If Ben Roethlisberger were playing in the Big Ten or SEC, the nation would have gone ga-ga over him a long time ago. But he plays in the Mid-American Conference, where Marshall is king and players like Roethlisberger only take occasional dips into the national spotlight.

But when Roethlisberger and his Miami (Ohio) RedHawks played in front of the big boys like Michigan and Iowa this season, the redshirt freshman quarterback left a favorable impression. In fact, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr informed reporters following the game that they should learn how to spell the quarterback's surname correctly.

Yes, he's good. Real good.

	Miami's Ben Roethlisberger has thrown for 964 yards and 9 TDs.

"His upside is tremendous," said Ball State coach Bill Lynch. "They have a nice offensive scheme and he fits that very well because he's a good passer. In that spread attack, there's always going to be some seams in there because they spread you defensively and he has a great knack of finding that seam and running with the ball. You have to account for him. ... He's young, but he has a great future."

Roethlisberger earned MAC East Division offensive player of the week honors this week after completing 76.6 of his passes (23-of-30) for 212 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-14 victory Saturday over Buffalo. For the season, Roethlisberger has completed 85 of 132 passes for 964 yards, nine touchdowns and has accounted for 11 of Miami's 16 touchdowns. Against Iowa and Cincinnati, he ran for a combined 109 yards, including a breathtaking 80-yard TD run for the RedHawks first score against Iowa.

"With the talent I have around me, the offensive line, the receivers and running backs I have behind me, it makes my job a lot easier," Roethlisberger said. "They are such phenomenal athletes and such phenomenal players. Last year, I got to sit behind a great quarterback in Mike Bath and I learned a lot from him. I got to see how things worked."

At 6-foot-5 and 210-pounds, Roethlisberger not only has a strong, energetic arm but an innate knack to make tacklers in the open field miss. But he isn't some sleeper that Miami found hidden in small town Ohio. The RedHawks beat out Ohio State and Duke among others and have perhaps found a player capable of building a foundation. The RedHawks have won their last three games and a win over Akron this Saturday would give the RedHawks a 3-0 record in the MAC.

"Great poise," said Lynch, whose team lost to Miami two weeks ago. "He's a good thrower and a good runner, but his poise on the field for a young quarterback is very impressive. They're in a lot of shotgun and no huddle where the quarterback has to make good decisions. He made a bad decision the first series and I didn't see another bad one for the whole game and that's a real credit to a young kid."

Roethlisberger was a second-team all-state wide receiver as a junior at Findlay High in Ohio, but Miami knew he was going to be shifted to quarterback as a senior. In his first game at quarterback, Roethlisberger threw six touchdowns passes on his way to 54 for the season.

"We were with him from the beginning," said Miami coach Terry Hoeppner. "Then some of the big dogs got on him. Usually when Ohio State offers somebody, it's a done deal."

But Miami had to hold off Duke as well, primarily because Roethlisberger's strong ACC ties (his father, Ken, once played quarterback for Georgia Tech), yet when it came time for the youngster to make a decision Miami won with pure perseverance.

"Miami was on me from the get-go," Roethlisberger said. "That was one positive about them. I like the coaching staff and the offensive philosophy that they had also, I like the opportunity I had to play for four years."

That isn't good news for Miami opponents.

"It was really big for us because I think he's going to be a fine player," Hoeppner said. "He's got a lot of upside. He's very poised a very mature for a redshirt freshman and he's physically talented. It was a good coup for us and I think it will pay off down the road."

Around the MAC

Akron
After weeks of uneven play on offense, the Zips outgained Western Michigan 493-355 and owned the advantage in time of possession (33:55) but still lost to the Broncos, 31-14. ... Junior running back Brandon Payne finished with 79 yards on 17 carries, but left the game with a knee bruise. ... Junior linebacker Ryan Myers had a team-high 12 tackles. Myers came into the Western game first in the league in solo tackles with 33 and now has 39 in five games. ... Akron led in total offense 189-146 at the half, and the Zips had 146 yards on the ground. ... Dan Basch rushed for a career-high 125 yards on 10 carries and had his first 100-yard game. ... Jud Cummins, sophomore offensive guard, made his first college start in place of injured starter Paul Ondrusek. ... With a 67-yard kickoff return to open the second half, sophomore RB Bob Hendry improved his kick return avg. to 31.9 yards on seven tries, and is among NCAA leaders in that category. ... The Zips have won 11 of their last 13 games against MAC East opponents, but have dropped four straight to MAC West teams. Akron takes on Miami this week.

Ball State
The winless Cardinals, coming off a bye week, face Eastern Michigan this week on the road. ... WR David Westbrook, who broke his leg against Northern Iowa, is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Westbrook had nine catches for 121 yards and one TD before suffering the injury. ... The Cardinals have had a 100-yard rusher in each of the last three games. ... QB Talmadge Hill, last year's MAC freshman of the year, has thrown for 581 yards through four games for an average of 145.2 passing yards per game. He has thrown six touchdown passes and only three interceptions. ... Reggie Hodges, who leads the MAC in punting, has punted 21 times for a 43.8 average with a career-long punt of 61 yards vs. Auburn. ... Justin Beriault and Lorenzo Scott are tied for team-high honors in tackles with 43 each.

Bowling Green
After defeating Kent State, 24-7, the Falcons (4-1) have already won two more games than they did all last season (2-9). ... Quarterback Andy Sahm was 21-of-34 passing for 173 yards and one TD, while backup Josh Harris was 6-of-8 passing for 41 yards, and ran 13 times for 73 yards. ... Bowling Green ran a school-record 100 plays to the Flashes' 45. ... The Falcons established season-high's for rushes (58) rushing yards (200), completions (27) and pass attempts (42) against Kent State. In addition, Bowling Green had a season-best 414 yards of total offense and a season-low 40 penalty yards. ... This Saturday's game against defending West Division champion Western Michigan will be the middle game of a three-game road stretch in which the Falcons will be on the road against a 2000 MAC Divisional Champion. Bowling Green lost 37-31 at Marshall (2000 co-East Division) and will travel to Akron (2000 co-East Division) on October 20. ... Bowling Green is three games over .500 for the first time this late in the season since 1994. ... Bowling Green is third in the nation in non-offensive touchdowns (four) behind Oklahoma (six) and Colorado (five). ... The Falcons have scored 21 touchdowns, equaling the number of TDs they scored last season.

Buffalo
It was a bittersweet homecoming Craig Rohlfs and Matt Knueven when the Bulls lost to Miami, 31-14. Rohlfs, a senior free safety who played at Cincinnati Moeller High, finished with 10 tackles, while Knueven, a freshman wide receiver who played at Cincinnati LaSalle High, finished with a career high five receptions for 77 yards. ... Former Buffalo standout Drew Haddad, now of the Indianapolis Colts, was on the sidelines for Saturday's game. ... QB Joe Freedy moved into fifth place in career touchdown passes with 26. ... Senior linebacker Bobby Johnson has 27 tackles over the last two games. ... The Bulls play host to Marshall on Saturday.

Central Michigan
The Chippewas, who are coming off a bye week, needed some time off to recover from several injuries. Junior linebacker Darvin Lewis is out for the season after suffering a knee injury in the Toledo loss. He was the second-leading tackler in 2000 with 113 stops and was tops in tackles-for-loss with 13 for 38 yards. The Chippewas have moved sophomore Ed Hillery into Lewis' spot. ... Tailbacks Robbie Mixon and Kenan Lawhorne should return for the Ohio game this Saturday from foot and shoulder injuries sustained in the Buffalo game two weeks ago, but FB Troy Peyerk is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury. ... Junior WR Rob Turner has matched his career receptions total in the first four games this season with 19. Turner leads CMU with 19 catches for 172. He entered the season with 19 for 189. ... Freshman TE Tory Humphrey is tied for ninth in receptions among tight ends in I-A with 3.0 per game. ... To prepare for Ohio's complex option attack, coach Mike DeBord has DB Mike Thomas, who was an option QB in high school, running the option attack in practice.

Eastern Michigan
After being shutout by Connecticut, 19-0, the Eagles have now lost their last four, and were held scoreless for the first time since a 28-0 loss to Western Michigan on Nov. 18, 2000. ... The Eagles offensive woes continue as the Huskies held Eastern to 191 yards total offense. Eastern Michigan managed just 55 yards of total offense by halftime; 28 rushing and 27 passing. ... QB Kainoa Akina was intercepted twice and Eastern Michigan fumbled four times and lost two, both by Chris Roberson. Eastern converted just 3-for-16 third-down opportunities, went 0-for-3 on fourth down, and didn't run a play inside UConn territory until 7:05 remaining in the third quarter. Part of the problem is inexperience across the board, especially on the offensive line. Also, projected preseason starting QB Jeff Crooks is probably out for the season with a shoulder injury, coach Jeff Woodruff said Monday. ... On the bright side of Saturday's loss, linebacker Scott Russell had 12 tackles.

Kent State
Turnovers proved to be costly in the Golden Flashes, 24-7, loss to Bowling Green on Saturday. Kent State's defense was on the field for nearly 44 minutes, the result of five turnovers. The biggest offender was tailback David Alston. Alston carried the ball six times in the first half and on four of the those, he fumbled, including the last three times he touched the ball, all three recovered by the Falcons. ... Freshman QB Joshua Cribbs, the focus of Kent's offense, was held to minus-9 yards rushing and 143 passing, and 85 of those yards came on one drive. ... The Flashes gained just 54 rushing yards.

Marshall
Marshall has won three straight after an opening 42-14 loss at No. 1 ranked Florida. After last Saturday's 37-15 romp over Northern Illinois, the Herd has a 2-0 mark in the MAC, including a 1-0 record in the East Division heading into Saturday's game at divisional rival Buffalo. ... Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak on the Thundering Herd: "They're good, very good. They're not as good as Toledo." ... Marshall's maligned defense, allowed 100 points in its first three games, responded against Northern by holding the Huskies, the defending MAC scoring champion, to just 269 yards, 76 below their average. Tailback Thomas Hammock, who had gained at least 100 yards in eight of his last nine games, ran for just 67. Marshall forced four turnovers and committed just one. ... LB Sam Goines made a team-high 11 tackles in his first career start. LB Max Yates had nine tackles, including four for losses and two of the Herd's three sacks. ... Marshall rushed for 174 yards, including 109 by TB Butchie Wallace, and passed for 184 yards as Byron Leftwich completed 16 of 29 passes. Leftwich completed his first seven passes, then missed on nine straight. ... The Herd totaled 80 yards on returns of three Chris Finlen interceptions, including a 25-yard TD runback by Michael Owens. ... Marshall won despite committing 17 penalties, which tied the Huskie Stadium record set by Fresno State in 1971. Marshall also played without six starters, five of them on defense. They have been suspended for receiving improper benefits.

Miami
The RedHawks' 31-14 win over Buffalo was the school's 600th victory. Miami became the 22nd I-A program to record 600 wins. ... When Miami won its 300th game, Ara Parseghian was the coach. ... The RedHawks rolled up 262 yards on kickoff, punt and interception returns to push their record to 3-2 and 2-0 in league play. ... Punt returner Eddie Tillitz proved to be lethal, setting up Miami's first touchdown with a 32-yard runback to the Buffalo 35 and scoring the third on an 80-yarder. ... Roethlisberger finished with 23 completions in 30 attempts for 212 yards while hitting nine different receivers. For the third consecutive game, the RedHawks had a different rushing leader, this time Steve Little who finished with 77 yards. He gained 200 against the Bulls last season. ... Junior LB Matt Robillard had five solo tackles, seven assists, four tackles for loss -- including two sacks -- and also batted down two passes.

Northern Illinois
Marshall was the game that Northern Illinois was supposed to make a statement and take a huge step towards the upper echelon of the MAC. That notion was quickly dismissed in the Huskies 37-15 loss. One of the reason why was because of the struggles of senior QB Chris Finlen. He threw three interceptions, one which was returned for a TD and had a first-quarter fumble which was also returned to the house. Finlen, who was playing with a cut on his hand, was sacked four times and completed just 9-of-20 passes for 94 yards. ... Entering the game, Finlen needed 220 passing yards to become the first Northern Illinois quarterback to throw for 1,000 yards in four seasons. ... Sophomore LB Nick Duffy had 22 tackles, 18 solo. ... The Huskies take on Kent State, who they haven't played since the early 80s, this Saturday.

Ohio
The Bobcats certainly gave nationally ranked Toledo some problems, and had thoughts of an upset with 10 minutes to play and a 41-34 lead. But the Rockets prevailed and won 48-41. ... Ohio's triple-option offense pierced Toledo's run defense, which had been allowing 54.5 yards per game (ranked fifth nationally), for 194 yards and four touchdowns. The Bobcats entered the game as the top running team in the country, averaging 282.33 yards per game. ... Chad Brinker led Ohio with 73 yards rushing, while Jamel Patterson rushed for 51 yards and two touchdowns. ... Kicker Kevin Kerr tied a career long field goal in the first half with a 55-yarder. His longest was against Miami in 1999, which is the third-longest field goal in Ohio history.

Toledo
With All-American candidate Chester Taylor on the sidelines with a sprained right ankle, the Rockets turned to QB Tavares Bolden to engineer their comeback win over Ohio. Bolden, who finished with a career-high 31 completions on 39 attempts for a personal best 387 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Rockets to a thrilling 48-41 win. He also has a 19-4 record since taking over as Toledo's starting quarterback. "We should have charged double for the price of the ticket," said Toledo coach Tom Amstutz. "Everyone got their money's worth." ... The Rockets beat Ohio for the eighth consecutive time while winning their 12th straight game. The 89 combined points tied for the most in school history. The Rockets beat Kent State 47-42 on Oct. 28, 1989. ... Taylor's backup, Antwon McCray had a career-high 23 carries for 72 yards, to go along with a career-high three touchdowns as the Rockets piled up 536 yards of total offense. He added five receptions for 59 yards. Carl Ford caught eight passes for 117 yards and a touchdown. ... Apparently the win wasn't enough to keep the Rockets in the Associated Press top 25, but they remained in the ESPN/USA Today poll at No. 23.

Western Michigan
QB Jeff Welsh enjoyed a big night in the Broncos win over Akron, passing for 353 yards and completing 26 of 42 passes. He spread the ball around to nine receivers with Josh Bush the No. 1 target, catching eight passes for 125 yards. ... TB Charles Woods had his finest day as a collegian, rushing for a career-high 138 yards and a pair of TD runs. He also caught three passes for 45 more yards. ... Western Michigan finished with 493 total offensive yards in posting 31 points for the second consecutive week. ... Defensively, starting LBs Bryan Lape (13 tackles) and Jason Malloy (nine tackles) led the way in tackles while punter Adam Anderson averaged 42 yards over five kicks, including a long of 60 yards. ... Western Michigan will host Bowling Green, one of the league's top rated defenses, in a Homecoming game Saturday.

Rodney McKissic covers the MAC for the Buffalo News.