With wins in conference action this past weekend, Ball State and Central Michigan set up a showdown next week for first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division.

Ball State, coming off a 41-40 heartbreaking loss to No. 24 Nebraska, destroyed
Buffalo 49-14.

Quarterback Nate Davis threw for 233 yards and three touchdowns for the Cardinals (3-2, 2-1 MAC).  Freshman running back Frank Edmonds ran 24 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 32 yards. Ball State coach Brady Hoke praised Edmonds’ effort.

“The one thing Frank’s done a good job of is getting himself ready every week.  I was pleased with his first start,” Hoke said.

The defense also showed up for the Cardinals, forcing two turnovers and stifling the Bulls’ offense all day.

Drew Willy had 136 yards passing for the Bulls (1-4, 1-1 MAC) in the losing effort.

Central Michigan also looked like it would make a strong run to defend its conference title with its 35-10 win over Northern Illinois.  The Chippewa defense allowed 521 yards but forced six turnovers.

Chippewas coach Butch Jones was happy with the amount of takeaways, but knows there’s improvement to be made.

“The big thing is we were able to take the ball away on defense and then capitalize on those turnovers,” Jones said. “We still have a lot of missed assignments to clear up on defense.”

Dan LeFevour led an efficient offensive attack for Central Michigan (2-3, 2-0 MAC), completing 18 of 27 passes for 174 yards and no interceptions.  Justin Hoskins led the team in rushing with 93 yards. He also scored two touchdowns.

Northern Illinois (1-4, 0-2 MAC) was led by Justin Anderson’s 157 rushing yards.

Miami arguably had the most impressive victory of the week. The RedHawks beat Syracuse 17-14 a week after the Orangemen upset Louisville.

The RedHawks (2-3, 1-0 MAC) jumped out to a 14-0 lead early and didn’t look back. Cory Jones led the way for Miami with 125 yards rushing on only 12 carries.  

Miami coach Shane Montgomery was impressed with his defense after the win.
“Defensively, I thought we played a heck of a football game, holding Syracuse to around 60 yards rushing,” Montgomery said. “They weren’t able to get the big plays against us like they were against Louisville.”

The win snapped a seven game home losing streak for the RedHawks.