Mid-American conference Saturday’s games

October 25, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Kent State 20, Ohio 11

ATHENS — Spencer Keith threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns to lead Kent State. Keith was 23-for-38 and threw fourth-quarter touchdown passes of 3 and 15 yards to Tyshon Goode as the Golden Flashes (4-4, 3-1 Mid-American Conference) took a 20-3 lead. Kent State dominated defensively, holding Ohio (5-3, 3-1) to minus-9 yards rushing and 164 yards of total offense. The Golden Flashes had seven sacks, 15 tackles for loss, intercepted three passes and didn’t allow an offensive touchdown for the second straight game. LaVon Brazill scored Ohio’s lone touchdown on an 87-yard punt return with 2:18 left in the game.

Syracuse 28, Akron 14

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Delone Carter gained a career-high 170 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns as Syracuse snapped a two-game losing streak. Greg Paulus hit Marcus Sales for an 11-yard score. Syracuse (3-4), which had lost two straight Big East games, avenged a 42-28 loss to the Zips a year ago in the Carrier Dome in the first meeting between the teams. It was the fifth straight loss for Akron (1-6).

Northern Illinois 27, Miami 22

OXFORD — Chad Spann had two long touchdown runs to lead Northern Illinois. Spann, who had 156 yards on 21 carries, opened the scoring on a 42-yard run with 8:01 left in the first quarter. Spann also had the last TD for Northern Illinois (4-3, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) on a 40-yard run for a 27-16 lead with 58 seconds left to play. The Huskies, who had 202 rushing yards, limited the RedHawks on the ground to minus-11 yards.

Ball State 29, Eastern Michigan 27

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Cory Sykes rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns. Both teams were winless going into Saturday’s game. Eastern Michigan (0-7, 0-4) took an early lead when Ben Thayer caught a 3-yard scoring pass from Kyle McMahon. The Eagles held the lead until the last two minutes of the game. That’s when Sykes ran 37 yards for a score to put the Cardinals (1-7, 1-3) on top. He earlier scored on runs of 6 and 51 yards. MiQuale Lewis was the Cardinals’ leading rusher with 301 yards and a touchdown on a 48-yard run. The margin of victory came from a Ball State safety in the fourth. Corey Welch scored for the Eagles on a 12-yard run and DeAnthony White added a 10-yard rushing score.

Western Michigan 34, Buffalo 31

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — John Potter’s 28-yard field goal in overtime gave Western Michigan the victory. The Broncos (4-4, 3-2) were on defense first in the extra period, and when John Rachuna missed on a 43-yard attempt, they needed only to score to win. Five Brandon West rushes put the ball on the Bulls 10 and Potter’s kick ended the game. The Bulls (3-5, 1-3) had forced overtime on the final play of regulation on A.J. Principe’s 28-yard field goal.

West ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries, and Tim Hiller threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns for Western Michigan. West’s second TD put the Broncos ahead 31-28 with 1:58 left in the fourth quarter after Ike Nduka’s third touchdown, a 56-yard run, had given the Bulls a 28-24 lead with 5:16 to play. Nduka finished with 172 yards rushing for Buffalo.

Temple 40, Toledo 24

TOLEDO — Freshman Bernard Pierce rushed for a career-high 212 yards and three touchdowns and Temple defeated Toledo for the Owls’ fifth straight victory. Pierce had 40 carries, including scoring runs of 1, 39 and 2 yards for Temple (5-2, 4-0 Mid-American Conference), which has won six straight league games going back to last year. Vaughn Charlton was 11-for-20 for 122 yards and two touchdowns for the Owls, who led 23-7 with 9:58 left in the first half. Toledo (4-4, 2-2), pulled within 23-17 by halftime, then Temple scored 17 straight points, capped by Charlton’s 36-yard touchdown strike to Jason Harper with 11 minutes remaining. Alex Pettee was 29-for-47 for 265 yards with two interceptions for the Rockets. He threw a 27-yard TD pass with 3:02 left. The Owls, who lead the MAC in defense, held Toledo to 48 yards rushing on 23 carries.

Associated Press