"Around the MAC: Huskies, Rockets Impress"

In a week that saw its share of upsets, the Mid-American Conference experienced its own share of ups and downs. While Eastern Michigan's loss to Division I-AA Eastern Illinois was a major downer for the MAC, a blowout upset of Temple by Toledo helped to even things out for the conference.

Northern Illinois 37, Bowling Green 17

Northern Illinois downed Bowling Green in their first MAC contest of the season on Friday night. Garret Wolf came off the bench to replace the injured A.J. Harris and ran for a career high 202 yards with three trips to the end zone.

Kicker Chris Nednick laced a field goal from 25 yards out early in the third quarter giving the Huskies their first lead of the game. Shortly after, Wolf cushioned Northern Illinois' lead with two long runs for a total of 63 yards in a drive that resulted in a touchdown.

After the score, the Huskies never looked back, beating Bowling Green by a final score of 37-17.

Toledo 45, Temple 17

Junior quarterback Brad Gradkowski led Toledo to their first MAC win of the season in a defeat of Temple on Saturday. Gradkowski completed 22 of 26 passes for a total of 276 yards.

Temple jumped out to an early 10-0 lead over Toledo. After a slow start, however, the Rockets' Gradkowski completed 15 straight passes and then connected with senior Kenny Higgins to give Toledo a lead at the half. Temple would cut the lead to 24-17 early in the second half on a touchdown from Walter Washington.

Toledo improved to .500 (2-2) and Temple dropped to 1-3 on the season.

Eastern Illinois 31, Eastern Michigan 28

Eastern Illinois picked up their first win of the year in Michigan on Saturday, defeating the Eagles by a score of 31-28.

EMU started out strong, gaining an early 14-0 lead, but EIU's stamina proved to be too much for the Eagles. Lead by quarterback Matt Schaebert, EIU tallied 24 unanswered points. Schaebert finished the day with 13 of 22 passing for a total of 198 yards and two touchdowns.

Ball State 41, Western Michigan 14

Dante Ridgeway led Ball State in a crushing defeat of Western Michigan on Saturday. Ridgeway rushed for a total of 217 yards on nine carries and scored three touchdowns as Ball State beat Western Michigan 41-14. Quarterback Cole Stinson threw for 278 yards as the Cardinals improved their record to 1-3.

The game was close going in to the fourth quarter when Stinson hooked up with Ridgeway for a 69-yard touchdown pass. This pass proved to be fatal for the Broncos, becoming the first of 21 unanswered points for Ball State.

Ton Schafer led WMU with six catches for 68 yards and one touchdown.

Akron 24, Kent State 19

Akron (1-3) picked up their first MAC win in addition to their first win of the season on Thursday night as the Zips edged out Kent State 24-19.

Charlie Frye threw for two touchdowns and 178 yards to lead the Zips to victory. Frye connected with Domenik Hixion twice in the first half to give Akron a 14-7 lead, a lead they would maintain for the rest of the game.

Late in the second half, Brett Briggs secured the Zips win with a 33-yard touchdown run to put Akron up 24-13. Joshua Cribbs lead the Golden Flashes' offense with 178 yards passing, 101 yards rushing and one 13-yard reception.