There was a time when teams could ease their way into the college football season, delicately building up steam toward the start of conference play with a pushover here or a cupcake there. For schools like Akron, those days are apparently history.

A mere two weeks after playing at Ohio State, Akron visits defending Big Ten champion Purdue this Saturday. At a press gathering last week, coach Lee Owens joked about the Zips joining the Big Ten and perhaps he wasn't kidding.

"I think any team in the MAC can go out and play one Big Ten team the first week and be pretty respectable," Owens said. "But to take them on week after week after week is a pretty tough challenge."

Akron's schedule is ambitious enough without the presence of more Big Ten opponents and beginning Oct. 6, the Zips play four of their next five games on the road. The Zips were scheduled to warm up for Purdue with Eastern Michigan last Saturday but the game was postponed because of the terrorist attacks in the U.S. last week. But the Purdue matchup remains intriguing because of Akron's respectable showing in its 28-24 loss at Ohio State.

	“	I think any team in the MAC can go out and play one Big Ten team the first week and be pretty respectable. But to take them on week after week after week is a pretty tough challenge. ”
		— Akron coach Lee Owens

But, quite frankly, Owens doesn't want to be reminded constantly about the Ohio State game despite their strong second half finish. It was a nerve-racking game considering they played in front of a record crowd of 102,000, Ohio State was rededicating its renovated stadium and it was the debut of Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel. And the Zips responded as smoothly as a beginning actor who forgot his lines and a 21-0 chasm soon followed.

Obviously, Owens doesn't want a repeat performance against the Boilermakers.

"We need to do a better job out of the gate," he said. "After we let the smoke clear and it got down to blocking and tackling and substituting and making offensive and defensive calls, we played them pretty well."

While Purdue's offense is potent, Owens worries more about the defense, a unit that returns 10 starters. Freshman quarterback Charlie Frye figures to be tested by ends Akin Ayodele and Shaun Phillips, who had a personal best 11 tackles each in their win over Cincinnati two weeks ago.

"I don't know if we'll see a better defense," Owens said. "I don't know if we'll see a better lineman than Akin. I don't know if we'll see a more active group of linebackers, a more veteran group that has confidence. I'm sure it's going to be a hornet's nest up there. Let's hope we don't get knocked out of the box early and compete for 60 minutes."

Around the MAC

Akron
Akron and Eastern Michigan announced they would play in Akron on Nov. 24, a week after the end of their regular seasons. The Zips and Eagles were supposed to play at the Rubber Bowl last Saturday, but that game -- along with all others involving MAC teams -- were postponed because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Zips also moved their game at Kent State from Nov. 17 to Sept. 29. ... Akron can be an enigmatic bunch. In their season opener last year to nationally ranked Virginia Tech, the Zips gave up 52 points in the game, but the offense looked impressive in scoring 23 points on the road. But they followed up that game with a disappointing 17-7 loss at Central Michigan. The Zips also were heavily favored against Connecticut and were upset at home in a 38-35 loss and the following week, Akron lost 31-28 at home to Marshall, which allowed the Thundering Herd to share the MAC East Division championship with the Zips. ... Freshman linebacker Diontre Earl, who had three tackles and a fumble recovery at Ohio State, had 265 tackles in his last two seasons at Rogers High in Toledo. ... WR Jake Schifino boosted his career reception number to 105 with five catches, he now needs 43 to rank 12th all-time in MAC history. ... Redshirt freshman QB Charlie Frye ranks sixth in the league with his 116.5 efficiency rating and has not thrown an interception in 47 attempts ... The Zips will be looking to snap a two-game non-conference losing streak.

Ball State
The Cardinals were scheduled to open the MAC season at Western Michigan, but the Broncos received permission to reschedule their game at Western this Saturday. Ball State will now play I-AA Northern Iowa on Saturday, a game they got at the last minute. The Cardinals were in danger of going 21 days without a game because until they landed Northern Iowa, their next game was Sept. 29. ... Ball State and Western Michigan is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 24. ... Punter Reggie Hodges leads the league with a 44.4 punt per yard average. ... The Cardinals have lost their last three home openers, last winning in a 24-6 decision over James Madison in 1997. ... QB Talmadge Hill, last year's MAC Freshman of the Year, has attempted 51 passes without throwing an interception this year.

Bowling Green
The Falcons' game against South Carolina has been canceled, and the school is now concentrating efforts on playing someone on Oct. 27, which is their open date. I-A schools that have open dates include, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota and Rutgers. Bowling Green hopes to land a big-ticket opponent, considering it missed out on a $350,000 guarantee it would have received for playing the Gamecocks. ... The shutout against Buffalo two weeks ago was the first by a Falcons squad since posting back-to-back shutouts against Cincinnati (38-0, Oct. 1, 1994) and Ohio (32-0, Oct. 8, 1994). ... The last time Bowling Green began a season 3-0 was 1985 when they went 11-0 during the regular season before losing to Fresno State in the California Bowl. ... David Bautista had six receptions for 70 yards vs. Buffalo to increase his career total to 1,034 yards and become the 20th 1,000-yard receiver in school history.

Buffalo
The Bulls game at Army will be made up at a date to be announced. ... The Bulls have lost four consecutive games dating back to last year. ... Redshirt freshman QB Randall Secky gained the first playing time of his career by completing 12-of-29 passes for 134 yards against Bowling Green. Coach Jim Hofher is considering using both Secky and senior Joe Freedy at QB. ... Safety Craig Rohlfs leads the MAC in kickoff returns with a 24.3 average. ... The Bulls travel to Connecticut on Saturday to face the Huskies.

Central Michigan
The Chippewas are looking to reschedule their game against Boise State to Nov. 24. The game is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 1, a day after the MAC championship game (Nov. 30). Obviously, the Chippewas hope to play in the MAC title game. Another option is scheduling the game for another year. Boise State visited Mount Pleasant in 2000, beating the Chippewas, 47-10. ... The lone conference game this week has the Chippewas hosting Toledo Saturday for each team's league opener. ... After tying an NCAA record by blocking four punts against Michigan State, redshirt freshman James King was honored as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week by a FWAA panel of voters.

Eastern Michigan
The Eagles' game at Akron has been rescheduled for Nov. 24. ... WR Kevin Walters now has a reception in 14 consecutive games after recording six catches for 73 yards at Maryland ... Quarterback is still unstable with opening game starter Jeff Crooks sitting out the Maryland game with a sore shoulder and backup Troy Edwards playing at Maryland. Coach Jim Woodruff said a starter will be determined in practice this week. ... Junior kicker Eric Klaban, filling in for the injured Toller Starnes, is 3-for-3 in field goals.

Kent State
The Golden Flashes home game against Miami has been rescheduled for Nov. 24. Kent State also moved their game at Akron from Nov. 17 to Sept. 29. Kent State probably isn't looking forward to playing Miami, anyway. Overall, the RedHawks hold a 39-9 edge in the series, including 12 consecutive victories. Four of the past five years, the margins of victory have been by 39, 58, 36 and 56 points. In that same five-year span, Kent has had more than two touchdowns in a game just once. Since 1988, Kent has scored more than two touchdowns against Miami just twice. ... Three of the top seven rated passers in the MAC are freshmen and Kent State's Joshua Cribbs ranks fifth with an efficiency rating of 116.6 (15-of-31, 173 yds., 2 TDs, 0 int.). ... Defensive back Nashville Dyer grabbed two interceptions and had five deflections for the Golden Flashes versus Bucknell.

Marshall
The Herd's game at TCU has been canceled and they now have the next two weeks off. They tried to schedule a game against nationally ranked Oregon State, but the Beavers picked up Northern Arizona instead. ... The Marshall-TCU game would have pitted the Herd's strong offense against the Horned Frogs' stingy defense. The Horned Frogs have given up 36 points in three games -- a 21-7 loss to No. 4 Nebraska, a 19-5 victory over North Texas and a 38-10 win over SMU. The Horned Frogs held Nebraska, the nation's top rushing team a year ago, to 159 yards. ...The Thundering Herd and Horned Frogs will meet next September at Marshall Stadium. ...Ironically, the teams could meet in the GMAC Bowl, which pairs a team from the MAC against a team from Conference USA, which TCU is a member.

Miami
The RedHawks game at Kent State has been rescheduled for Nov. 24. ... Miami plays its first game at home against Conference USA's Cincinnati in the 106th meeting between the schools. The series began in 1888. ... Two freshmen will start at QB: Miami's Ben Roethlisberger and Cincinnati's Gino Guidugli. ... On Sept. 8, Jared Parseghian, the grand nephew of Ara Parseghian, and a kicker for the RedHawks, kicked his first career extra point in a 31-13 loss at Michigan. He followed up with a PAT at Iowa. The younger Parseghian is a redshirt freshman from Sylvania, Ohio. ... Miami's offense was held scoreless in the first half at Iowa but amassed 362 total yards in the second. ... Yes, Miami got pounded by Michigan and Iowa, but they secured checks for $425,000 at Michigan and $300,000 at Iowa. Next September, Iowa will become the first Big Ten team to come to Oxford and in 2006 Northwestern will play at Yager Stadium.

Northern Illinois
The Huskies game at Wake Forest has been rescheduled for Nov. 24. ... Northern Illinois faces a strong I-AA Sam Houston State team on Saturday, a team that reminds coach Joe Novak of Western Illinois. The Huskies have yet to beat Western Illinois in Novak's tenure. ... Tailback Thomas Hammock is the MAC's leading rusher with 288 yards on 57 attempts, including 111 at Illinois. Hammock has rushed for 1,371 yards in the last 11 games (124.6 ypg) dating back to last year. ... Kicker Steve Azar, who won the South Florida game with a field goal as time expired, nailed a career-long 50 yarder versus the Fighting Illini. ... Split end P.J. Fleck caught just 17 passes for 146 yards last year but already has 14 receptions (2nd in MAC) for 132 yards in 2001. ... NIU ranks No. 21 nationally in rushing (207 yard per game) and 21st in rushing defense (76.5). ... Linebacker Larry Williams now has 203 tackles.

Ohio
The Bobcats' game at North Carolina State has been rescheduled for Nov. 24. ... The Bobcats hold their home opener against Big 12 member Iowa State in expanded (from 20,000 to 24,000) Peden Stadium. ... The Bobcats pace the MAC in rushing, averaging 281 ypg but are last in passing offense at 99.5 ypg. Ohio is averaging 4.8 yards per carry ... Chad Brinker's 90 yards per game average tops Ohio in rushing, while Jamel Patterson is averaging 75.5. ... Ohio's offense features the third, fifth and sixth active rushers in career yards in the MAC: Patterson (third, 1,599), Brinker (fifth, 1,514) and Dontrell Jackson (sixth, 1,489). ... Punter Dave Zastudil is averaging 46 yards per kick but with just four punts in two games does not have enough kicks to qualify among the league leaders.

Toledo
The Rockets game against Division I-AA powerhouse Youngstown State has been canceled. ... The lone conference game this week has the Rockets travelling to Central Michigan Saturday afternoon for each team's league opener. ... Toledo's defense has forced 16 punts and gained six turnovers in its first two games while allowing just 14 points. Both touchdowns allowed have come on short drives following Rocket turnovers in the fourth quarter. ... Coach Tom Amstutz joined Miami's Terry Hoeppner (28-3 at Northwestern in 1999) as the only MAC head coaches in league history to make their debut versus a Big Ten opponent and win. ... The Rockets have won the last four played in Mount Pleasant. ... Chester Taylor's 99 yards were one shy of what would have been his 19th career 100-yard game. ... The Rockets defense held Temple's Tanardo Sharps, a 1,000-yard rusher last year, to seven yards on 12 carries and held the Owls as a team to -27 yards on 22 carries. ... Senior left end Leo Frierson is expected to miss two weeks, but he could be sidelined even longer. Frierson has a small compression fracture of his tibia.

Western Michigan
The Broncos will now host Ball State on Nov. 24. ... Saturday's capacity crowd at Michigan Stadium will be the largest audience for a WMU game, breaking the old record set at Florida (85,322; 1999) by more than 21,000 spectators ... For the second straight game, Western Michigan faces a ranked opponent, believed to be a first in school history. ... The Broncos have never beaten a top 25 team and are 4-21-1 against Big Ten opponents. ... After two games, 12 different players have receptions, led by Darnell Jennings' nine. ... Josh Bush, Marco Wolverton and Micah Zuhl are all averaging over 20 yards per catch.

Rodney McKissic covers the MAC for the Buffalo News.