MAC FOOTBALL Akron finishes season in 48-10 rout over Kent

The Zips rushed for 227 yards and five touchdowns against the Golden Flashes.
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KENT -- Brandon Payne ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns and Bob Hendry added 110 yards rushing and a score as Akron closed its season by routing rival Kent State 48-10 Saturday.
Hendry and Payne accounted for all but nine of the Zips' 227 yards rushing and scored three of their five rushing touchdowns. Charlie Frye went 15-of-21 for 176 yards and two touchdown passes and also scored on a 3-yard run for the Zips (4-8, 3-5 Mid-American Conference).
The Golden Flashes (3-9, 1-9) managed just 70 yards rushing and 12 first downs. Quarterback Joshua Cribbs, who's been hampered by a hamstring injury, only played in the first two series of the second quarter. He lost 15 yards on three carries and completed 1 of 2 passes for 5 yards.
Backup Darryl Polk was 14-of-21 for 127 yards with one touchdown and one interception for Kent State.
Cent. Florida 48, Miami-Ohio 31
OXFORD, Ohio -- Ryan Schneider threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns and Alex Haynes ran for 156 yards and two scores for Central Florida.
Jimmy Fryzel caught six passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns for the Golden Knights (6-5, 5-2 MAC).
Ben Roethlisberger completed 23 of 41 passes for 271 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions for the RedHawks (7-5, 5-3). Miami was eliminated from contention in the MAC East Division.
Miami backup quarterback Josh Betts threw two touchdown passes in the fourth. Eddie Tillitz caught six passes for 77 yards and two TDs for the RedHawks.
Toledo 33, N. Illinois 30
DEKALB, Ill. -- Donta Greene caught a 26-yard TD pass from Brian Jones with 41 seconds remaining as Toledo rallied from a 17-0 deficit.
Toledo (8-3, 6-1) gave Northern Illinois (8-4, 7-1) its first MAC loss this season and denied the Huskies the Western Division title.
If Toledo defeats Bowling Green next week, the Rockets win the West. If Bowling Green wins, Northern Illinois takes the division. Northern beat Bowling Green a week ago.
Marshall 24, Ohio 21
ATHENS -- Byron Leftwich, slightly limping on a sore left leg, threw for 219 yards and a touchdown in his return to the lineup as Marshall earned a second-straight berth in the GMAC Bowl.
The Thundering Herd (8-2, 6-1) clinched their sixth straight MAC East Division title and will play host to either Toledo or Northern Illinois in the conference title game on Dec. 7.
Leftwich, who hadn't played since Nov. 2 at Akron, replaced an ineffective Stan Hill with nine minutes remaining in the second quarter and Marshall trailing 7-3.
He threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Denero Marriott with 10:25 remaining in the third quarter, putting the Herd ahead to stay 10-7.
Leftwich, who completed 19-of-29, played between the 20 yard lines in a shotgun formation, with Hill playing in short yardage situations. Hill was in at the end when Marshall failed to kill the clock after recovering an Ohio onside kick.
Ohio's Kevin Kerr missed a 47-yard field goal that would have tied the score with 30 seconds left.
Bowling Green 62, E. Michigan 21
BOWLING GREEN -- Josh Harris passed for 206 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores Saturday night to lead Bowling Green.
Harris threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to James Hawkins in the first quarter and scored on runs of 3 and 15 yards in the second as the Falcons (9-2, 6-1 MAC) took a 21-0 lead.
Ime Akpan led Eastern Michigan (3-9, 1-7) with 66 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 18 carries.
W. Michigan 35, Cent. Michigan 10
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Trovon Riley ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns as Western Michigan beat Central Michigan.
The win was the Broncos (4-8, 3-5 MAC) first in Mount Pleasant since 1973.
The game was tied at 3 after the first quarter, but Western Michigan went on to score 24 unanswered points on a 2-yard run from Philip Reed and 15- and 3-yard runs from Riley. Reed had 59 yards rushing in the game and finished the season with 1,055.
Ball St. 41, Buffalo 21
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Marcus Merriweather rushed for 224 yards, becoming the first player in Ball State history to have three consecutive 200-yard rushing games.
Merriweather scored three straight touchdowns in an almost 15-minute span during the last three quarters -- all on 3-yard runs. His last touchdown five minutes into the fourth quarter made him the Cardinals' (6-5, 4-3 MAC) career leader in rushing touchdowns with 33. Merriweather also set the school record for rushing attempts with 37.