MAC Football Final Scoreboard: Saturday, September 2
No. 6 Penn State 52, Akron 0 Final
Illinois 24, Ball State 21 Final
Michigan State 35, Bowling Green 10 Final
No. 5 Clemson 56, Kent State 3 Final
No. 4 USC 49, Western Michigan 31 Final
Marshall 31, Miami 26 Final
Ohio 59, Hampton 0 Final
Friday, Sept. 1
Eastern Michigan 24, Charlotte 7 Final
Boston College 23, NIU 20 Final
Thursday, Aug. 31
Toledo 47, Elon 13 Final
Minnesota 17, Buffalo 7 Final
Central Michigan 30, Rhode Island 27 (3OT) Final
Game stories courtesy of MAC Athletic Communication Departments
No. 6 Penn State 52, Akron 0
Box Score
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The No. 6 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions defeated the Akron Zips, 52-0, in the 2017 season opener on a soggy Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium in front of 101, 684 fans. The 2016 Big Ten champions used a balance attack to generate 569 total yards of offense with 322 yards in the air and 247 yards on the ground en route to finding pay dirt seven times.
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Illinois 24, Ball State 21
Box Score
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- For most of Saturday’s football season opener at Illinois, things pretty much went according to script for Ball State. The Cardinals (0-1) controlled the ball on offense and let their young defense fly around and make plays. It added up to a 21-16 lead against their Big Ten opponent entering the final minutes. But a big Illinois punt return set up the go-ahead touchdown with 2:06 to play, and the Illini (1-0) blocked a 54-yard field goal attempt on the final play to escape with a 24-21 victory at Memorial Stadium.
Ball State maintained possession for more than 36 minutes, converted 12 of its first 16 third downs and out-gained Illinois, 375-216. The Illini managed just 76 yards of offense after halftime, including negative yardage during a dominant third quarter for Ball State. The Cardinals turned a 16-7 halftime deficit into a 21-16 lead with third-quarter scoring drives of 15 and 13 plays. The 15-play touchdown drive was the second of the day for Ball State, with both surpassing the team’s longest touchdown drive from a year ago.
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Michigan State 35, Bowling Green 10
Box Score
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Bowling Green began the 2017 season by forcing three turnovers and scoring a defensive touchdown before ultimately falling to Michigan State on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 2). The Spartans won the contest 35-10 and limited BGSU's offense to 212 total yards. Brandon Harris recovered an L.J. Scott fumble on the opening series of the season, and James Morgan connected with Datrin Guyton on a 45-yard pass on the offense's first play. That led to a 36-yard field goal from Jake Suder for a 3-0 BGSU lead. However, Michigan State scored 35 unanswered points before Cameron Jefferies returned another Scott fumble 46 yards for a touchdown.
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No. 5 Clemson 56, Kent State 3
Box Score
CLEMSON, S.C. – Kent State opened the 2017 college football season with a 56-3 loss to the defending national champions at Clemson's Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The Tigers (1-0) jumped ahead quickly with three touchdowns in the first 12 minutes – a 26-yard run by C.J. Fuller, a 61-yard pass from Kelly Bryant to Deon Cain, and a 3-yard run by Adam Choice. Kent State's highlights included a 37-yard field goal by Shane Hynes, cutting Clemson's lead to 21-3 with 12:15 to play in the second quarter. The drive included runs of seven yards by quarterback Nick Holley and nine yards by wide receiver Mike Carrigan, both move the chains.
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No. 4 USC 49, Western Michigan 31
Box Score
LOS ANGELES -- In his first career game at the helm, Western Michigan football head coach Tim Lester nearly led the Broncos to an upset at No. 4 USC, falling 49-31 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. The Broncos and Trojans were tied 28-28 in the fourth quarter after a 100-yard kick return by Darius Phillips but USC scored three late touchdowns to put the game away. WMU's defense had two interceptions and two sacks against Trojan quarterback and Heisman hopeful Sam Darnold.
Sophomore running back LeVante Bellamy led a rushing attack that outgained USC 263-232 with 102 yards on the day. Jamauri Bogan had a team-high 15 rushes for 78 yards, while Jarvion Franklin had 41 yards on 12 carries. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jon Wassink had 35 yards and a touchdown on the ground, completed 11-of-22 passes for 67 yards and caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Keishawn Watson in his first collegiate start.
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Marshall 31, Miami 26
Box Score
HUNTINGTON, W.V. -- The Miami University football dropped its opening game, 31-26, to Marshall Saturday evening in Huntington, West Virginia. The RedHawks outgained the Thundering Herd 429-267, but Marshall used two kickoff returns and an interception return for three of its scores. Redshirt junior quarterback Gus Ragland finished the game 23-for-44 for 298 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. His top target was junior wide receiver James Gardner, who led Miami with eight catches for 111 yards.
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Ohio 59, Hampton 0
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio's Nathan Rourke ran for three touchdowns to lead Ohio to a 59-0 victory over Hampton on Saturday in the season opener for both teams. Ohio racked up 420 yards of offense with eight touchdowns and 22 first downs. The running outweighed the passing, as the Bobcats totaled seven rushing touchdowns and 248 rushing yards, the most since 2002 against Kent State when Ohio scored six rushing touchdowns.
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