Mid-American Conference

Midweek MACtion Continues Wednesday, Nov. 5th
Northern Illinois at Ball State, 8 pm ET (ESPN2)
Buffalo at Ohio, 8 pm ET (ESPNU)


Northern Illinois at Ball State, Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 8 pm ET (ESPN2)

Northern Illinois Notes:
• NIU has won the last five meetings between the teams, and have won six of the last seven games played at Scheumann Stadium.
• NIU became bowl eligible for the seventh consecutive season with its win over Eastern Michigan, extending its MAC record. The Huskies now have won at least six games 14 times in 15 seasons this century.
• The Huskies’ 52 wins since 2010 ranks third among all FBS teams behind Oregon, Alabama and Florida State. NIU is ahead of Stanford (51), LSU (51), Boise State (49) and Oklahoma (49).
• The winningest program in Illinois and in the Mid-American Conference over the last decade, the Huskies have won two Mid-American Conference championships and four straight MAC West titles in the last four seasons, and in 2013 made a MAC-record sixth-straight bowl appearance.
• With just three fumbles lost and two interceptions thrown, NIU leads the FBS in fewest turnovers lost, along with Georgia and Duke.
• The Huskies are 30-0 when rushing 45 or more times a game.
• A week after rushing for 180 yards against Miami, NIU quarterback Drew Hare posted his second consecutive 100-yard game rushing for 166 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries at EMU. It was the first back-to-back 100-yard rushing games for the first-year starter.
• The Huskies’ 17-14 victory over Kent State was NIU’s first victory when scoring 17 points or less since the Huskies beat Bowling Green, 16-13, on Oct. 25, 2008.
• NIU leads the league and are third in the nation in fewest sacks allowed, giving up five sacks in eight games this season.
• In its 28-17 victory at Eastern Michigan Oct. 25, NIU outgained the Eagles by five yards despite running 21 fewer plays.
• The Huskies have won 39 of their last 40 games when allowing 24 points or less. NIU head coach Rod Carey is 18-5 since taking over prior to the Huskies’ appearance in the 2013 Orange Bowl.

MOST FBS WINS SINCE 2010
Oregon 55; Alabama 53; Florida State 53; NIU 52; Stanford 51; LSU 51; Boise State 49; Oklahoma 49

SERIES HISTORY
Ball State holds a 20-18-2 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools, however, NIU has won the last five meetings. The Huskies have posted an 11-9-2 record in games played in Muncie, Indiana and won six of the last seven meetings at Scheumann Stadium. NIU rallied from a 23-14 third quarter deficit to post a 35-23 win over the Cardinals in its last visit to Muncie (Oct. 6, 2012).

TROPHY GAME 
For the seventh year, NIU and Ball State will play for "The Bronze Stalk," a traveling trophy designed specifically for this rivalry in honor of the locales of both institutions. DeKalb artist Renee Bemis designed the trophy, which depicts a cornstalk. In six Bronze Stalk games, NIU is 5-1 and the Huskies have won The Bronze Stalk in each of the last five seasons.

RIGHT AT HOME 
Though it is Ball State’s home stadium, the Huskies have been right at home in the Cardinals’ Scheumann Stadium. Since the beginning of the 2000 season, NIU is 6-1 in Muncie. The Huskies have been pretty convincing in each of those six victories with an average margin of victory of 18.3 points. The only NIU loss during that stretch came Nov. 5, 2008, with a 45-14 loss to BSU.

EVERY DAY BUT SUNDAY (AND MONDAY)
This week’s contest at Ball State is the first of four consecutive weeknight games for NIU. The Huskies began the season on a Thursday night with a 55-3 victory over Presbyterian on Aug. 28. Following Wednesday’s game, NIU has two Tuesday contests (Toledo and Ohio) before closing out the season on Friday (at Western Michigan). The Huskies will play games on five different days of the week in 2014.

OFFENSIVE STATEMENTS
The Huskies have accumulated 500 or more yards of total offense 56 times in program history and NIU has accomplished that feat against Ball State five times - tied for the most against any opponent (Eastern Michigan). Leading that list is NIU’s 41-38 win over the Cardinals in 2011 in which the Huskies piled up 710 yards of total offense to rank as the second-most in a single game. The Huskies recorded 610 yards against BSU in 2006, 569 yards in 2013, 515 yards in 2004 and 509 in 2012.

HARE-RAISING PERFORMANCES
After rushing for 180 yards and two touchdowns against Miami Oct. 18, Drew Hare followed up that 100-yard performance with 166 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown scamper, in a 28-17 win at Eastern Michigan. Even more impressive, though, is that it took the O’Fallon, Missouri, native fewer than 20 carries to hit those marks, finishing with 17 against the RedHawks and 13 against the Eagles. The two-week stretch marks the first time in Hare’s career that he has topped the century mark in consecutive games, in addition to being the first 100-yard rushing games of his career.

THAT STINGS
With 64 yards against Eastern Michigan, senior Cameron Stingily moved into 23rd in the Huskies’ list of all-time leader rushers. The Romeoville, Illinois, native currently has 1,636 career rushing yards, topping A.J. Harris’ 1,616 yards from 2002-05. With 16 more yards, Stingily will surpass Jerry Latin for 22nd and can move past Rodney Taylor in 21st place with 49 yards.

SACK IT TO ME
Entering the final month of the season, senior defensive end Jason Meehan is approaching rarified air in single-season and career sacks. The St. Louis native is currently second in the MAC with 6.0 sacks, trailing Eastern Michigan’s Pat O’Connor by just 0.5 sacks. In addition, Meehan is one sack away from moving into the top 10 in program history for career sacks. One more drop of the QB would also give the senior a career-high for a single season, topping his 6.5 sacks as a freshman.



Ball State Notes:
• The Cardinals are 14-3 in their last 17 MAC games and have won two straight games this season after winning at Central Michigan, 32-29, Oct. 18, and then defeating Akron.
• Ball State has suffered three of its five losses this year by seven points or fewer and the other two losses have been by nine points and 11 points.
• Ball State has generated five turnovers in each of the last two games.  Against Akron, the Cardinals tallied four interceptions and one fumble recovery.  At Central Michigan, Ball State registered three interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
• Prior to the past two games, Ball State had not generated five turnovers in a game since the 2009 season finale on Nov. 24.

Edwards Rushing Through the Record Books:
Jahwan Edwards scored his 47th career touchdown vs. Akron to extend his own school record for rushing TDs and total touchdowns (47).  He moved into second on Ball State's career scoring chart with 282 points and trails only placekicker Ian McGarvey, who tallied 287 points from 2007-10.  Jahwan Edwards has 800 rushing attempts in his career to rank third in Ball State history.  He needs six attempts to pass Bernie Parmalee, who had 805 rushes from 1987-90.  Marcus Merriweather owns the Ball State career record with 851 rushing attempts from 1999-2002.

Edwards' MAC and National Rankings:
Jahwan Edwards ranks tied for eighth in MAC history with 47 rushing touchdowns, 13th with 4,134 career rushing yards and 16th with 800 career rushes.  He ranks 23rd in the nation this season with 828 rushing yards, 25th with 103.5 rushing yards per game and 26th with eight rushing TDs.  With 4,134 career rushing yards, Edwards ranks second among active players in career rushing yards and is behind only the 4,226 career rushing yards of Ameer Abdullah of Nebraska.  Edwards is fifth among active players with 94.0 rushing yards per game for his career. 

Edwards' 100-Yard Games:
Jahwan Edwards rushed for 121 yards and one touchdown vs. Akron.  It marked the 16th time in his career he has rushed for 100 or more yards in a game.  He moved into second in Ball State history for 100-yard rushing games in a career.  Edwards trails only Marcus Merriweather, who is the school's all-time leader with 19 from 1999-2002.

Jack the Quarterback:
Jack Milas made his first collegiate appearance vs. Western Michigan Oct. 11, and passed for 326 yards and four touchdowns.  The four TD passes matched the most ever by a Ball State quarterback in his starting debut.  Nate Davis was the most recent to accomplish the feat when he did it against Northern Illinois in 2006.  The 326 yards passing by Milas in the Western Michigan game marked the most ever by a Ball State freshman in a single game.  Milas started his second career game at Central Michigan and threw for 198 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.  He started vs. Akron and completed 18-of-36 passes for 225 yards.  On the season, Milas has completed 65-of-116 passes for 749 yards with five touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Kicking Game:
Scott Secor made a career best five field goals in Ball State's win over Akron.  The five field goals matched Ball State's single-game record and set a Scheumann Stadium record.  His 21 field goals this season rank third on Ball State's single-season list.  The school record is 25 by John Diettrich in 1985 and Steven Schott in 2012.  Secor leads the nation with 21 field goals made in 2014.  He is now 38-of-46 in his career on attempts of 45 yards or fewer.  His career long 55-yarder at Central Michigan won the game for the Cardinals and surpassed the 49-yarder he made earlier this season at Toledo.  Secor ranks first in the nation with 2.63 field goals per game, 14th in scoring with 10.4 points per game and 31st nationally with a .808 field goal percentage.

Offensive Line Doing the Work:
The Cardinals rank 23rd in the nation for fewest sacks allowed with a 1.38 per game average.  Ball State also ranks 36th nationally for fewest tackles for loss allowed with a 4.88 per game mark.  In addition, the offensive line has been a key factor in Ball State ranking sixth in the NCAA with a .778 fourth down conversion percentage.  Jacob Richard, Steven Bell, Jeremiah Harvey and Jalen Schlachter have each started all eight games on the line this season, while Drake Miller has started the last four.

Leading the D:
Ben Ingle, who recorded his second career interception vs. Akron, leads Ball State with 71 tackles this season plus has registered two tackles for loss and one interception.  He ranks 47th in the latest NCAA statistics in tackles with 8.9 per game.  Ingle has led Ball State in tackles three times this season - 11 vs. Colgate, 14 at Toledo (career high) and 12 vs. Western Michigan.  He tied for second in tackles for Ball State at Iowa (9) and vs. Indiana State (6) and was second at Central Michigan (6).

The Receiving Corps:
KeVonn Mabon, who received a medical redshirt after being sidelined with an injury in 2013, leads the Cardinals with 42 catches for 495 yards and four touchdowns this season.  Mabon caught his fourth TD of the season and the sixth of his career at Central Michigan.  Jordan Williams had 118 receiving yards vs. Akron and now ranks fifth at Ball State with six 100-yard receiving games in his career.



Buffalo at Ohio, Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 8 pm ET (ESPNU)

Buffalo Notes:
• This is the 21st meeting between UB and Ohio. Ohio holds a 12-8 edge in the series.
• Joe Licata is the only quarterback in the MAC that has thrown a touchdown pass in every game this season.
• The Bulls have averaged 244 yards rushing in the last three meetings with the Bobcats.
• UB ranks seventh in the nation in time of possession (33:22).
• Anthone Taylor is 49 yards shy of becoming the eighth player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He’d join Branden Oliver and James Starks as only the third player to rush for 1,000 yards in UB’s FBS era.
• With 49 career touchdown passes, Joe Licata is two touchdown passes shy of the school record for career touchdown passes held by Drew Willy.
• Devin Campbell is 59 kick return yards shy of moving past Naaman Roosevelt (1,438) for third in school history in career kick return yardage.
• The Bulls are in search of their second straight winning season. Something a UB team hasn’t done since going 8-2 in 1983 and following it with a 6-4 campaign in 1984.
• The Bulls rank second in the nation in blocked kicks with four.
• Lee Skinner is 12 tackles shy of passing Khalil Mack (327) for seventh in school history in career tackles.
• The Bulls are just 1-7 all-time at Peden Stadium since joining the MAC in 1999.
• Joe Licata is six passing yards shy of becoming just the fourth quarterback in school history to pass for 6,000 yards.

Bulls Travel to Ohio to Face Bobcats
The State University of New York, Buffalo football hits the home stretch of the season, beginning with a road game at Ohio on Wednesday night. The Bulls (3-5, 1-3 MAC) are coming off a 20-14 loss to Central Michigan last Saturday. Lee Skinner and Witney Sherry had 16 and 15 tackles, respectively, to lead the Bulls.

Ohio is 4-5 overall and 2-3 in the MAC. The Bobcats are coming off a 42-21 loss at Western Michigan last Saturday. The Bobcats are led by running back A.J. Ouellette who has rushed for 407 yards and four touchdowns on the season.  Ohio leads the all-time series, 12-8. The Bulls won the last meeting, 30-3, at UB Stadium last season.

Home Sweet Home
Since the Bulls joined the MAC in 1999, their series with Ohio has been dominated by the home team. UB is 5-2 in games played at UB Stadium, compared to just 1-7 in contests played at Peden Stadium. The Bulls lone win against the Bobcats at Peden Stadium came in 2008 - the year UB won the MAC Championship.

Sack Race
The UB defense dialed up the pressure against Central Michigan and had a season-high five sacks. Prior to that game, the Bulls didn’t have more than two sacks against FBS opponents this season. Adam Redden had two sacks, Okezie Alozie had 1.5 sacks and Jarrett Franklin had a sack for the Bulls.

Wood Takes Over as Interim Head Coach
Interim head football coach Alex Wood has over 30 years of coaching experience. He was the head coach at James Madison from 1995 to 1998 where he compiled a record of 23-22. In 1995, he led the Dukes to an 8-4 record and a trip to the I-AA playoffs.  Wood has extensive coaching experience at both the college and professional levels. He was the running backs coach on the Miami (FL) staff that won two national championships. He was also on the NFL coaching staffs of the Vikings, Bengals and Cardinals.

Big Plays Hurting Bulls
One of the issues of this UB football team is its susceptibility to the big play. Through eight games, the Bulls have allowed 56 plays of 20 yards or more. That’s an average of seven per game. 16 of the 37 touchdowns UB has allowed this season have come on plays of 20 yards or more. In addition, 52 percent of the total yardage the Bulls have allowed this year are on plays of at least 20 yards.

Taylor Made
Anthone Taylor is averaging 148.5 yards rushing over the past five games. He posted consecutive 200-yard rushing games when he went for 222 yards against Miami (OH) followed by 219 yards against Bowling Green the following week. However, he was held to a season-low 25 yards rushing in UB’s last outing against Central Michigan. Taylor became the first player in school history to rush for 200 yards in consecutive games. He is also the first player in UB’s FBS era (since 1999) to rush for three touchdowns in back-to-back games as he had three TD runs against both Miami and BG.

Principal Skinner
Against Central Michigan, Lee Skinner had a career-high 16 tackles. He now has 316 for his career and is just the 10th player in school history to total 300 career tackles.  Often lost in the outstanding play of All-American linebacker Khalil Mack over the last three season was the steady production of fellow linebacker Skinner. The Dayton, OH native ranked second on the team to Mack in tackles in each of his first three seasons, 80, 89 and 79 respectively. He has started all 45 games of his career.  Skinner is 12 tackles shy of passing Mack in career tackles. This season he leads the team in tackles with 68.

Ball Control
The Bulls lead the MAC and rank seventh in the nation in time of possession as they control the ball an average of 33:22 per game.  Against Bowling Green on Oct. 4, UB’s opening 75-yard touchdown drive took 9:24.  Time-wise it was the longest scoring drive in the Bulls’ FBS era.



Ohio Notes:
• Ohio faces off against Buffalo on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. at Peden Stadium.

• Ohio’s matchup with Buffalo marks the 21st meeting between the two teams.
• Wednesday night’s game will air on ESPNU. Ohio had all of its games aired on national television for the first time ever last season. Since 2006, Ohio has made 72 appearances on the ESPN Family of Networks.
• The game also can be heard live on the Ohio IMG Sports Radio Network. “Voice of the Bobcats” Russ Eisenstein and Rob Cornelius will have the call. Network coverage begins at 7:00 p.m.
• Ohio enters its matchup with Buffalo following a 42-21 loss against Western Michigan on Oct. 25.
• On Oct. 11 against Bowling Green, the Bobcat offense tallied a school-record 110 plays. The previous record was 104 plays in a game in 1968 against Marshall.
• Ohio has not lost under Solich when leading at the end of the third quarter since 2011; they are 4-0 this season.
• Against Bowling Green on Oct. 11, redshirt sophomore quarterbacks JD Sprague and Greg Windham combined for 64 total pass attempts, which ranks second in Ohio history.
• On Sept. 20 against Idaho, the attendance of 25, 211 marked the third-largest crowd in Peden Stadium history.
• The Bobcats lead the all-time series against Buffalo, 12-8-0 and are 9-3 when battling the Bulls in Athens.

A WIN OVER BUFFALO WOULD...
• Hand head coach Frank Solich his 129th career victory. It would also hand him his 71st career win at Ohio.
• Give the Bobcats their 13th win over Buffalo.
• Improve the Bobcats’ record to 10-3 against Buffalo when they play in Athens
• Move the Bobcats to 3-3 in MAC play and 5-5 overall.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - FRANK SOLICH
“I think they do have pride. I think they do have courage. And I think that the want and the will is there. I think they’ll play very, very hard to get this thing turned around.”

FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM WESTERN MICHIGAN
• Ohio has forced at least one turnover in four straight games and three turnovers in the last two games.
• Wide receiver Chase Cochran hauled in Ohio’s longest reception of the day and longest of the season with a 66-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter. The 66-yard reception was Cochran’s 16th reception of 40 yards or more in his career.
• Bonnstetter’s 64-yard punt in the second quarter set a new career-long for the junior and he finished with an average of 46.6 yards per punt.
• Cornerback Brett Layton recorded Ohio’s longest interception return of the season with a 43-yard return in the first quarter, setting Ohio up on WMU’s three-yard line.
• Quarterback Derrius Vick finished with 246 passing yards on 18 completions.

OHIO - BUFFALO SERIES HISTORY
• This marks the 21st meeting between Ohio and Buffalo
• Ohio leads the all-time matchup with Buffalo 12-8-0
• The last time the two teams met was Nov. 5, 2013 when Buffalo defeated the Bobcats 30-3.

@OhioFootball Tweetables
• Against Bowling Green the offense tallied a school-record 110 plays. The previous record was 104 plays in a game in 1968.
• Ohio has not lost under Solich when leading at the end of the third quarter since 2011; they are 4-0 this season.
• Against Bowling Green, quarterbacks JD Sprague and Greg Windham combined for 64 total pass attempts, which ranks second in Ohio history.
• Quarterback Derrius Vick’s 66-yard TD pass against Western Michigan was the longest pass this season for the Bobcats.
• Against Western Michigan, cornerback Brett Layton recorded Ohio’s longest interception return of the season with a 43-yard return in the first quarter, setting Ohio up on WMU’s three-yard line.
• Running back A.J. Ouellette’s 65-yard touchdown run against Eastern Illinois was his career-long and was the longest run by any Ohio player this season.
• Safety Josh Kristoff has recorded interceptions in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
• Ohio LB Quentin Poling leads the team with three sacks on the year. Poling also leads the team with three interceptions. All three came against Idaho on Sept. 20.
• Against Bowling Green, Sprague tallied a career-high 325 passing yards, a career-high 27 completions and a career-high 56 attempts.
• QB JD Sprague threw his first career touchdown vs. Marshall.
• WR Landon Smith caught a career-high two touchdowns at Kent State.
• Freshman A.J. Ouellette had a season high 132 yards on 27 carries against Idaho.
• The Bobcats are 60-7 when leading after three quarters.
• @OhioFootball is one of just 21 schools in the country that have played in five straight bowl games #consistency.
• In each of the last four seasons, Ohio has scored 350 points-or-more.  #MACtion.
• Ohio is the only the team in FBS that has kept the same head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator for the past nine seasons.
• In the last 40 years, @OhioFootball has been to eight bowls. Six of those bowl trips have come during Frank Solich’s 9 years at Ohio.
• In 35 career games with the Green and White, @OhioFootball WR Chase Cochran has hauled in 15 passes of 40 yards or more.