Central Michigan tops Troy in double-OT to win GMAC Bowl

NCAA Football Betting Lines

01/07/2010 - Mobile, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrew Aguila made 5-of-6 field goals and kicked the game-winning 37-yarder in the second overtime, as the 25th-ranked Central Michigan Chippewas edged the Troy Trojans, 44-41, in the 11th annual GMAC Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

Senior quarterback Dan LeFevour completed 33-of-55 passes for 395 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Chippewas (12-2), who were appearing in their fourth straight bowl and sixth overall in school history. LeFevour also rushed for 12 yards and a score on nine carries for Central Michigan, which claimed its third MAC title in the last four seasons.

Antonio Brown caught 13 passes for 178 yards and also returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. Brown added a rushing TD while Bryan Anderson hauled in seven passes for 84 yards and a score for the Chippewas, who were playing in their first game under interim head coach Steve Stripling.

Levi Brown connected on 31-of-56 passes for 386 yards and a touchdown for the Trojans (9-4), who were appearing in their fourth bowl game in school history. DuJuan Harris rushed for 112 yards and two scores on 14 carries. Shawn Southward also rushed for a pair of touchdowns. Jerrel Jernigan caught nine passes for 154 yards while Harris caught a TD pass for Troy, which grabbed its fourth straight Sun Belt title this season.

The Trojans set up for a 31-yard field goal in the second OT, but the Chippewas blocked the kick. Central Michigan ran three plays, setting the ball up in the middle of the field. Aguila came on and booted the game-winning field goal right down the middle.

On the second play of the first overtime, LeFevour scrambled 13 yards into the end zone to give CMU a 41-34 edge. The Trojans responded with a one-yard Southward TD run.

After a Chippewas punt early in the fourth, the Trojans took over at their own 15 with a 24-19 lead in hand. Patrick Cherry, Andrew Davis, and Jernigan each kept the 13-play drive alive with key third-down catches. Harris ended the march with a one-yard touchdown run to give Troy a 31-19 margin with eight minutes to play.

Brown returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a TD to cut the gap to 31-26.

Central Michigan got the ball back at its own 15 following a punt from the Trojans. The Chippewas converted on two third downs on the 11-play drive, which Anderson topped off with a juggling four-yard TD catch. The successful two-point conversion gave CMU a 34-31 lead with 1:17 to go.

Troy started at its own 37 with no timeouts remaining, but a 23-yard pass on first down had them in CMU territory. Following an 11-yard catch by Tebiarus Gill, Brown threw three straight incomplete passes. Michael Taylor came on and drilled a 46-yard field goal with 31 ticks left on the clock to tie the contest.

Each team missed a field goal on their respective opening drives of the game. Taylor missed a 34-yarder for the Trojans, while Aguila was off the mark on a 46-yard try for CMU.

Troy used a seven-play, 71-yard drive on its next possession to get on the board. Jernigan's 48-yard catch-and-run highlighted the march, which Harris capped off with a nine-yard TD catch near the left pylon with less than four minutes remaining.

The Chippewas responded with a 28-yard Aguila field goal to make it a 7-3 game with 10 seconds left. Following a Trojans punt, CMU drove 80 yards in 10 plays and got a 35-yarder from Aguila to cut the deficit to 7-6 with 8:45 to go until half.

Taylor's 22-yarder and Aguila's 44-yard field goal had the Trojans ahead 10-9 at the break.

Central Michigan turned the ball over on the first drive of the second half, as Bryant McKissic picked off LeFevour at the CMU 41. On the fifth play, Southward rushed into the end zone from a yard out to make it 17-9 with 13:10 left.

The Chippewas responded with a 10-play, 52-yard drive that Aguila topped off with a 42-yard field goal to cut the gap to 17-12 with 9:47 remaining.

Jernigan fumbled the ball away on the ensuing Troy possession. On a 1st-and- goal from the seven-yard line, Brown came around for a handoff and went relatively untouched into the end zone to give CMU a 19-17 margin with 2:46 left.

The Trojans fought right back with a nine-play, 72-yard drive to take back the lead. Jason Bruce hauled in a 29-yard pass on a 3rd-and-10 to highlight the march, which Harris capped off with a six-yard TD run to make it 24-19 with 23 seconds to go in the third quarter.

Game Notes

This was the first-ever meeting between the two schools...Anderson has caught at least one pass in each of the 54 games he has played during his career, an NCAA record across all divisions...LeFevour set a CMU single-season record with 28 TD passes this year...CMU improved to 2-4 in the postseason, while Troy dropped to 1-3...Butch Jones was the head coach of Central Michigan this season before taking the Cincinnati job vacated by Brian Kelly's move to Notre Dame.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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