Around the MAC

Standing out in Division I-A football and proving that your team deserves to be mentioned along with BCS schools is a tough feat. Some Mid-American Conference teams did that last week. This past weekend it was up to those teams to live up to the hype, and two of them did just that. Some others however, such as Toledo, were not as successful.

Northern Illinois Keeps Rolling

Northern Illinois continued to play the role of spoiler with a 24-16 win on Saturday. This week it was Iowa State who fell to the red hot Huskies, who are ranked No. 20 in the nation. This marks the third time this season that a BCS team has lost to the MAC's best team.

"I knew we had a real good football team," stated NIU head coach Joe Novak in a press release. "But in my wildest dreams, I didn't we'd think be 4-0 at this point."

Northern Illinois running back Michael Turner shredded the Cyclone defense running for a game high 134 yards and Josh Haldi passed for two scores. Safety Akil Grant's key interception late in the game set up the winning score, a 9-yard touchdown pass from Josh Haldi to P.J. Fleck with 1:55 remaining.

Roethlisberger Rips Bearcats

RedHawks' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger passed for 377 yards and two touchdowns, and Mike Smith and Cal Murray each ran for two scores as Miami (OH) slipped by Cincinnati 42-37 Saturday.

Miami held on for the victory despite giving the Bearcats countless opportunities in the fourth quarter to take the lead. Cincinnati did manage to come close, as they scored
three late touchdowns.

The Bearcats' Thaddeus Lewis fumbled the punt of Mike Wafzig's at the Bearcats' 15-yard line as Michael Larkin hit him, and Ryan Sprague recovered for Miami. Smith had scoring runs of seven and one yard, and Murray had touchdowns of five and three yards. The RedHawks managed only 98 yards rushing on 38 carries.

'Orange' Crush Rockets

The Rockets of Toledo could not make it to two wins vs. BCS teams, as Syracuse spoiled Toledo's chance with a 34-7 decision. Off the strength of running back Walter Reyes' 162 yards and two touchdowns, 'Cuse was able to take a commanding 24-0 halftime lead.

Syracuse quarterback R.J. Anderson had a nice combination of passes to put together an 80-yard, 14-play scoring drive capped off with Anderson's touchdown pass to Lenny Cusamano. Anderson's scramble for a 14-yard touchdown run with 2:58 remaining in the game sealed the victory.

Around the MAC

Kent St. defeated Central Florida 36-16 in part to the Golden Knight's eight turnovers. Joshua Cribbs threw for two touchdown passes to Darrell Dowery. Western Michigan edged Ohio by a touchdown, 39-32. Phil Reed led the Broncos with 115 yards on the ground and three scores. Maryland had no trouble as they dropped Eastern Michigan 37-13. Scott McBrien threw for 252 yards and lead the Terrapins to three-second half touchdowns. Boston College, behind Quinton Porter's three touchdown passes, beat Ball State 53-29. Troy State, on DeWhitt Betterson's late third quarter score, went up and never looked back as they dropped Marshall 33-24.