Northern Illinois, Buffalo suffer first conference loss
Junior defensive back Xavier Crawford goes for a tackle against Buffalo opponent on Oct. 6 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
With 7:21 left in the game trailing 7-6, Northern Illinois was moving down the field looking to extend its lead.
Miami (Ohio) didn’t let that happen and instead scored a defensive touchdown. Freshman cornerback Ja’don Rucker-Furlow intercepted NIU’s sophomore quarterback Marcus Childers for the eventual game-winning touchdown. The final was 13-7 and handed the Huskies (7-4, 6-1 MAC) their first loss in conference play.
The RedHawks (5-6, 5-2) is now in a second place tie in the MAC East Division. If they win in the final week of the regular season at 7 p.m. on Nov. 20 they would become bowl eligible.
Week 11 Scoreboard - Tuesday, Nov. 13, Wednesday, Nov. 14, Thursday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 17
Ball State 42, Western Michigan 41 (OT)
Ohio 52, Buffalo 17
Miami 13, NIU 7
Toledo 56, Kent State 34
Bowling Green 21, Akron 6
With UT’s (6-5, 4-3) win, they are bowl eligible for a ninth straight season. The Rockets join UB (9-2, 6-1), Ohio (7-4, 5-2), NIU (7-4, 6-1), Eastern Michigan (6-5, 4-3) and WMU (6-5, 4-3) as other league teams who can make a bowl game in 2018.
NIU has clinched the MAC West title and will play the winner of the MAC East at 7 p.m. on Nov. 30 in the 2018 Marathon MAC Football Championship Game at Ford Field. Here’s the breakdown of this weeks action.
BSU 42 WMU 41 (OT)
While the Broncos scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to tie the game on the road, it was the Cardinals (4-7, 3-4) who walked away with a one-point overtime victory on Senior Night.
WMU attempted to go for two points in the first overtime on a rush with senior linebacker LeVante Bellamy but was tripped up short of the goal line by redshirt freshman linebacker Jimmy Daw. Just three weeks ago the Broncos were 6-2 in the league chasing NIU but have now lost three consecutive weeks.
Ohio 52 UB 17
The Huskies weren’t the only team earning their first loss in the MAC this week. The Bulls were blown out by the Bobcats who scored 21 of the final 28 points in the game.
Ohio’s redshirt senior running back A.J. Ouellette had a career-high 196 yards on the ground with two scores while adding a touchdown reception. It was the lowest scoring total for the Bulls against a MAC team this season.
UT 56 KSU 34
The Rocket’s redshirt freshman tailback scored two touchdowns on a season-high 192 yards to guide his team to a 22-point win over KSU (2-9, 1-6). Fellow junior running back Art Thompkins added 122 yards and two scores to Toledo's rushing attack.
Toledo scored three straight touchdowns out of the locker room to build a 49-17 lead they never had to look back on. UT’s Junior Diontae Johnson had an 83-yard punt return for a score right before the half.
BGSU 21 Akron 6
After starting the season at 1-8, the Falcons (3-8, 2-5) have won two straight weeks with the most recent being against the Zips (4-6, 2-5). BGSU junior quarterback Jarret Doege threw for 178 yards passing and two touchdowns to lead the way for BGSU’s offense.
Sophomore running back Andrew Clair ran for 112 yards to help control the tempo of the game. Akron led 6-0 for nearly the entire first half until the Falcons scored a touchdown with 10 seconds left in the half.
