Akron loses in four overtimes to Bulls

Buffalo moved atop the East Division standings in the MAC with two games left.

AKRON — In dramatic, yet frustrating fashion, the University of Akron said goodbye to the Rubber Bowl and goodbye to first place at the same time.

The Zips (5-5, 3-3) tied the score near the end of regulation, but lost it in a fourth overtime, falling to Buffalo, 43-40, Thursday night before a crowd of 18,516 at the Rubber Bowl.

With the victory, Buffalo moved atop of the East Division standings in the Mid-American Conference with two games left. The Bulls are now the only team in the East to control their own destiny since two wins would guarantee no one could catch them.

In the fourth overtime, the Zips had the ball first and lost it on a fumble. The Bulls then won it on a 40-yard field goal by A. J. Principe.

Miami 16, Virginia Tech 14

MIAMI — Javarris James ran for a touchdown, Matt Bosher kicked three field goals, and Miami got a huge defensive stand in the final minutes to move into first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division. Marcus Robinson had three sacks and a big third-down tackle for a loss with 2:27 left to help the Hurricanes win their fifth straight. Robinson’s stop on Dustin Pickle forced the Hokies, who were out of timeouts, into a fourth-and-3 — and Allen Bailey sacked Tyrod Taylor to seal the win for the Hurricanes, who knelt three times to run out the clock. Taylor ran for two touchdowns, including a 6-yarder with 3:28 remaining for the Hokies (6-4, 3-3), who had won four of the last five meetings against the Hurricanes, but now essentially need a miracle to stay in the ACC title picture.

Kent St. 41, Temple 38

KENT — Nate Reed kicked a 26-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to give Kent State the win Wednesday night. Quarterback Julian Edelman, who had 144 yards rushing and 232 yards passing, ran for two early touchdowns to give the Golden Flashes (3-7, 2-4 MAC) a 21-3 second quarter lead. Eugene Jarvis rushed for 185 yards and a touchdown for the Golden Flashes. Temple quarterback Adam DiMichele was 17 of 29 for 282 yards, with one interception. His favorite target, Jason Harper, caught 10 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns. Their 51-yard TD pass tied the score at 38 with 10 minutes left.

Central Michigan 33, Northern Illinois 30, OT

DEKALB, Ill. — Andrew Aguila kicked a 40-yard field goal in overtime for Central Michigan. The Huskies rallied from a 24-point deficit over the final 16 minutes to force the overtime.

XSome information for this story was provided by ohio.com.