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Saturday's MAC Football Roundup

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Associated Press
September 5, 2010

Associated Press

AKRON — Mike Holmes returned a blocked field goal 57 yards for a touchdown, highlighting Syracuse’s 29-3 win over Akron on Saturday night.

Chandler Jones blocked Igor Iveljic’s attempt at the Syracuse 39, allowing Holmes to pick it up at the 43 and go untouched, making it 23-3 in the third quarter.

Ryan Nassib added two touchdowns and 229 yards on 17-for-27 passing as the Orange won their season opener for the first time since 2003. He connected with Aaron Weaver for a 23-yard score on the game’s first series and found Van Chew for a 26-yard touchdown five seconds before halftime for a 17-3 lead.

Akron’s Rob Ianello, who took over for J.D. Brookhart, lost his head coaching debut after five years as a Notre Dame assistant. Brookhart went 30-42 in six seasons with the Zips.

Delone Carter had 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter and rushed for 91 yards for Syracuse.

Chew who had two impressive catches in the first half, adjusted to an underthrown pass for a 45 yards on the first. The big catch brought Akron to the 25 on the first play of the second quarter. Following that play and a sack on Nassib for a 9-yard loss, the Orange got a 47-yard field goal by Ross Krautman to go up 10-0.

Chew then scored on a diving catch in the right corner of the end zone on the sixth play of a 65-yard drive.

That came after Iveljic’s 40-yard field goal got Akron within 10-3.

The Zips’ score was set up by defensive end Shawn Lemon, who scooped up a fumble by Nassib and went 29 yards to the Syracuse 18 with 1:39 left in the first half. Bryan Wagner forced the fumble.

Patrick Nicely threw three incompletions including a low, errant toss to a wide-open Gary Pride in the end zone. Nicely finished with 111 yards on 12-for-35 passing.

Wagner thwarted a Syracuse drive in the third quarter with an interception at his 8, returning it 34 yards.

Akron’s Alex Allen lost 10 yards on his first three carries until breaking loose for 25 yards in the third. A facemask penalty on the play put the ball on the Syracuse 31. The drive stalled and Jones’ big play put the Orange back in control.

No. 4 Florida 34, Miami (Ohio) 12

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Jeff Demps had a long scoring run, John Brantley added a fluky touchdown pass late and No. 4 Florida overcame an error-filled game to beat Miami (Ohio) 34-12 Saturday.

The Gators used four interceptions, several red-zone stops and two late touchdowns to avoid a meltdown. The bigger story was Florida’s anemic offense — the one quarterback John Brantley had hoped to “keep rolling” after waiting three years behind Tim Tebow.

There were fumbles, bad snaps, poor throws, several penalties and possibly more frustration in The Swamp than ever before.

Brantley completed 17-of-25 passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns. He had a 10-yarder to Omarius Hines that was the offense’s longest play of the day until Demps’ got loose for a 72-yard run in the fourth. Brantley also had a 25-yard TD pass to Chris Rainey with 1:21 remaining. That fourth-down pass bounced off a teammate.

Michigan St. 38, Western Michigan 14

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Freshman Le’Veon Bell rushed for 141 yards on 10 carries and scored two touchdowns to spark Michigan State past Western Michigan 38-14 in a season-opening game Saturday.

Bell’s 75-yard run was the key play in a scoring drive that gave the Spartans a 21-7 lead in the second quarter. He followed it up with touchdown runs of 2 yards in the second quarter and 18 yards in the third quarter to put Michigan State ahead 35-7.

Bell became the first true freshman in Michigan State history to rush for 100 yards or more in his debut game.

Edwin Baker finished with 117 yards and two TDs on 17 carries for Michigan State.

Alex Carder, making his first start at quarterback for Western Michigan, completed 27-of-49 passes for 220 yards with two touchdown and an interception.

ARMY 31, EASTERN MICHIGAN 27

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Jared Hassin ran 7 yards for a touchdown with 38 seconds left to give Army a 31-27 win over Eastern Michgan on Saturday night.

Hassin scored three touchdowns and ran for 68 yards on 12 carries.

Alex Gillett’s 11-yard TD pass to Ben Thayer gave Eastern Michigan a 27-24 lead with 2:59 left.

But the Black Knights drove 72 yards in eight plays and Hassin went in off left tackle to give Army the lead.

Dwayne Priest (26 carries for 142 yards) and Gillett (18 for 126) topped 100 yards rushing for EMU. Priest ran for two touchdowns and Gillett for one score.

Troy 30, Bowling Green 27

TROY, Ala. — Michael Taylor hit a 34-yard field goal with four seconds left to give Troy a 30-27 win over Bowling Green on Saturday night.

Bowling Green was driving late, but Troy’s Tony Davis intercepted a deflected pass at Troy’s 34 to set up the game-winning drive with 1:07 left.

Trojans’ freshman Corey Robinson completed passes of 17 and 13 yards before running five yards to the Bowling Green 28. A helmet-to-helmet personal foul penalty gave Troy the ball at the 14-yard line. After an intentional 3-yard loss by Robinson, Taylor nailed the game-winner.

Eugene Cooper’s 63-yard punt return gave the Falcons a 24-17 lead to start the second half, but Troy tied it at 24 on Jerrel Jernigan’s 49-yard run.

Robinson threw for 252 yards on 25-for-37 passing with a touchdown and two interceptions. Matt Schilz was 22-for-43 passing for 221 yards for Bowling Green.

Ohio 33, Wofford 10

ATHENS, Ohio — Julian Posey returned a fumble 38 yards for a touchdown and Ohio’s defense forced two more first-half turnovers as the Bobcats defeated Wofford 33-10 Saturday in the season opener for both teams.

Ohio rushers combined for 230 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Boo Jackson, who completed 7-of-12 passes for 97 yards, scored on a 3-yard run after Matt Weller’s 37-yard field goal put the Bobcats ahead for good, 10-7.

Ryan Boykin ran 16 yards for a touchdown and Dallas Brown added a 9-yard score as Ohio put the game away with a 13-point fourth quarter.

Wofford, which didn’t complete any of its four passing attempts, had 220 yards rushing and got its only touchdown on Eric Breitenstein’s 1-yard run that tied the game 7-7 after Posey’s fumble return.




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