It became known as "upset Saturday" and while it is likely that national TV reporters were not thinking about the Mid-American Conference when they coined the phrase, lowly Akron did their best to make sure the conference went with the flow.
The Zips, winless in the conference coming into Saturday's contest, stunned the conference's perennial powerhouse the Marshall Thundering Herd with a 34-20 home win at the Rubber Bowl. For the Herd, it was their first conference loss of the season.
Perhaps more importantly for Marshall, however, was an injury sustained by quarterback Byron Leftwich. The Heisman Trophy candidate took a shot to his left shin delivered by Akron's Ryan Myers midway through the first quarter. On Monday, Herd coach Bob Pruett said that he still does not know if Leftwich will be able to play in Tuesday's showdown game on ESPN against the Miami RedHawks.
"He has a lower leg injury and we will just have to wait and see how he progresses," Pruett said. "We won't know anymore until he has had some time to rest and rehab."
After the injury Leftwich left the game for one play, but it was a big play. Akron's Rickey McKenzie recovered a Marshall fumble and took it 98 yards for the game's opening score. Leftwich re-entered the game on the next series and led the Herd to a touchdown that tied the score.
Leftwich then left the stadium and was taken to a nearby medical facility for x-rays. He returned in the third quarter and led Marshall to another touchdown. Leftwich stayed in the game the rest of the way but could barely walk. He was carried downfield by his offensive lineman on a few occasions after the Herd nailed big plays.
"At the hospital his shin was just x-rayed. The same shin that was operated on last summer," Pruett said. "He didn't want to go to the hospital, he wanted to continue to play. He is a competitor. He came out and played hard. He showed a tremendous amount of courage, but their football team did too."
Akron quarterback Charlie Frye scored one touchdown through the air - a 28-yard pass to Mike Brake late in the second quarter - and scored one on the ground - a 26-yard jaunt late in the third quarter.
Despite missing much of the game, Leftwich threw for 307 yards on 26-38 passing. He threw for 259 of his yards after he suffered his leg injury. Leftwich is still first in the nation in total offense and passing yardage.
The Herd came into the game ranked at No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll, but fell out of the rankings after the loss.
Marshall's game on ESPN against Miami will be a contest that will likely determine the East Division championship. The Herd trail the RedHawks by a half game for the division lead. The game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.
Bowling Green Stays Undefeated
The Bowling Green Falcons scored 21 fourth quarter points to turn a close game into a 45-14 road romp over the Kent State Golden Flashes Saturday. The Falcons remain the MAC's only undefeated team at 8-0 (5-0 in conference play). They are one of only four undefeated Division I-A football teams.
The Falcons got big plays from their two-headed threat of quarterback Josh Harris and running back Joe Alls. Harris threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns, while Alls ran for 179 yards and two touchdowns.
Kent State quarterback Joshua Cribbs, who missed his team's previous game at Buffalo with a hamstring injury, ran for 91 yards and a touchdown. He, however, threw for only 95 yards and had three interceptions.
Bowling Green faces Northern Illinois this week in a game that will likely determine who will be the West Division champion. The teams are tied for first place, each with 5-0 records in MAC play. The game will be broadcast locally on the Empire Sports Network and begins at 2:30 p.m.
The Falcons are currently ranked at No. 16 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll and at No. 20 in the AP Poll.
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns as Miami won at home over Ohio in a game played before 27,253 fans . Once down by 17 points, Syracuse came back for a 38-35 win before 24,043 fans at Central Florida ... Marcus Merriweather ran for 214 yards and one touchdown in Ball State's 17-7 home win over Western Michigan . Central Michigan's Robbie Mixon ran for 377 yards and four touchdowns in a 47-21 road romp over Eastern Michigan.
