Toledo avoids upset, beats Cincinnati 29-23

Phew, that was close. Maybe looking ahead to Buffalo?

Founding MAC member Cincinnati strolled into the Glass Bowl a perfect team, led by a former MAC head coach and a quarterback named Munchie. But the plucky Bearcats just couldn't overcome the obvious favorite Toledo Rockets.

UT did have a shot at salting away the game but came a foot (if that) short of a touchdown to put them up 10 points. They settled for a field goal, giving Cincy 35 seconds to go 65 yards for a touchdown. Joseph Jordan Haden intercepted a last gasp attempt to seal the victory.

Bernard Reedy had another kickoff return touchdown and Jeremiah Detmer added five field goals. NO OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS. Jeez.

Cincinnati will no doubt fall from the Top 25 and Toledo probably won't get there, but they'll start getting votes.

Seriously, guys. The top four MAC teams (Ohio, Kent State, NIU, Toledo) are a combined 27-3. All of them deserve consideration. Heck, rank 'em all. Thump your chest. This is fantastic.

Bearcats Finally on the Board, but Rockets Lead 16-13 at Half

The Toledo Rockets are beginning to show some cracks as the Cincinnati Bearcats finally put some points on the board, but the foot of Jeremiah Detmer is keeping Toledo on top.

After Detmer kicked a 42 yard score early in the quarter to go up 13-0, Cincy used a 52 yard run by Ralph Abernathy to get deep into Toledo territory. Munchie Legaux punched it in from a couple yards to give the Bearcats 7. On Rockets next posession, Cassius McDowell let the ball squirt out of his hands, and Brandon Mills recovered the ball for UC. Tony Milano kicked a FG from 40 yards out, and UC inched closer, 13-10. The teams have traded field goals from that point on.

Statistically, Cincy leads in, well, everything except points: 280-173 in total yards, 13-6 in first downs, 18:29-11:31 in Time of Possession. Toledo's defense is doing their best to keep the Rockets in this, but the offense needs to kick into gear: they haven't gotten passed the Bearcats 25 yard line.

Jermaine Robinson's Pick 6 paces Toledo over Cincinnati, 10-0 After 1

Cincinnati coach Butch Jones has complained about the team's slow starts, and they seem to be suffering another one as Toledo has jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the first 15 minutes.

The Rockets held Cincy to a 3 and out on their first drive, which Toledo was able to turn into a 43-yard field goal by Jeremiah Detmer. On Cincy's second drive, a pass by Munchie Legaux (no relation to Tyroil Smoochie-Wallace) went errant and landed right into Jermaine Robinson's lap, which he returned 75 yards for the score.

UC had a sudden surge of life when David Fluellan coughed up the ball deep in Rockets territory and the Bearcats recovered on the 5, but the review booth said Fluellan's back hit the turf before the ball came out. Rockets got out of the shadow on their own goalposts with a 13 yard run by Terrance Owens, and the Rockets currently sit on the Cincinnati 31 yard line when the 2nd quarter starts.

Kent State reaches bowl eligibility, runs over WMU 41-24

Their MAC Digital Network feed cut straight to volleyball warmups with about six minutes to play, and that was the only blemish on the day. After spilling a 10-point lead to go down seven in the third quarter, Kent State got their act together and rattled off 24 straight points to improve to 6-1 and become bowl eligible for the first time since 2006. Their last bowl game was in 1972, but they seem on pace to finally play in one and break that terrible, terrible streak.

Dri Archer? All he had was two touchdowns and 115 yards on 14 touches. The play which broke the game open in the fourth quarter was a nutty 83-yard fumble return touchdown by Luke Batton which involved a multitude of broken tackles.

WMU had six turnovers on the day. yep.

At some point Kent State will get the national attention coming to them. That may happen next week when they travel to undefeated Rutgers.

Awesome game alert: Kent State, WMU knotted at 24

As soon as we get video of Josh Boyle's catch, we'll share it, because GOODNESS. He laid out in the end zone to haul in Spencer Keith's vertical pass, tying the game at 24-24 after WMU scored 21 unanswered points.

In terms of #ArcherWatch, Dri Archer has just the one touchdown, a 22-yard endaround in the first quarter, but that's what the last 15 minutes are for.

You can watch the game on the MAC Digital Network.

Eastern Michigan is no longer winless (Thanks, Army!)

And the losin' is over! EMU improves to 1-6 on the year with a 48-38 edging of our own armed forces. It's a good thing American football isn't popular with our overseas enemies.

Tyler Benz threw for five touchdowns, becoming the third EMU quarterback to do that in team history. The last to do it was Andy Schmitt in 2008, and Kainoa Akina threw six TDs in 2001 against Akron.

Bronson Hill ran ragged for 186 yards on 26 carries, adding 67 yards in the air, and getting two total touchdowns. Tight end Garrett Hoskins had 7 catches for 157 yards. This was an oustanding offensive showing.

Bulls Beating Themselves Early

Early on, Buffalo is beating themselves in their non-conference tilt against Pitt.

NIU rolls over Akron, 37-7

Northern Illinois won every quarter, and that tends to lead to a victory, no? Jordan Lynch had another scintillating game, throwing two touchdowns and adding two more on the ground for 354 total yards of offense on 53 plays.

The Zips were held to just 205 yards and committed three turnovers. Yep.

NIU is now 7-1 and showing no signs of slowing down. They go to WMU next week in a must-watch. Akron falls to 1-6 and heads to Central Michigan.

BGSU shuts out UMass 24-0 despite 15 penalties

Here's your game synopsis. Anything else is wasted column inches:

• UMass offense: 60 plays, 118 yards
• Bowling Green: 15 penalties, 130 yards

You read that correctly. UMass got more yards by virtue of careless BGSU penalties than they did with their own play-calling. Of their six first downs, two came on penalties. UMass quarterbacks combined for four interceptions, one which was returned for a touchdown by Dwayne Woods.

It was the second time they've been shutout this season (the opener at UConn was the other one), while BGSU's defense shut out a foe for the first time since 2004, when they whupped Western Michigan 52-0.

Next week UMass heads to SEC country to take on Vanderbilt, while BGSU hosts Eastern Michigan.

EMU loading up on points, lead Army 28-17

I guess we're doing this whole "all the points in Ypsilanti" thing again. Tyler Benz added two more touchdown passes: a 41-yarder to Bronson Hill, who shed a couple tackles for the score, and another to tight end Christian Menet on the goal line. That gives Benz four touchdowns on the day, passing 11-for-17 with 239 yards and an interception. Very little much in terms of running, however: just nine net yards.

But Army countered with a 73-yard run by quarterback Trent Steelman. And we still have the third quarter to go. I hope we can survive this. Buy bottled water, and LOTS of it, just in case.

UMass's D'Metrius Williams spent the halftime tweeting

Freshman defensive back D'Metrius Williams is one of the energetic UMass defensive players responsible for holding Bowling Green to seven points. Thus far he has four tackles and is credited with three pass breakups.

IM OUT HERE BALLIN' .. 2nd half bouta qet started time too qet mo' money

— d ' m e t r i u s ★ (@dee13williams) October 20, 2012

He also retweeted a couple of journalists who mentioned his excellent first half, prompting this:

@harryplumer ; lol don't tell coach ! ahaha but im done now .

— d ' m e t r i u s ★ (@dee13williams) October 20, 2012

OK, we won't tell him. I'm sure he won't find out.

EMU bursts out the gate, takes 14-10 lead over Army

This may be the early game with all the points. Looking for their first win, EMU scored a touchdown on the third play of the game, Tyler Benz play to Javonti Greene. Benz added a second touchdown pass to the excellent tight end Garrett Hoskins on the goalline. Army stormed back with a field goal and 55-yard touchdown run to make the game close.

NIU running over Akron, 20-7 at half

The good news for Akron is they got on the board, even after review, when Dalton Williams flaired a fade pass to Jerrod Dillard from four yards out. But another Mathew Sims field goal made it 13-7 and Jordan Lynch capped the half with a powerful run, basically bowling over Akron cornerback Avis Commack (formerly of Florida State!) for the most impressive touchdown of the game.

Akron has been killed by two lost fumbles, otherwise this one might be closer.

Hope ya like defense! BGSU leads UMass 7-0 at halftime

It's a great day to be a defensive coordinator in Massachusetts.

After that first quarter touchdown, Bowling Green has been surprisingly stuffed by the UMass defense, putting pressure on Matt Schilz and knocking down some balls in the secondary. But meanwhile, UMass has just 53 yards of offense and three first downs. The Falcons have let the Minutemen off the hook a bit by committing eight penalties for 75 yards, giving them one first down on a personal foul.

One thing to watch: UMass coach Charley Molnar is trying to pep up his offense by going for it on fourth and short twice in his territory. Ballsy, but it worked once and that may be their only chance at scoring, rather than punting into the better team's hands.

NIU looks to be pulling away against Akron already

Well, if you were looking for Akron to give NIU a first quarter scare ... keep looking. NIU scored first with a knuckling Mathew Sims field goal, then forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Jordan Lynch found Martel Moore in the end zone soon thereafter for a 10-0 lead after the first quarter.

The Zips still have time to put up some points, but it doesn't look like they'll be able to keep up with the Huskies pace.

Also, Sims has missed two field goals, including one in the second quarter. So maybe their defense (!?) can keep it close?

BGSU takes 7-0 lead on UMass after first quarter

A nifty screen pass from Matt Schilz to Shaun Joplin was the lone score of the first quarter. Joplin ran 16 yards, slaloming between some downfield blocks for the six.

Some of the UMass secondary made some big stops to prevent this game from being broken open. But UMass has been getting nothing on offense, totaling 16 yards and punting on four straight 3-and-outs.

MAC Pick'em Spreads for Week 8

Game of the Week will be decided by twitter. Completely forgot the poll this week, but it came down to three games.

Another week, another set of spreads. Here's how picks broke down.......

High Team: NIU (9), Ball State (1), Toledo (1)
Low Team: Buffalo (4), Akron (3), UMass (2), EMU (1), Toledo (1)

MAC Football Week 8 Overview: The Big East Wants Some

The newly-ranked Ohio has the week off, as does Miami. But the MAC hosts three nonconference opponents — two from the Big East — and the most anticipated game may not be on television.