Central Michigan shuts down Akron 14-6
AKRON, Ohio — Cooper Rush threw two touchdown passes and Central Michigan shut down Akron 14-6 on Saturday.
Rush was 23 of 37 for 226 yards. Anthony Rice had nine catches for 105 yards.
Late in the first, Akron’s Robert Stein missed a 45-yard field goal attempt. Central Michigan (5-4, 4-1 Mid-American) put together a nine-play, 69-yard drive, culminating in Rush’s 2-yard toss to Joe Bacci.
Akron (3-5, 1-3) answered four plays later, as Thomas Woodson found Jerome Lane on a go route for a 57-yard touchdown, but Stein missed the extra point.
In the third, Central marched to the red zone and Rush hit Rice in the corner on a 14-yard fade route to put the Chippewas up 14-6.
From there, it was all Central Michigan defense, as Arkon punted on its next five possessions, never maintaining more than a five-play drive at a time. The Zips’ last drive ended in an interception by Tony Annese with 45 seconds left to seal it.
Ball State 20, UMass 10: Riley Neal threw a touchdown pass, James Gilbert ran 2 yards for a score and Ball State beat Massachusetts 20-10 on Saturday.
Neal was 20-of-32 passing for 275 yards and an interception. His 10-yard TD pass to Jordan Williams capped a 3-play, 15-yard drive that put the Cardinals (3-6, 2-3 Mid-American Conference) up 17-3 in the third quarter. KeVonn Mabon had six catches for 150 yards.
Gilbert gained 73 yards on 25 carries and his score gave Ball State a 10-3 halftime lead.
UMass outgained Ball State 448 total yards to 427, but strong defense helped the Cardinals. Linebacker Ben Ingle picked off a pass in the end zone to halt one UMass drive and the Cardinals twice stopped the Minutemen on downs, including at Ball State’s 21 late in the fourth quarter.
Blake Frohnapfel completed 32 of 44 for 259 yards for UMass (1-7, 0-4), including a 7-yard touchdown pass to Elgin Long to pull within 17-10.
Western Michigan 58, Eastern
Michigan 28: Jamauri Bogan had a career-high four touchdowns on eight carries and Western Michigan forced a season-high four turnovers in a 58-28 victory over Eastern Michigan on Thursday night for the Broncos’ most points since 2011.
Western Michigan scored 21 straight points in the first 6 minutes of the second half.
On the second offensive play after halftime, Jarvion Franklin scored in a 24-yard run to give Western Michigan a 30-14 lead. Eastern Michigan turned it over on its next possession and Bogan capped a short drive with a 2-yard run.
Two plays after an Eastern Michigan fumble, Zach Terrell scored on a careerlong 31-yard sneak to make it 44-14.
Terrell threw for 252 yards and added 72 yards on the ground for Western Michigan (5-3, 4-0 Mid-American).
Brogan Roback passed for 263 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions for Eastern Michigan (1-8, 0-5). Dustin Creel had two touchdown catches.
Buffalo 29, Miami (Ohio) 24: Joe Licata threw two touchdown passes to Ron Willoughby, Jordan Johnson rushed for two scores and Buffalo beat Miami (Ohio) 29-24 on Thursday night.
Johnson had a 6-yard touchdown run on the first possession of the second half for a 23-17 lead. After Miami’s missed a field goal, Willoughby outjumped a defender in the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown catch for a 29-17 advantage.
Ryan Smith’s 2-yard touchdown catch pulled Miami (Ohio) to 29-24 with 2:21 remaining. Buffalo recovered the onside kick and went three-and-out, but Miami’s drive stalled at its 30.
Licata was 22 of 29 passing for 289 yards for Buffalo (4-4, 2-2 Mid-American). Willoughby had two catches for 87 yards, and Johnson had 123 yards rushing.
Billy Bahl was 13 of 36 for 224 yards and two touchdowns for Miami (Ohio) (1-8, 0-5).
Brison Burris intercepted a firstquarter pass by Licata and returned it 76 yards for Miami’s only lead at 7-3.