MID-AMERICAN Conference \ Saturday’s games

Baylor 31, Kent State 15

WACO, Texas — Third-string quarterback Nick Florence rushed for two touchdowns in his first career start and Baylor won its first game without standout Robert Griffin. Blake Szymanski, who was expected to start at quarterback, did not play after missing significant practice time this week because of a bruised shoulder. He got hurt last week in relief of Griffin, who is expected to miss most of the season with an isolated tear to the ACL of his right knee. Florence was 20-of-27 passing for 216 yards and added 60 yards rushing. He gave Baylor (3-1) the lead for good with a 6-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Jacquise Terry had 109 yards rushing for Kent State (2-3), including a 61-yard scoring run in the third. Baylor’s Kendall Wright caught nine passes for 125 yards, and Jarred Salubi rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown in support of the freshman Florence. Griffin, who passed for 2,091 yards and 15 touchdowns as a freshman in 2008, spent the first half on the sidelines wearing a headset. During pregame warmups, Griffin gingerly walked around while encouraging some of his teammates and even lobbed a couple of soft tosses while playing catch in the end zone. The star quarterback wasn’t the only offensive starter in street clothes for Baylor. Starting running back Jay Finley missed his second straight game with an ankle injury. Even with most of its starting backfield missing, the Bears had 374 yards of offense. Florence capped an 89-yard drive with a 6-yard run that finished by diving into the end zone. This gave the Bears a 14-7 lead with 13:02 left in the first half. The score came three plays after he hit Wright on a screen pass, which the speedy receiver turned into a 44-yard gain. Salubi’s 45-yard touchdown run gave the Bears a 21-7 halftime lead. Then Florence showed off his athletic ability on the opening drive of the second half. Florence scampered for gains of 14 and 10 before his 29-yard scoring run gave the Bears a 21-point lead. Terry, who had his second straight 100-yard game, brought Kent State within 28-13 with his touchdown. The Golden Flashes drove deep into Bears territory three times after that but only scored a safety. Freddy Cortez missed a field goal and Kent State was stopped twice on fourth-down attempts inside the 10, including once on a fake field goal. Kent State has lost all three of its games this season to schools from BCS conferences. In those setbacks, the Golden Flashes have turned the ball over 10 times and committed 25 penalties, including 11 Saturday night.

Ohio 44, Bowling Green 37

BOWLING GREEN — Theo Scott passed for two touchdowns and ran for another to lead Ohio past Bowling Green in a shootout win in the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams. Scott was 11-for-19 with 203 yards and two touchdowns for the Bobcats (3-2, 1-0). He also scored on a 68-yard run. Chris Garrett rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. LaVon Brazill, who scored on a 27-yard pass from Scott, also scored on a 72-yard punt return. Tyler Sheehan was 28-for-52 for 390 yards and two touchdowns for the Falcons (1-4, 0-1). Sheehan also scored on a 5-yard run.

Toledo 37, Ball State 30

MUNCIE, Ind. — Aaron Opelt hit Stephen Williams for a 51-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left to lift Toledo. Ball State had taken a 30-29 lead just 15 seconds earlier when Kelly Page connected with Torieal Gibson on a 10-yard touchdown pass and MiQuale Lewis ran for a two-point conversion. Opelt went 30 of 38 for 422 yards for the Rockets (3-2, 1-0 Mid-American).

Central Michigan 20, Buffalo 13

AMHERST, N.Y. — Dan LeFevour threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns to lead Central Michigan. LeFevour completed 22-of-28 with one interception for Central Michigan (4-1, 2-0 Mid-American Conference). He threw an 11-yard touchdown to Bryan Anderson in the first quarter and a 27-yarder to Antonio Brown in the third.

Associated Press