N. Illinois Is Bowled Over, 34-18

Josh Harris threw for 438 yards and three touchdowns as No. 23 Bowling Green handed 12th-ranked Northern Illinois its first loss of the season, 34-18, on Saturday at Bowling Green, Ohio.

Harris was nearly unstoppable, breaking his career high for passing yards in what might have been the biggest Mid-American Conference game ever. Only once before -- in 1973 -- had two MAC teams ranked in the top 25 met in the regular season.

Harris completed 27 of 43 passes with two interceptions. He also was the leading rusher with 89 yards. Bowling Green improved to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference.

Michael Turner, who came into the game for Northern Illinois (7-1, 3-1) as the nation’s second-leading rusher averaging 132 yards a game, had only 87 yards in 18 carries.

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In other games involving teams from the Midwest: Ben Roethlisberger threw for 409 yards and three touchdown passes, all of them to Martin Nance, and Miami of Ohio (7-1, 4-0) rallied for a 38-30 victory over Kent State (3-6, 2-3) in a MAC game at Kent, Ohio.... Darious Watts caught nine passes for 170 yards and a touchdown to lead Marshall (5-3, 3-1) to a dominant 41-21 victory over Western Michigan (3-5, 2-3) in a MAC game at Kalamazoo, Mich.... Talmadge Hill threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns to lead Ball State (4-4, 3-1) to a 38-14 victory over Toledo (5-3, 3-1) in a MAC game at Muncie, Ind.... Richard Hall ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns to lead Cincinnati (4-3, 2-2) to a 33-29 victory over Army (0-8, 0-6) in a Conference USA game at Cincinnati. It was Army’s 10th consecutive loss.

EAST

Dallas Pelz kicked four field goals and P.J. Piskorik ran for a fourth-quarter touchdown as Buffalo (1-8, 1-4) broke the nation’s longest losing streak with a 26-17 comeback win over Ohio (2-6, 1-3) in a MAC game at Amherst, N.Y. Buffalo had lost 18 in a row.... Germaine Bennett ran for 81 yards and scored the tiebreaking touchdown in the third quarter to lead Division I-AA Delaware (8-0) to a 21-17 nonconference victory over Navy (5-3) at Annapolis, Md.... Garrett Schires threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Byrnes in overtime as Harvard (6-0, 3-0) rallied to a 43-40 victory over Princeton (1-5, 1-2) in an Ivy League game at Boston.... Peter Veldman’s 23-yard field goal in overtime gave Pennsylvania (6-0, 3-0) a 34-31 victory over Yale (4-2, 2-1) in an Ivy League game at Philadelphia.

SOUTH

DeAngelo Williams accounted for 236 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead Memphis (5-3, 2-2) to a 41-9 victory over Tulane (3-5, 1-4) in a Conference USA game at New Orleans.... Eric Shelton rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown to lead Louisville (7-1, 3-1) to a 36-20 victory over East Carolina (1-7, 1-3) in a Conference USA game at Greenville, N.C.... Marvin Young had 104 yards receiving and two touchdowns to lead Southern Mississippi (4-3, 4-0) to a 27-6 victory over South Florida (4-3, 3-2) in a Conference USA game at Hattiesburg, Miss.... Ryan Schneider threw for 254 yards to lead Central Florida (3-5, 2-3) to a 31-13 victory over Central Michigan (2-6, 0-5) in a MAC game at Orlando, Fla.

SOUTHWEST

James Kilian threw five touchdown passes to lead Tulsa (4-4, 2-2) to a 35-16 victory over Southern Methodist (0-8, 0-5) in a Western Athletic Conference game at Tulsa, Okla.

WEST

DonTrell Moore ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns and D.D. Cox had 106 yards and a score to lead New Mexico (5-3, 2-1) to a 47-35 victory over No. 24 Utah (6-2, 3-1) in a Mountain West Conference game at Salt Lake City.... Ryan Moats rushed for 199 yards and three touchdowns to lead Louisiana Tech (4-4, 2-3) to a 42-34 victory over Nevada (5-3, 3-1) in a WAC game at Reno, Nev.... Matt Berry threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Toby Christensen in overtime to lead visiting Brigham Young (4-5, 3-3) to a 27-20 victory over Nevada Las Vegas (4-4, 0-3) in a Mountain West game.... Brett Visintainer kicked a 39-yard field as time expired to lead Fresno State (4-4, 2-1) to a 31-28 victory over visiting Rice (1-6, 1-2) in a WAC game.... Adam Hall’s 14-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter was the difference as San Diego State (4-5, 1-3) held on for a 25-20 victory over visiting Wyoming (3-5, 1-2) in a Mountain West game.

SOUTHLAND

Ben Buys scored four rushing touchdowns in the first half to lead Azusa Pacific (6-1) to a 42-0 victory over visiting La Verne (0-6).... Michael Carter rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns to lead Chapman (3-5) to a 45-28 victory over visiting Whittier (0-6).... Evan Harney rushed for 229 yards and to lead San Diego (6-2) to a 47-0 victory over visiting Marist (3-5).