MAC Sports Blog by VanDelay Sports

It’s halftime at the Motor City Bowl in Detroit, and the Central Michigan Chippewas trail the Purdue Boilermakers 34-13. The CMU defense has struggled to stop Purdue QB Curtis Painter and the Boilermakers’ offense allowing Painter to throw for 339 yards in the 1st half alone.

Central Michigan took an early 3-0 lead after an INT, but Purdue bounced back to score two TDs and take a 14-3 lead. Another CMU field goal cut the lead to 14-6, but Purdue answered with another Curtis Painter TD pass for a 21-6 lead before adding two FGs to make it 27-6. Central Michigan answered with a TD to cut it to 27-13 with around 4 minutes remaining in the half, but a time-consuming Purdue drive resulted in a rushing TD and a 34-13 lead at the half.  The College Sports Fans Motor City Bowl preview picked Purdue 45-28 over CMU and that offensive prediction looks to be rather conservative.

Purdue is playing in their 10th bowl game in 11 years; another bowl game victory would surely cause fans to flock to buy Purdue apparel & merchandise online & at their local stores.

The 2007 Motor City Bowl, like the Las Vegas Bowl, features a rematch between a BCS conference school and a non-BCS conference school. In both games, the BCS school won the first round with Purdue topping Central Michigan 45-22, but CMU has improved througout the season while Purdue has cooled off after their hot start. Check out the College Sports Fans complete Motor City Bowl preview.

As expected, 3 MAC football teams have accepted bowl bids at the conclusion of the MAC Football Championship today. MAC Champion Central Michigan (8-5) will be headed to the Motor City Bowl on December 26th against a likely Big Ten opponent, Ball State (7-5) will face Rutgers (7-5) in the International Bowl on January 6th and Bowling Green (8-4) will face Tulsa (9-4) also on January 6th.

Dan LeFevour is a beast. The CMU QB had 2 rushing TDs today as Central Michigan defeated Miami 35-10 in the MAC Championship Game. With 185 yards passing and 170 rushing, LeFevour accounted for over 350 yards and 3 TD on the day. The win means that CMU (8-5) will likely receive a bid to play in the Motor City Bowl and Miami (6-7) will likely not receive a bowl bid. Expect to see CMU in the Motor City Bowl, Bowling Green in the GMAC Bowl and Ball State in the International Bowl when the invites are announced later today and this coming week.

Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour, the MAC Offensive Player of the Year, has added yet another amazing stat to his 2007 season. LeFevour joined former Texas QB Vince Young as the only two players in NCAA history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Young completed the feat during the 2005 season when Young was the Heisman runner-up and led Texas to the BCS National Championship over USC.

The Central Michigan Chippewas appear to be on their way to winning their second consecutive MAC Championship Game as CMU, led by the legs of Dan LeFevour and Ontario Sneed, now lead Miami 21-3. CMU got a rushing TD from Sneed to cap a 13-play, 80-yard drive that took nearly 5 minutes off the clock.

Keep checking the VanDelay Sports blog for more game updates throughout the Marathon MAC Championship Game.

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Miami kicker Nathan Parseghian, last week’s MAC Special Teams Player of the Week, missed a 33-yard FG after a nice drive by the RedHawk offense as Central Michigan’s defense holds Miami again and continues to lead 14-3 with under 3 minutes remaining in the 3rd Quarter.

Keep checking the VanDelay Sports blog for more game updates throughout the Marathon MAC Championship Game.

The 2007 Marathon MAC Football Championship Game has seen it’s second TD of the game as the Central Michigan Chippewas get a rushing TD from QB Dan LeFevour and now leads Miami 14-3. CMU goes 58 yards on the drive as the CMU QB now has 153 yards passing and a TD along with 83 yards rushing and a TD.

Keep checking the VanDelay Sports blog for more game updates throughout the MAC Championship Game.

Thanks to Miami’s solid defense, the RedHawks got the ball inside the CMU 40 yard line resulting in a Nathan Parseghian 38-yard FG to cut CMU’s lead to 7-3 with 6:23 remaining in the 3rd Quarter. While Miami’s offense has struggled throughout the game, their defense’s ability to provide the offense with great field position in the first half is the reason that Miami is now on the board. 

Keep checking the VanDelay Sports blog for more game updates throughout the MAC Football Championship Game.

The second half of the MAC Championship has kicked off and Miami’s offense looks a lot like they did in the first half. A 3rd down pass was dropped resulting in a Miami punt to CMU, but the Miami defense picked up a big sack and stopped CMU on a 3 and out as CMU punted the ball back to Miami. The RedHawks now start with the ball at the CMU 45 yard line looking to put their first points on the board.

Keep checking the VanDelay Sports blog for more game updates throughout the MAC Football Championship Game.