QBs take center stage in MAC title game

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) -- How do you stop two quarterbacks who have been unstoppable all season?

No. 14 Miami of Ohio and No. 20 Bowling Green will try to find a way when they meet in a Mid-American Conference championship game on Thursday.

Both have two of the nation's most explosive quarterbacks.

Miami's Ben Roethlisberger is a classic thrower who has passed for 3,670 yards and 29 touchdowns this season. He's just the fifth quarterback in MAC history to surpass 10,000 career passing yards, and he's only a junior.

Bowling Green's Josh Harris is always a threat to run or throw and even catch a pass. But this year he's become a much better passer, throwing for 3,167 yards and 22 touchdowns.

"He's an exceptional runner and a very good thrower," Roethlisberger said. "You can tell that offense is built around him."

Miami (11-1, 8-0 MAC) is one of the few teams to have success this season against Harris, the son of M.L. Harris, who played 10 years in the NFL.

The RedHawks came at Harris with lots of pressure and forced him into three fumbles in a 33-10 victory at Miami four weeks ago. It was easily the worst outing of the year for Harris and the Falcons (10-2, 7-1).

"Josh will be the first to tell you that he wasn't real sharp," said Bowling Green coach Gregg Brandon. "He missed some open guys that we exploited all season."

He said that this time the offensive line will need to do a better job of protecting their quarterback.

"We did have guys open, but they did a good job mixing things up on us," Brandon said.

RedHawks coach Terry Hoeppner gave credit to his defense.

"They were all forced errors," he said. "They weren't self-inflicted wounds. That's always part of your goal to put a little doubt in the quarterback's mind."

Roethlisberger wasn't particularly sharp in the first meeting either, fumbling once and throwing an interception at the 1-yard line.

The rematch may have more meaning for Bowling Green because Miami already has accepted an invitation to play Louisville in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

The Falcons, though, need a victory to assure that they'll get a spot in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit.

If they lose, the Motor City Bowl could select either Bowling Green or Northern Illinois, a team the Falcons beat handily this season.

Both Miami and Bowling Green score in bunches -- Miami averages 42 points per game and Bowling Green has scored 34 per game.

"We're going to have to make sure that we score a lot of points and score them early," Roethlisberger said.

Hoeppner said Roethlisberger has become much better this year at understanding the offense and is more confident in changing plays at the line of scrimmage.

"He checks off a lot," Hoeppner said. "There's a lot of times we're standing on the sidelines trying to figure out what play he's checking. We're as interested as the fans in the stands to find out what's going to happen next."

Roethlisberger spreads the ball around -- 17 RedHawks receivers have caught at least one pass this season.

"Ben makes it very easy to get open," said freshman receiver Ryne Robinson. "You don't have to create much space at all with the way he throws."

In the process, Miami put up some gaudy numbers. They've scored the most points in MAC history -- 504 -- and posted their first undefeated conference season since 1977.

The last team to win all of its MAC games was Marshall in 1999.

This will mark the first time that the Thundering Herd hasn't played in the MAC title game since it began in 1997.

Both Miami and Bowling Green are first-timers in the championship game.

The RedHawks haven't won the conference title since 1986 while the last time Bowling Green did it was in 1992. Both, though, have more MAC titles -- Miami 13 and Bowling Green 10 -- than any other schools.