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Nick's 2005 MAC Football Picks - Week #9 Recap

published 10.31.05

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Miami @ Temple

Miami Team Page

• Josh Betts threw for 379 yards and three touchdown passes
• Brandon Murphy ran for two scores
• The RedHawks won their third straight game
• Umar Ferguson had a pair of TD runs for Temple
• Temple is just two losses away from the school's first winless season on the field since 1959 with road games at Virginia and Navy
• The RedHawks racked up 506 total yards to 195 for Temple
• Ryne Robinson had 10 catches for 148 yards for Miami
• Temple has been outscored 409-87 in its first season since being kicked out of the Big East
• It was the last home game for coach Bobby Wallace who earlier this month announced he would leave when his contract expires at the end of the season
• Miami's Martin Nance finished with six catches for 96 yards, and became the school's all-time leading receiver with 2,818 yards - He moved ahead of Michael Larkin into 1st place in the Miami record books
• Betts completed 28 of 40 passes and moved ahead of Sam Ricketts into third place on the school's all-time list with 6,202 yards passing. Mike Bath (6,524) and Ben Roethlisberger (10,829) are ahead of Betts

Nick’s Pick: Miami 38 - Temple 14

Actual Score: Miami 41 - Temple 14

Nick’s Prophetic Comment: “Temple does not have the perimeter speed to cover the offensive weapons that the RedHawks possess. Miami will not take the Owls lightly after their near upset at Eastern Michigan last week. That should be the wake up call Miami needs for their stretch run in November.”

Ohio @ Buffalo

Ohio Team Page -Buffalo Team Page

• Kalvin McRae rushed for 224 yards and two touchdowns - McRae topped the 200-yard mark for the second straight week and third time this season
• Austen Everson completed 8 of 14 passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns as the Bobcats racked up 474 yards of offense
• Winless Buffalo rallied from a 20-point deficit to get within 27-20 in the 4th quarter
• UB’s Drew Willy was 9-of-11 for 160 yards in the third quarter in scoring drives of 56 and 80 yards - Willy finished the day 24-of-36 for 293 yards with 1 TD and one interception
• Ohio scored on its first two possessions
• Ohio had 17 penalties for 161 yards while Buffalo had 12 penalties for 120 yards; 3 of those penalites on UB came in the final 42 seconds of the game
• After trailing 20-0 at the intermission, Buffalo got on the scoreboard with its first possession in the second half when King had a 9-yard TD run – Ohio’s McRae responded with a 34-yard TD run
• UB’s Chad Upshaw caught eight passes for 116 yards for the Bulls
• Attendance in Buffalo was a season-low 5,814

Nick’s Pick: Ohio 20 - Buffalo 17

Actual Score: Ohio 34 – Buffalo 20

Nick’s Prophetic Comment: “UB has had historical success against the Bobcats in Buffalo and just may get their first win of the season. But Ohio seems to be playing with some much needed confidence and should be able to grind out a victory over the Bulls.”

Related VanDelaySports.com Links:

The Wacky MAC & midseason award picks

Updated 2005 MAC football standings

Nick's picks for MAC football Week #9

MAC Team Pages

Toledo @ Central Michigan

Toledo Team Page -Central Michigan Team Page

• Kent Smith threw two touchdown passes and ran for another; passing for 189 yards and rushing for 89
• Toledo's Nick Moore, who caught nine passes for 101 yards and a touchdown, had a pass go off his fingertips in the back of the end zone on the last play of the game
• The win is Central's first over Toledo since 1994; the last time the ‘Chips won the MAC
• Central held the Rockets rushing attack, which had averaged 230-yards per game, to just 95 yards on 30 carries
• Central controlled the clock having the ball for 32:03 to just 27:57 for UT
• Toledo quarterback Bruce Gradkowski was 28-of-45 for 262 yards and two touchdowns
• Toledo had 5 penalties for 35 yards while CMU had 8 penalties for 105 yards
• The Chippewas trailed 14-7 at halftime but scored 14 straight points to take the lead
• CMU has now gone five straight games without surrendering a second-half touchdown
• Attendance in Mount Pleasant was 12,801

Nick’s Pick: Toledo 38 - CMU 27

Actual Score: CMU 21 - Toledo 17

Nick’s Prophetic Comment: “This is a huge game in the MAC West standings. Back when I did my season previews for Athlon Sports I asked Toledo’s Tom Amstutz who he thought was the divisional team to challenge Toledo & NIU in the west and he wasted no time saying ‘Central Michigan.’”

Kent State @ Western Michigan

Kent State Team Page -Western Michigan Team Page

• Trovon Riley rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns
• True freshman Tim Hiller threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns in his second start
• The Broncos defense had three defensive scores; an interception return by Zach Davidson, a fumble return by Paul Tithof and a safety by Louis Delmas when he sacked Kent State quarterback Michael Machen in the end zone
• The Golden Flashes totaled 1 yard rushing on 28 attempts in their sixth consecutive loss
• KSU’s Michael Machen completed 25 of 45 passes for 336 yards and one touchdown, but he was intercepted twice and sacked four times
• Kent State wide receiver Derrick Bush threw a 31-yard scoring pass to Shawn Lewis for the third TD pass of his career from that position
• Western outscored Kent State 16-0 in the final quarter
• WMU had more total yards than KSU 407 – 374
• KSU had two 100-yard receiving performances; 125 for Najah Pruden and 118 for Marcus Hill
• Western's Greg Jennings, caught four passes for 37 yards -- including a school-record 37th TD reception - and rushed for 20 yards to become the school's all-time all-purpose leader with 4,690 yards
• Attendance in Kalamazoo was 14,168

Ball State @ Northern Illinois

Ball State Team Page - Northern Illinois Team Page

• Ball State led NIU 17-0 at the half and never trailed in their 31-17 win
• Northern Illinois was held scoreless in the first half for the first time since 2002 while Ball State won its first game since October 8
• BSU’s Joey Lynch played a terrific game passing for 186 yards and three TDs while being sacked 3 times
• Charles Wynn rushed for 122 yards for the Cardinals as they had a balanced offensive attack rushing for 196 yards and passing for 186
• Ball State held the ball for nearly 38 minutes while NIU had the ball for just over 22 minutes
• BSU had 382 total yards while the Huskies had just 229 – Ball State entered the game as the MAC’s worst defensive unit
• NIU’s potent rushing attack had just 66 yards on 28 carries
• Huskies quarterback Phil Horvath finished 21-of-31 for 163 yards. He was sacked four times

Nick’s Pick: NIU 42 - Ball State 34

Actual Score: Ball State 31 - NIU 17

Nick’s Prophetic Comment: "Through the years the Cardinals have played the Huskies very well, even during these past few seasons when NIU clearly had a much better team. BSU cannot stop the run which plays right into NIU’s gameplan, but Ball State has shown glimpse of being a really good passing team this season. Expect a much closer contest than what the odds-makers believe." – On this day, Ball State did stop the Huskies’ running game and played by far their most complete contest during the Brady Hoke era.

Related VanDelaySports.com Links:

The Wacky MAC & midseason award picks

Updated 2005 MAC football standings

Nick's picks for MAC football Week #9

MAC Team Pages

Akron @ Bowling Green

Akron Team Page -BGSU Team Page

• Brett Biggs rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns - Biggs carried 38 times and scored on runs of 1 and 3 yards in the second half
• Biggs was the only Akron runner with positive rushing yardage
• Akron’s Luke Getsy completed 15-of-29 passes for 205 yards without an interception, led a 12-play, 72-yard drive to open the third quarter throwing a scoring pass to true freshman Merce Poindexter to give the Zips the lead for good
• BG’s Anthony Turner completed 22-of-30 passes for 173 yards with one interception while filling in for the injured Omar Jacobs
• The Falcons got the ball two times in the 4th quarter with a chance to tie or take the lead but they were forced to punt after netting just three yards on three plays then lost the ball on downs at their own 29 with 2:31 left leading to Biggs final TD run
• The Falcons have lost two straight games at home for the first time in five years
• Attendance in Bowling Green was 9,608

Nick’s Pick: BGSU 30 – Akron 20

Actual Score: Akron 24 – BGSU 14

Nick’s Prophetic Comment: “This is a “gut check” game for both teams. Akron lost at home last week to previously winless Army while BG lost by 31 points at home to Western Michigan as a huge favorite. BG has had enough time to dust themselves off and get a new game plan for backup QB Anthony Turner while Akron doesn’t look to be getting any better as the season continues. Look for BG to get back in the win column and for the Zips to continue their tailspin.” – In hindsight, it looks like BG is the team in a tailspin after two straight home losses and games remaining against Miami and Toledo.

Related VanDelaySports.com Links:

The Wacky MAC & midseason award picks

Updated 2005 MAC football standings

Nick's picks for MAC football Week #9

MAC Team Pages