OXFORD, Ohio (Ticker) -- The best in the MAC is the beast from the East.
In one of the biggest games of the season in college football's most surprising conference, Miami of Ohio got short touchdown runs from Mike Smith and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the third quarter and pulled away for a 33-10 triumph over No. 20 Bowling Green.
The Mid-American Conference has been one of the big stories in college football this year as three teams began play this week with 7-1 records. Two of the teams were Miami, which leads the East Division, and Bowling Green, which is in first place in the West.
But the matchup of division leaders was not much of a contest as Miami (8-0, 5-0 East) got a five-yard TD run from Smith 88 seconds into the second half and a one-yard touchdown burst from Roethlisberger just over seven minutes later.
Roethlisberger's keeper pushed the RedHawks' lead to 24-7 and Miami turned the game into a rout with nine points in the final 8:09.
Roethlisberger completed 19-of-28 passes for 230 yards. Martin Nance had a career-high 10 catches for 169 yards, his fifth 100-yard game of the season.
"My success tonight is really a credit to our wide receivers as a whole," Nance said. "We've got receivers all over the place making plays. Ther were trying to attack our inside receivers tonight and it opened a lot of things up for me over the top."
Calvin Murray carried 15 times for 62 yards and two touchdowns for Miami, which has scored 30 points in eight straight games. The RedHawks also have won eight straight games in the same season for the first time since 1977.
"This was not only a special night for Miami football, it was a special night for Miami University," RedHawks coach Terry Hoeppner said. "I've said all year that a football program is more than just players and coaches."
"Our goal at the beginning of the season was not to be ranked in the top 25, it was to win a MAC championship," Roethlisberger said. "We took a big step toward that tonight."
In just the second night game and first nationally televised game in the 11-year history of Yager Stadium, Bowling Green (7-2, 4-1 West) lost its fifth straight game to Miami. The Falcons, who were leading the conference in total offense and defense, suffered breakdowns in both areas.
Bowling Green's Josh Harris was 20-of-30 for 160 yards and a touchdown. But the Falcons had their worst scoring and lowest yardage (344) of the season.
"We knew coming in that Bowling Green had a great offense," Miami defensive end Phil Smith said. "We also knew that they tend to score a lot of their points in the first half. We knew that it was going to be important to shut them down early."
The teams could meet again in the MAC title game on December 6, although Bowling Green had its lead over Northern Illinois sliced to one-half game.
After a sloppy, scoreless first quarter, Miami broke on top 3:08 into the second quarter when Murray scored from three yards out.
Bowling Green's Janssen Patton fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Ryan Sprague recovered at the Falcons 20. Jared Parseghian kicked a 26-yard field goal seven plays later for a 10-0 lead.
Bowling Green got on the board with 75 seconds left in the half when Harris found Charles Sharon with a diving 24-yard touchdown strike.
Any momentum that the Falcons had going into the half quickly evaporated when Shaun Suisham's kickoff went out of bounds. Three Roethlisberger completions later, Miami found itself at the 5 and Smith broke free over right guard for a 17-7 lead.
A fumble by Harris deep in his own territory set up Miami's next score as Roethlisberger plunged over from a yard out with 6:16 left in the quarter.
"It was a important for us to get off to a good start in the second half," Roethlisberger said.
Bowling Green got a 27-yard field goal from Suisham 2:49 into the fourth quarter but Parseghian hit a 20-yarder midway through the quarter and Murray capped the scoring with a two-yard run with 3:45 to go.
