MSU & CMU pull off big wins; U-M, EMU, & WMU fall hard

Andrew Maxwell threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Bennie Fowler in overtime to give the Michigan State Spartans a 16-13 victory over Wisconsin to snap the Badgers' 21-game home winning streak. The Spartans (5-4, 2-3 Big Ten) have now won four of the last six against Wisconsin, though this was their first win at Camp Randall since 2001. It was the first loss at home for the Badgers (6-3, 3-2 Big Ten) since Oct. 17, 2009 and only their fourth since Bret Bielema became coach in 2006.




Junior Zurlon Tipton rushed his way into the Central Michigan football record books with a career-high 243 yards and three touchdowns as the Chippewas defeated the Akron Zips, 35-14, at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. The Chippewas (3-5, 1-3 MAC) outrushed the Zips (1-8, 0-5 MAC), 264-140, including Tipton’s 243 yards, which is tied for the eighth-most in a single game in program history with Donnie Riley in 1988, also against Akron. The Chippewas have now defeated the Zips in their last six meetings dating back to 2005.




For the second consecutive game, the Michigan Wolverines failed to find the end zone as they fell to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 23-9, at Memorial Stadium. It's U-M's first Big Ten loss of the season. Michigan was unable to eclipse 200 total offensive yards in the contest for the first time in 2012 while the Cornhuskers tallied 326 yards. Senior quarterback Denard Robinson compiled 46 yards rushing and 55 yards passing before leaving due to injury late in the opening half. Sophomore/freshman quarterback Russell Bellomy added 38 yards through the air in relief, while senior/junior running back Fitzgerald Toussaint rushed for only 38 yards.




Eastern Michigan could not get the offense moving at Bowling Green as the Eagles lost to the Falcons, 24-3. The loss drops the Eagles to 1-7 (0-4 MAC) on the season while the Falcons became bowl eligible after moving to 6-3 (4-1 MAC). The Eagles offense that had been explosive over that past two weeks, putting up 1,201 yards against Toledo and Army, but was held at bay by a stingy BG defense that came into this week with the best scoring, rushing, passing and total defense in the MAC and only allowed the Eagles to gain 178 total yards of offense on the afternoon.




Western Michigan took the lead into halftime after a sharp first half, but was unable to contain Northern Illinois' potent ground game as the Broncos fell 48-34 to the Huskies at Waldo Stadium. With the loss, the Broncos fell to 3-6 (1-4 MAC) while the Huskies improve to 8-1 overall (5-0 MAC). WMU's quarterback Tyler Van Tubbergen threw for three touchdowns & rushed for another and went 32-of-51 passing for a career-high 333 yards. Wide receiver Eric Monette recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game with eight grabs for 142 yards and a career-high two touchdowns, while running back Dareyon Chance recorded 97 yards rushing and a touchdown. Justin Collins contributed a touchdown to the cause, catching two balls for 28 yards and a score.