“We try to take it one game at a time,” Solich said Monday during the weekly Mid-American Conference coaches call. “It’s kind of boring to hear, and it’s almost getting boring for me to say, but that’s what my belief in this business is all about. You need to have some stability about yourself and your approach.
“Whenever we’re talking to our players, we’re always talking about the belief that we will win. I think establishing that in your culture is so critical.”
OU’s victory was headline news across the country. The Nittany Lions began the post-Joe Paterno era by failing to hold a 14-3 halftime lead and losing in front of 97,186 fans at Beaver Stadium.
Quarterback Tyler Tettleton was 31 of 41 for 324 yards and two touchdowns for the Bobcats. Area receivers Bakari Bussey from Lakota West High School (three catches, 11 yards) and Chase Cochran from Lebanon High School (two catches, 8 yards) contributed to the aerial attack.
The MAC has recorded a win over the Big Ten in six straight seasons, the longest such streak in MAC history.
Ohio will entertain New Mexico State on Saturday night.
Spotlight on CMU: Central Michigan kicked off the campaign with a 38-27 victory over visiting Southeast Missouri State, overcoming a minus-3 turnover margin.
It was a significant win for the Chippewas, coming off a 3-9 season. But this week will be much, much bigger.
Michigan State is coming to Kelly/Shorts Stadium in Mount Pleasant on Saturday afternoon, and the game is already sold out.
“Somebody from campus told me yesterday this will be the biggest event on campus maybe ever,” Central coach Dan Enos said. “I think it’s going to be a wonderful environment.”
The Spartans topped Boise State 17-13 in their opener and have one of the nation’s best defenses. Linebacker Denicos Allen from Hamilton High School recovered a fumble against Boise.
Enos, a 1991 Michigan State graduate and a former MSU assistant coach, said the Spartans have “NFL players all over the field.”
Battling Bulls: Buffalo put up a surprisingly good fight at Georgia. The Bulls trailed 24-16 at halftime en route to a 45-23 defeat.
“It was a one-possession game,” Buffalo coach Jeff Quinn said. “They might have had us outnumbered by 92,000, but we had ‘em right where we wanted ‘em going in at halftime.
“The second half was a little different. They showed why they’re a great football team. But I really liked the way our kids fought to the end.”
Branden Oliver ran 30 times for 111 yards for the Bulls. Quinn said only one running back cracked the 100-yard mark against Georgia last season.
Late fade in Swamp: Bowling Green coach Dave Clawson felt his team was in a great position to snatch a 'W' at Florida before the Gators won 27-14.
“Going into the fourth quarter, I think we were right where we had hoped to be,” Clawson said. “We were down three points, and we had the ball on their 23-yard line. From that point on, we had two turnovers and gave up a big play and let it get away.
“We didn’t play well on special teams. We had two missed field goals. We shanked two punts, which led directly to 10 points, and we mishandled two kicks in the return game which put us in bad field position.”
Huskies Soldier on: Northern Illinois had its nine-game winning streak, the longest current streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision, snapped with an 18-17 loss to Iowa at Soldier Field in Chicago.
It’s the second straight year the Huskies have played a home game at Soldier Field. NIU coach Dave Doeren said he’d like to make it an annual event.
“It was tremendous,” Doeren said. “There (were 52,117) people there, the weather held off for us, and it was a really festive atmosphere. I think the night before they said the Cubs game was packed full of NIU and Iowa fans as well.”
Honor roll: The MAC announced its players of the week Monday.
In the East Division, awards went to OU’s Tettleton (offense), Buffalo end Colby Way (defense) and Kent State kick returner Dri Archer (special teams).
West Division honorees were Ball State running back Jahwan Edwards, NIU end Sean Progar (defense) and Toledo punter Vince Penza (special teams).
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