MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE Kent State's defense scores twice in victory over Buffalo

The Golden Flashes shattered a four-game losing streak with a 16-14 victory.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
AMHERST, N.Y -- Antonio King ran for 112 yards, and Kent State's defense scored two touchdowns to beat Buffalo 16-12 Saturday.
The Golden Flashes (3-5, 1-4 Mid-American Conference) ended a four-game losing streak.
Buffalo (1-8, 0-5) had driven to Kent State's 19-yard line early in the second quarter when Vashawn Patrick broke through on a third-down blitz to deflect Randall Secky's pass. Shawn Armsted grabbed the ball and ran 75 yards for a touchdown.
Late in the period, Kent State's Lucas Bowen blocked Scott McMahan's punt deep in Bulls territory. Scott Booker fell on the ball in the end zone for a 13-0 lead. Travis Mayle kicked a 39-yard field goal to make it 16-0 in the fourth quarter.
Buffalo came back when Secky and redshirt freshman Tim Dance teamed up for a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. An 11-yard pass capped a 74-yard drive, and five minutes later a 17-yard pass finished a drive of 72 yards. Both conversion attempts failed.
Marshall 23, Central Michigan 18
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Marshall's Byron Leftwich passed for 374 yards as he led the Thundering Herd to the narrow win.
The Herd (6-1, 4-0) jumped out to 20-0 lead as Leftwich passed for two touchdowns, including a 58-yard pass to Darius Watts in the second quarter.
Leftwich's two touchdown passes placed him 15th all-time in NCAA history with 77 career touchdown passes, he surpassed John Elway and Donovan McNabb. Leftwich also reached over 10,000 yards passing, becoming the 20th player in Division I history to reach the mark. Jackson led the Chippewas (3-5, 1-3) with 26 carries for 112 yards rushing. Central has lost five straight games after beginning the season with a 3-0 record.
N. Illinois 24, W. Michigan 20
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Deon Smith recovered a blocked punt in the end zone to help lead Northern Illinois to its win. The big play for the Huskies (6-3, 5-0) came in the third quarter, giving them a 21-17 lead. Steve Azar added a 30-yard field goal with 5:23 left in the game, finishing off a 65-yard drive that consumed more than eight minutes.
Northern Illinois is unbeaten through five league games for the first time since joining the MAC in 1997. The Huskies hadn't won in WMU's Waldo Stadium since 1987.
Central Florida 28, Akron 17
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Ryan Schneider threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns to lead Central Florida.
Schneider completed 22 of 28 passes to 11 receivers, and he sealed the win by directing a 99-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter.
The Golden Knights (3-4, 2-2) sacked Akron quarterback Charlie Frye six times and forced him to fumble on a decisive goal-line stand late in the third quarter. That set up Schneider's clinching drive.
Bob Hendry had 105 yards rushing and 61 receiving to lead the Zips (1-7, 0-4). Frye was 29-of-41 for 278 yards.
Frye came close to rallying his team, leading the Zips down to the UCF 4. But on a bootleg to the left, Frye fumbled and cornerback Omar Lawrence recovered the ball.
Schneider then took over, completing five straight passes for 87 yards. At the Akron 35, the Knights went to a a five-wide-out formation, and Schneider hit Tavaris Capers in stride for the score with 13:17 to play.
Bowling Green 38, Ball State 20
BOWLING GREEN -- Joe Alls ran for 109 yards, and P.J. Pope added 81 and two touchdowns as No. 24 Bowling Green won its seventh straight.
The Falcons (7-0, 4-0) hardly missed a beat on offense, even with quarterback Josh Harris slowed by a sore right knee. They had 256 of their 451 yards on the ground.
Ball State (3-5, 1-3) tried to make a game of it in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 11 points on a 13-yard pass from Andy Roesch to Sean Schembra with 2:19 left in the period. But Harris responded five seconds into the fourth with a 25-yard TD pass to Charles Sharon.