Written by MikeSpinelli

---

The Mid-American Conference kicked off its 2012 football season last week with some interesting matchups. We look back at all of the action from a busy week 1.

 

 

 

UCF 56 Akron 14. The long-awaited BowdenBall debut finally arrived Thursday when the Zips hosted Central Florida. This game was scheduled long before Terry Bowden came onboard, and I doubt he would choose a Top 25 team to start the season with his new team. But despite the score, the Zips looked much improved over last year’s squad. Akron came out crisp and ready to play, taking the kickoff and driving down the field in an impressive manor and scoring a touchdown on a Dalton Williams 37 yard pass to converted free safety L.T. Smith. Dalton, starting is first college football game after transferring from Stephen A. Austin, went 30 for 50 for 168 yards and 3 touchdown passes. His one mistake was a late game INT that wasn’t entirely his fault. The defense also came out firing on all cylinders, when a hurried pass by UCF QB Blake Borle was intercepted by a diving Justin March.

The Zips made plays all day and despite the score, never gave up. The difference in the score was three turnovers deep in their own territory that the Knights capitalized on for 21 points. Those turnovers allowed UCF to play a conservative second half, utilizing their powerful running game. In all Zips fans were upset by the score, but not by the effort. The team looked well prepared and ready to play.

Jawon Chisolm got the most touches out of the backfield (7 for 18 yds.), while Quintin Hines gained the most ground (37 yards on 6 carried, 6.2 per). L.T. Smith caught 7 passes for 87 yards including that opening drive TD, Marquelo Seul also caught 7 throws for 62 yards and 1 TD. Converted FB Cody Grice led the team with eight tackles from his new defensive tackle position.

Kent State 41 Towson 21 Kent State also opened up at home on Thursday against the Towson Tigers. They jumped to a first quarter 17-0 lead and never looked back. Running back Dri Archer led the way with three touchdowns on 8 carries and 54 yards. One touchdown was on a 98 yard kickoff return.

The tough Kent defense proved too much for the FCS powerhouse, forcing six turnovers and tallying four sacks. It held Towson to 70 yards rushing, although it gave up 246 yards through the air. Roosevelt Nix led the D with 8 tackles, 4 for loss.

Spencer Keith went 10 for 19 for 82 yards and ran for one touchdown. Josh Boyle led the receivers with 95 yards on 3 catches including one touchdown. Backup David Fisher got in on the fun, throwing a 63 yard touchdown pass to Josh Boyle.

Kent had one miscue when a Towson player muffed a second half punt. Kent’s Andre Parker picked up the punt and ran with it. Not only do the rules say you can’t advance a muffed punt, but Parker ran it the wrong way. The rest of the team blocked for him. In the wrong direction. And not wanting to miss out on the fun, two Towson players tackled him downfield. Both teams are sure to get a refresher course on football rules before the next game.

The 41 points are the most scored by Kent State since 2010. The Flashes travel to Kentucky for a Saturday night game against the Wildcats.

Ball State 37 Eastern Michigan 26 The MAC had one conference game in week one, with Eastern Michigan travelling to Ball State. Ball State running back Jawan Edwards ran 75 yards for a touchdown in the opening play of the second half. Edwards finished with three TD’s on 202 yards rushing. QB Keith for Wenning threw 26 41 for 267 yards. Eastern Michigan’s Alex Gillett threw 15 for 34 for 186 yards and 3 TD. He also led the team in rushing on 11 for 83 yards (7.4 avg).

Ball State travels to Clemson while MU hosts Illinois State.

Ohio 24 Penn State 14 The Ohio Bobcats travelled to Happy Valley to take on a beleaguered Penn State program looking to pull off an upset on national TV. Penn State came ready to play though, and pulled out a 14-3 lead at halftime. IN the second half though, it was all Ohio. The Bobcats capitalized on Nittany Lions turnovers and scored 21 unanswered points.

The Bobcats play their home opener Saturday night against Mexico State.

Iowa 18 Northern Illinois 17 This was my Upset of the Week, but the Huskies came up one point short. The game was played at Chicago’s Soldier Field and drew 52,117.

Northern Iowa utilized the run to build a 17-9 lead behind QB Jordan Lynch (119 yards on 18 carries). Lynch also tossed for 54 yards with 6 for 16 passing. Meanwhile the D was busting out six sacks and controlled the game.  But the Hawkeyes were able to capitalize on Huskie mistakes to come back in the second half.

NIU Hosts Tennessee-Martin Saturday night.

Ohio State 56 Miami 10 The Miami Redhawks failed to capitalize on seven early trips to the red zone, while Urban Meyer’s new team overcame a slow start to rout the Redhawks. Despite Zac Dysert’s 300+ yards of passing, this game was a rout. Miami hosts Southern Illinois Saturday.

Illinois 24 Western Michigan 7 The Broncos played better than the score will show, other than a handful of missed coverage assignments the Western Michigan defense played tough, allowing 248 total yards. The offense just couldn’t make plays when it needed to.

Western Michigan hosts Eastern Illinois Saturday night.

Georgia 45 Buffalo 23 The Bulls went down to Georgia to take on the 6^th ranked Bulldogs and played surprisingly well. In fact they tallied almost 350 yards on one of the country’s top defenses. They were only down by eight at halftime. Lack of depth and too much Bulldogs were the story in the second half.

The Bulls host Morgan State Saturday night.

Florida 27 Bowling Green 14 Bowling Green also played tough against a ranked team, lading in the first quarter. But like Western Michigan, fell to a late game comeback by #23 Georgia.

BGSU hosts Idaho Saturday night.

Arizona 24 Toledo 17 OT. The Arizona Wildcats needed overtime to get past the Toledo Rockets. The Rockets won the toss and decided to start OT on defense but were unable to answer Arizona’s OT TD.

The Rockets travel to Wyoming to take on the Cowboys in a late afternoon game Saturday.

UConn 37 UMass 0 The Massachusetts Minutemen had a rude welcome to FBS football, getting blanked by archrival UConn. UMAss plays their first home game and their first game in Gillette Stadium Saturday against Indiana.

Central Michigan 38 Southeast Missouri State 27 Central Michigan had little trouble controlling the FCS Redhawks. Zulon Tipton and Anthony Garland rushed for 100 yards each.

CMU hosts Michigan State Saturday at 3:30.