Thursday Night MAC Football Results

Thursday Night MAC Football Results 

Miami 14, Ball State 13

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) -Brandon Murphy scored on a 6-yard touchdown run with 17 seconds left in the game as Miami of Ohio defeated Ball State 14-13 Thursday night.

Murphy rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns for the RedHawks in the opening game for both Mid-American Conference teams.

Murphy's final touchdown was set up by Eugene Harris' 56-yard punt return that gave Miami the ball on the Ball State 23 yard line with 1:54 left. The RedHawks scored on a five-play drive - four rushes by Murphy and an incomplete pass.

Ball State had taken the lead when Nate Davis threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Dante Love with 11:22 left in the fourth quarter. Davis completed 19-of-36 passes for 198 yards.

Jake Hogue kicked field goals of 20 yards and 22 yards for the Cardinals after drives stalled deep in Miami territory.

Miami took its first lead midway through the second quarter when Murphy ran for a 21-yard touchdown.

The Cardinals had a scoring chance later in the second quarter when they reached the Miami 14, but a Davis pass fell incomplete on a fourth-down attempt with 37 left before halftime. 

Kent State 23, Iowa State 14

AMES, Iowa (AP)-- Julian Edelman threw for 161 yards and a touchdown to lead Kent State to a 23-14 victory over Iowa State Thursday night in the debut of new Cyclones coach Gene Chizik.

Eugene Jarvis added 113 yards rushing for Kent State (1-0), which won despite committing three red-zone turnovers. Iowa State (0-1) couldn't take advantage, and Kent State seized control with two scores late in the third quarter.

Jarvis capped an 12-play, 56-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Golden Flashes a 16-14 lead. Iowa State quarterback Bret Meyer then made a critical error on the next series, forcing a throw into coverage. Brian Lainhart took an interception back to the Iowa State 8, and Edelman's 3-yard plunge put Kent State ahead by nine.

Edelman also rushed for 75 yards on 18 carries.

Kent State gave the Cyclones a sliver of hope late in the fourth, as Rico Murray drilled Zac Sandvig after he had called for a fair catch. The penalty put Iowa State at the Kent State 29, but Bret Culberson's 47-yard field goal try bounced off the uprights.

The news wasn't all bad for Iowa State. Junior college transfer J.J. Bass rushed for 133 yards on 22 carries, solidifying his hold on the starting tailback job.

Kent State turned the ball over on its first three trips inside the Iowa State 20. Bryce Braaksma recovered a fumble at the 6, and Chris Singleton picked off Edelman at the 16. Iowa State's James Smith picked off a tipped ball in the end zone on Kent State's first possession of the second half.

The Cyclones took their first lead, 7-6, on a 13-yard TD run by Bass, and jumped ahead 14-9 on Todd Blythe's 16-yard TD catch.

Kent State opened the scoring with a 42-yard TD pass from Edelman to a wide-open Leneric Muldrow.

Meyer was 14-of-23 for 148 yards with one TD and two interceptions for Iowa State, which lost its first opener since 2002.

Rutgers 38, Buffalo 3

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP)-- There's more to No. 16 Rutgers than Ray Rice running. There's also Tiquan Underwood catching and Mike Teel throwing.

Rice rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns, Underwood had 10 catches for a school-record 248 receiving yards and two TDs and Teel passed for a career-best 328 yards as the Scarlet Knights opened their most anticipated season with a 38-3 win over Buffalo on Thursday night.

Coming off an 11-2 season and its first bowl victory, Rutgers gave the crowd of 43,091 -- the third largest at home in school history -- plenty to cheer about, scoring touchdowns on its first three series and rolling up 563 yards in total offense against a Buffalo team that won two games last season and is picked to finish around the bottom of the Mid-American Conference again this year.

Rice, who rushed for 1,794 yards last season, scored 20 touchdowns and finished seventh in the Heisman voting, scored on runs 34, 12 and 41 yards.

Teel, who completed 16-of-23 passes, and Underwood combined on scoring pass plays of 65 and 66 yards. Teel's final pass was a 20-yard fourth-quarter pass that pushed Underwood past the old school mark of 237 yards set by Jack Emmer against Holy Cross in 1966.

That's when Rutgers wasn't a very good football program. All that has changed under coach Greg Schiano. The Scarlet Knights are now as big as Bruce Springsteen in New Jersey and they didn't need long to show why against Buffalo.

Kordell Young returned the opening kickoff 56 yards and the Scarlet Knights needed only three plays to go 43 yards. Rice went the final 34 off the left side of his line for a 7-0 lead just 1:21 after the kickoff.

Teel and Underwood hooked up three times for 37 yards on the next series that Rice capped with a 12-yard run, breaking a tackle by Kendric Hawkins at the 5-yard line.

The next score was spectacular. Teel hit Underwood on a little slant pattern from left to right at the Buffalo 45. Underwood continued to sprint across the field, stopped at the Bulls 30 and cut back toward the left corner of the end zone. At the 10, he stopped again, dodged Hawkins and then got carried into the end zone by a Buffalo tackler for a 65-yard TD.

A Rice fumble inside the Buffalo 30 stopped the next drive, but Teel, who previous best was 278 passing yards against West Virginia last season, and Underwood hooked up again midway through the second quarter. On a second-and-9, Underwood reached up with right hand to slow down a Teel pass, pulled it in with his left and went the final 45 yards for a 66-yard score and a 28-0 lead.

A.J. Principe finally got Buffalo on the scoreboard with a 35-yard field goal with 3:19 left in the third quarter.

Rice got his final touchdown with 1:31 left in the third quarter on 41-yard run off the left side again. He now has 10 multiple touchdown games and 16 games of at least 100-yard rushing his 26 career contests.

Jeremy Ito, who missed from 40 and 56 yards earlier in the game, closed out the scoring with a 38-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.