opener. Ohio holds its home opener against Big 12 member Iowa State in expanded (from 20,000 to 24,000) Peden Stadium. Miami play its first game at home against C-USA member Cincinnati in the 106th meeting between the schools. Ball State opens its 2001 home season with Northern Iowa as the opponent. Big Ten foes on the MAC slate include Western Michigan at Michigan and Akron at Purdue. The MAC also has two games with Big East opponents - Kent State at West Virginia and Temple at Bowling Green. Buffalo is at future Big East football member Connecticut while two other MAC teams are at home - Eastern Michigan hosting Indiana State and Northern Illinois hosting Sam Houston State. Marshall is idle.

Coming Up: The Sept. 29 slate of games has 12 MAC teams in action against each other as full conference play gets underway. Divisional crossover games have Miami at Ball State and Central Michigan at Buffalo. West Division games are Western Michigan at Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois at Toledo. East Division matchups have Bowling Green at Marshall and Kent State at Akron. Ohio is idle.

King of the MAC: Central Michigan redshirt freshman James King had an unbelievable afternoon (9/8) Saturday in the Chippewas' 35-21 loss at Michigan State. As a special teams member, King tied an NCAA record by blocking four Spartan punts with two of them returned for touchdowns. He equalled the standard set in 1992 by Ken Irvin of Memphis. King also was credited with seven tackles and four pass break ups from his defensive back position. King was honored as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week by a FWAA panel of voters.

Long Gone: Several MAC players had MAC Play of the Day-like scoring plays on Sept. 8. Among them: Kent State's Justin Baugham 93-yard fumble recovery return versus Bucknell. Akron's Rickie Coble 87-yard interception return at Ohio State. Miami's Ben Rothlisberger 80-yard run at Iowa. Toledo's Carl Ford 80 yard reception from Tavares Bolden at Temple.

BG Equals 2000 Wins: Bowling Green's 35-0 triumph at home over Buffalo gave the Falcons a 2-0 mark, equalling their 2000 win total when they went 2-9. The win also marked the first time in three years that BG had won its first conference game of the year. The shutout was the first by a Falcon squad since posting back-to-back shutouts against Cincinnati (38-0, Oct. 1, 1994) and Ohio (32-0, Oct. 8, 1994).

Tough Toledo D: The Toledo defense has forced 16 punts and gained six turnovers in its first two games while allowing just 14 points. Both touchdowns allowed have come on short drives following Rocket turnovers (2 drives, totalling 68 yards) in the fourth quarter.

Toledo Continues Streak: The Rockets' 33-7 win at Temple was the ninth in a row for the team and their 15th win in its last 16 games. UT, the preseason favorite to win the league, opens conference play this week at Central Michigan.

The Freshman Factor: Three of the top seven rated passers in the MAC are freshmen. Kent State's Joshua Cribbs, Akron's Charlie Frye and Miami's Ben Rothlisberger rank, respectively, fifth, sixth and seventh two weeks into the season. Cribbs has posted an efficiency rating of 116.6 (15-of-31, 173 yds., 2 tds, 0 int.), Frye 116.5 (28-of-47, 279 yds., 1 td, 0 int.) and Rothlisberger 115.0 (27-of-53, 366 yds., 4 td, 5 int.).

Five Alive: Marshall's Byron Leftwich became the second MAC QB to throw for five TDs in a game this season in the Thundering Herd's 49-20 victory over Massachusetts on Sept. 8. Western Michigan's Jeff Welsh opened the season Aug. 30 with five TD strikes in a 48-7 win over Illinois State.

Mr. V: Call him Mr. V for Versatility. Marshall's Trod Buggs has seen action at running back, linebacker and mostly special teams during his four-year career. Sept. 8 when the call came for him to step into the Herd's No. 1 running back position due to injuries to Franklin Wallace and Chanston Rodgers, Buggs responded. Credited with 123 career tackles, Buggs dished out the hits this time, rushing for 128 yards on 10 carries versus Massachusetts. Buggs had just nine career rushing attempts going into the game. He added two receptions for 44 yards and a kickoff return for 17 yards.

Back-to-Back Bruisers: Two-time defending West Division champion Western Michigan will be tested again this week after Sept. 8th's 31-0 loss at No. 9 Virginia Tech. The Broncos opponent on Saturday is No. 20 (ap)/No. 17 (espn) Michigan. Earlier this year, the Wolverines defeated MAC member Miami 31-13.

Crowd Shots: Record crowds at UB Stadium and the Glass Bowl in Toledo highlighted the first weekend of MAC football. The Bulls' 22,658 for the Rutgers contest bettered the old mark of 20,835 set in 1999 versus Akron. The Rockets' draw of 34,950 for the Minnesota game bypassed last year's 34,900 for the Marshall tilt. Western Michigan, which holds the MAC standard of 36,361 set last year, attracted 33,976 for its home opener against Illinois State.

Parseghian Returns to Miami: Ara Parseghian coached at Miami University from 1951-55 before leaving to go to Northwestern (1956-63) and the Notre Dame (1964-74). On Sept. 8, Jared Parseghian, the grand nephew of Ara, and a walk-on placekicker for the RedHawks, kicked his first career extra point in a 31-13 loss at Michigan. He followed up with a PAT at Iowa. The younger Parseghian is a redshirt freshman from Sylvania, Ohio (St. John's HS).

Making MAC History: Toledo's Tom Amstutz joined Miami's Terry Hoeppner (28-3 at Northwestern in 1999) as the only MAC head coaches in league history to make their debut versus a Big Ten opponent and win. Amstutz's win, 38-7 over Minnesota on Aug. 30, also came on his 46th birthday.

This Week's Matchups - Saturday, September 22, 2001 Akron Zips (1-1, 1-0 MAC, 1-0 MAC East) at Purdue Boilermakers (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) noon Ross-Ade Stadium (67,332/Prescription Athletic Turf) West Lafayette, Ind. The head coaches: UA - Lee Owens (Bluffton College 1977) 26-42/seventh season, PU - Joe Tiller (Montana State 1965) 34-16/fifth season at PU, 73-46-1/11th season overall. The series: first meeting. Quick Notes: The Zips are coming off a 28-14 loss at Ohio State on Sept. 8 but were suppose to play last week at home against Eastern Michigan ... Purdue's game against Notre Dame was postponed, the Boilermakers did defeat Cincinnati, 19-14, on Sept. 2 ... senior DB Rickie Crable returned an interception 87 yards for a score against the Buckeyes, the fourth longest in UA history ... WR Jake Schifino boosted his career reception number to 105 with five catches, he now needs 43 to rank 12th all-time in MAC history ... rs-freshman QB Charlie Frye ranks sixth in the league with his 116.5 efficiency rating and has not thrown an interception in 47 attempts ... the Zips will be looking to snap a two-game non-conference losing streak.

Western Michigan Broncos (1-1, 0-0 MAC, 0-0 MAC West) at Michigan Wolverines (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) - noon Michigan Stadium (107,501/Prescription Athletic Turf) Ann Arbor, Mich. The head coaches: WMU - Gary Darnell (Oklahoma State 1970) 32-16/fifth season at WMU, 38-48/ninth season overall, UM - Lloyd Carr (Northern Michigan 1968) 59-17/seventh season. The series: Michigan leads 2-0 ... the teams last met in 1943, a 57-6 UM victory ... also met in 1917, a 17-13 Wolverine triumph ... this game was originally slated for Sept. 15 but postponed for one week ... UM was to have played Illinois on the 22nd but the game will be rescheduled for a later date. Quick Notes: Saturday's capacity crowd at Michigan Stadium will be the largest audience for a WMU game, breaking the old record set at Florida (85,322, 1999) by more than 21,000 spectators ... the Broncos are coming off a 31-0 loss at Virginia Tech (Sept. 8) while the Wolverines dropped a 23-18 contest at Washington (Sept. 8), allowing 14 points in a span of 51 seconds in the fourth quarter ... for the second straight game, Western Michigan faces a ranked opponent, believed to be a first in school history ... Michigan enters this week's action ranked 17th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and 20th by Associated Press ... the Broncos have never beaten a top 25 team and are 4-21-1 all-time against Big Ten opponents ... the Broncos are spreading the wealth in the passing department ... after two games, 12 different players have caught balls, led by Darnell Jennings' nine receptions ... Josh Bush, Marco Wolverton and Micah Zuhl are averaging over 20 yards per catch ... WMU will have to contend with Marquise Walker, who set a Michigan record with 15 receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns and also blocked a punt for a safety against the Huskies ... Michigan's 806 all-time wins is tied with Yale for the most in collegiate history.

Toledo Rockets (2-0, 0-0 MAC, 0-0 MAC West) at Central Michigan Chippewas (1-1, 0-0 MAC, 0-0 MAC West) 1:00 Kelly/Shorts Stadium (30,199/artificial turf) Mount Pleasant, Mich. The head coaches: UT-Tom Amstutz (Toledo 1977) 2-0/first season, CMU: Mike DeBord (Manchester 1978) 3-10/second season. The series: tied 13-13-3 ... Toledo has won the last six games ... the Rockets have won the last four played in Mount Pleasant ... UT captured last year's game 41-0 ... the series began in 1928 with a 13-0 CMU triumph ... CMU's last win was in 1994, 45-27 in Mount Pleasant. Quick Notes: Toledo continues to impress the pollsters and is ranked No. 27 in the latest Associated Press Poll and No. 28 in the ESPN Coaches Poll ... the Rockets are coming off a 33-7 triumph over Temple ... Carl Ford's 80-yard TD reception gave UT a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and his second quarter TD catch from 20-yards bumped the margin to 19-0 ... Ford, the West Division Offensive Player of the Week, had four receptions for 112 yards ... Chester Taylor's 99 yards were one shy of what would have been his 19th career 100-yard game ... UT has won nine games in a row and 15 of its last 16 ... the Rocket defense held Temple's Tanardo Sharps, a 1,000-yard rusher last year, to seven yards on 12 carries and held the Owls as a team to -27 yards on 22 carries ... UT's game last week against Youngstown State was canceled ... the Chippewas are coming off a 35-21 loss at Michigan State ... James King tied an NCAA record with four blocked punt versus the Spartans and was named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week by a Football Writers Association of America panel of voters ... two of the blocked punts were returned for touchdowns, 17 yards by Joe Ballard and 36 yards by Omari Colen ... King also had seven solo tackles and three pass break ups ... King's first block set up an 18-yard TD pass from Derrick Vickers to Tory Humphrey ... at MSU, the Chippewas allowed three TDs in less than four minutes to create a 28-7 deficit in the second quarter ... CMU's game last week at Boise State was moved to Dec. 1.

Kent State Golden Flashes (1-1, 0-0 MAC, 0-0 MAC East) at West Virginia Mountaineers (1-1, 0-1 Big East) 1:00 Mountaineer Field (63,500/artificial turf) Morgantown, W.Va. The head coaches: KSU - Dean Pees (Bowling Green 1971) 4-31/fourth season, WVU - Rich Rodriguez (West Virginia 1986) 1-1/first season at WVU, 45-37-2/ninth year overall. The series: WVU leads 3-0 ... the previous meeting have come in 1975 (38-13), 1990 (35-24) and 1995 (45-6). Quick Notes: KSU snapped a six-game losing streak with a 38-17 win over Bucknell on Sept. 8 and had last week's scheduled MAC opener against Miami postponed ... WVU was scheduled to face Maryland and last played Sept. 8 with a 20-3 win against Ohio ... DB Nashville Dyer grabbed two interceptions and had five deflections for the Golden Flashes versus Bucknell ... freshman QB Joshua Cribbs came off the bench to pass for 145 yards and run for 90 ... Cribbs passed for two TDs in the second quarter to give KSU a 21-7 lead before Justin Baugham returned a fumble 93 yards for a 28-7 margin ... in two games Cribbs has a 116.6 passing efficiency rating, fifth best in the MAC, and has not thrown an interception in 31 attempts (15-of-31, 173 yds., 2 tds).

Buffalo Bulls (0-2, 0-0 MAC, 0-0 MAC East) at Connecticut Huskies (0-2, Independent) 1:00 Memorial Stadium (16,200/natural grass) Storrs, Conn. The head coaches: UB - Jim Hohfer (Cornell 1979) 0-2/first season at UB, 44-38/ninth season overall, UC - Randy Edsall (Syracuse 1980) 7-17/third season. The series: UConn leads 8-3 ... the Huskies have won the last five in a row ... UConn won last year's game 24-21 ... UB's last win was in 1961, 30-7, at Storrs ... the series began in 1939 with a 25-7 a UConn victory. Quick Notes: UB is coming off a conference-opening 35-0 loss at Bowling Green on Sept. 8 and was to have played last week at Army ... the Bulls have lost four consecutive games dating back to last year ... UB managed just 205 yards of total offense at BG but had poor field position as four times Falcon punts pinned the Bulls inside their own 20 yard line ... QB Randall Secky (RS-freshman) gained the first playing time of his career by completing 12-of-29 passes for 134 yards ... UB's Craig Rohlfs leads the MAC in kickoff returns with a 24.3 average (3 ret., 73 yds.) ... UConn was slated for a Sept. 15 game at Temple and last played in a 35-17 home loss to Eastern Washington on Sept. 8 ... UConn dropped its season-opening game at Virginia Tech, 52-10.

Iowa State Cyclones (1-0, 0-0 Big 12) at Ohio Bobcats (0-2, 0-1 MAC, 0-1 MAC East) 1:00 Peden Stadium (24,000/grass) Athens, Ohio The head coaches: ISU - Dan McCarney (Iowa 1975) 23-45/seventh season, Ohio - Brian Knorr (Air Force Academy 1986) 0-2/first season. The series: ISU leads 5-0 ... the Cyclones won last year's game 25-15 ... the teams first met in 1962, a 31-22 ISU win. Quick Notes: Ohio's Thursday night (Sept. 13) game at N.C. State was postponed until Nov. 24 ... prior to that Ohio suffered a 20-3 loss at West Virginia on Sept. 8 ... ISU opened the season with a 45-0 win over Northern Iowa then had its Sept. 15 contest with Iowa postponed ... Ohio will be the Cyclones first IA opponent this year ... the Bobcats pace the MAC in rushing, averaging 281 ypg but are last in passing offense at 99.5 ypg ... Ohio is averaging 4.8 ypc ... Chad Brinker's 90 ypg average tops the Ohio rushing chart while Jamel Patterson is averaging 75.5 ypg ... Ohio's offense features the third, fifth and sixth active rushers in career yards in the MAC - Patterson (third, 1,599), Brinker (fifth, 1,514) and Dontrell Jackson (sixth, 1,489) ... punter Dave Zastudil is averaging 46 ypk but with just four punts in two games does not have enough kicks to qualify among MAC leaders (Ball State's Reggie Hodges leads with a 44.4 average) ... Zastudil has led the MAC in punting the last three years and is bidding to become the first player in MAC history to lead the league four years in a row.

Cincinnati Bearcats (1-1, 1-0 C-USA) at Miami RedHawks (0-2, 0-0 MAC, 0-0 MAC East) 2:00 Yager Stadium (30,012/natural grass) Oxford, Ohio The head coaches: UC - Rick Minter (Henderson State 1977) 35-45-1/eighth season, MU - Terry Hoeppner (Franklin College 1969) 13-11/third season The series: Miami leads 55-43-7 ... this will be the 106th meeting in a series that began in 1888 ... the Bearcats have won the last two, 45-15 last year and 52-42 in 1999 ... the 42 points by Miami in 1999 is the fourth most in MAC history scored by a losing team and the 104 combined is the second most in league history by two teams (behind Ohio's 60-48 win over UC in 1968). Quick Notes: Miami has suffered road losses at Michigan and Iowa to open the season and will finally plays its first home game against Cincinnati ... Miami freshman QB Ben Rothlisberger can both pass and run ... he had an 80-yard TD run at Iowa (the longest by a Miami back since 1996) and ranks seventh in the league in passing efficiency at 115.0 (27-of-53, 366 yds., 4 tds, 5 int.) ... RedHawk freshman WR Michael Larkin comes from an athletic family - his second cousin is Barry Larkin of the Cincinnati Reds ... Larkin's first career reception was a 56-yard TD at Iowa and he ended the game with three catches for 121 yards ... Miami's offense was held scoreless in the first half at Iowa but amassed 362 total yards in the second half ... Steve Little (1,243 career yards last 3 years) who missed all of the Michigan game, made his first appearance at Iowa with two attempts for minus one yard.

Northern Iowa Panthers (1-1, 0-0 Gateway) at Ball State Cardinals (0-2, 0-0 MAC, 0-0 MAC West) 2:00 Ball State Stadium (21,581/natural grass) Muncie, Ind. The head coaches: UNI - Mark Farley (Northern Iowa 1986) 1-1/first season, BSU - Bill Lynch (Butler 1977) 26-43/seventh season at BSU, 62-55-3/12th season overall. The series: first meeting. Quick Notes: This game replaces the Southern Illinois at BSU games postponed last week ... UNI had its Sept. 15 game with Stephen F. Austin canceled ... the Cardinals last played on Sept. 8 in a 28-20 loss at Kentucky ... UNI opened the season with a 34-14 win over Wayne State (a charter member of the MAC in 1946) before losing at Iowa State 45-0 ... Ball State opens its home season after road games at SEC members Auburn and Kentucky ... the Cardinals have lost their last three home openers, last winning in a 24-6 decision over James Madison in 1997 ... in the Sept. 8, 28-20 loss at Kentucky, Billy Lynch, the son of head coach Bill Lynch, had a career-high eight receptions for a career-best 60 yards and a three-yard TD catch ... QB Talmadge Hill, last year's MAC Freshman of the Year, has attempted 51 passes without throwing an interception this year ... sophomore Reggie Hodges leads the MAC in punting with his 44.4 ypk average ... after being held to 38 yards at Auburn, Marcus Merriweather responded with 121 yards on 21 carries at UK, marking the fifth 100-yard plus game of his career.

Indiana State Sycamores (0-2, 0-0 Gateway) at Eastern Michigan Eagles (1-1, 0-0 MAC, 0-0 MAC West) 6:00 Rynearson Stadium (30,200/Astroturf) Ypsilanti, Mich. The head coaches: ISU - Tim McGuire (Nebraska 1975) 9-26/fifth season at ISU, 16-41/seventh season overall, EMU - Jeff Woodruff (Kent State 1979) 4-9/second season. The series: EMU leads 9-2 ... EMU has won the last four meetings with the most recent in 1978, 27-8 ... ISU's last win was in 1969, 14-13 ... the series began in 1934 with a 34-14 Eagle triumph. Quick Notes: In its most recent action, Sept. 8 at Maryland, the Eagles played nine true freshmen ... WR Kevin Walters has a reception in 14 consecutive games with six catches for 73 yards at Maryland ... QB is unsettled with first-game starter Jeff Crooks (5-14, 42 yds.) sitting out the Maryland game with a sore shoulder and backup Troy Edwards (10-22, 69 yds., 2 int) playing at Maryland ... junior PK Eric Klaban, filling in for the injured Toller Starnes, is 3-for-3 in FG .... the Sycamores suffered a season-opening 51-0 loss at Tulsa and a 44-14 set back to Eastern Illinois on Sept. 8 ...ISU was 1-10 last year.

Sam Houston State Bearkats (2-0, 0-0 Southland Conference) at Northern Illinois Huskies (1-1, 0-0 MAC, 0-0 MAC West) 6:35 (CT) Huskie Stadium (31,000/Field Turf) DeKalb, Ill. The head coaches: SHS - Ron Randleman (William Penn 1964) 107-105-3/20th season at SHS, 194-144-6/33rd season overall, NIU: Joe Novak (Miami 1967) 15-42/sixth season. The series: first meeting. Quick Notes: NIU has played two close games, beating South Florida 20-17 to open the season before dropping a 17-12 contest at Illinois Sept. 8 ... SHS has wins over Louisiana Monroe, 20-9, and Tarleton State, 61-10 and is the No. 22 ranked I-AA team ... NIU had its Sept. 15 game with Wake Forest postponed until Nov. 24 while SHS was idle last week ... TB Thomas Hammock is the MAC's leading rusher after two weeks, piling up 288 yards on 57 attempts, including 111 at Illinois ... Hammock has rushed for 1,371 yards in the last 11 games (124.6 ypg) dating back to last year ... PK Steve Azar, who won the South Florida game with a field goal as time expired, booted a career-long 50 yarder versus the Illini ... LB Lionel Hickenbottom won West Division Player of the Week honors for his 17 tackles (11 solo, 2 tfl) at Illinois ... SE P.J. Fleck caught just 17 passes for 146 yards last year but already has 14 receptions (2nd in MAC) for 132 yards in 2001 ...NIU ranks No. 21 nationally in rushing (207 ypg) and 21st in rushing defense (76.5 ypg allowed) this week ... LB Larry Williams went over the 200-tackle plateau for his career and now has 203 ... NIU's unbeaten, Interstate Intercollegiate Athletics Conference championship (9-0-0) 1951 football team will be honored in its Golden Anniversary at halftime this week's game---along with NIU's conference baseball champions in 1950 and 1951.

Temple Owls (1-1, 0-0 Big East) at Bowling Green Falcons (2-0, 1-0 MAC, 1-0 MAC East) 6:00 Doyt Perry Stadium (30,599/natural grass) Bowling Green, Ohio The head coaches: TU - Bobby Wallace (Mississippi State 1976) 9-26/fourth season at TU, 89-53-1/14th season overall, BGSU - Urban Meyer (Cincinnati 1986) 2-0/first season. The series: BGSU leads 3-2 ... Temple won last year's game, 31-14 ... the teams first met in 1953, also a TU win, 27-0 ... BG won the middle three meetings - 66-20 in 1966, 37-31 in 1995, and 20-16 in 1996. Quick Notes: BGSU has won two games in a row, matching last year's win total (2-9) ... Sept. 8's 35-0 whitewashing of Buffalo was BG's first shutout since 1994 ... the last time BG began a season 3-0 was 1985 when they went 11-0 during the regular season before losing to Fresno State in the California Bowl ... David Bautista had six receptions for 70 yards versus Buffalo to increase his career total to 1,034 yards and become the 20th 1,000-yard receiver in school history ... two key players leading to the shutout were DL Chris Glantzis (3 solos, 1ff, 2 pbu) and P Pat Fleming (7 punts, 4 inside 20) ... BG had its game slated for South Carolina last week canceled ... Temple was scheduled to play at UConn on Sept. 15 ... TU opened the season with a win over Navy, 45-26, before losing to Toledo, 33-7.

Idle this week - Marshall Thundering Herd (1-1, 0-0 MAC, 0-0 MAC East) ... Marshall's game last week at TCU was canceled ... next week Marshall begins defense of its MAC crown with a home game against Bowling Green ... Marshall head coach Bob Pruett will be after his 60th career win in that BG game.

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