Central Michigan beats Middle Tennessee in Motor City Bowl

Dec 27, 2006 - 5:25 AM By PA SportsTicker

Jeff Quinn made not having the interim tag hang over his head much longer.

Ontario Sneed scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns to lead Central Michigan to a 31-14 victory over Middle Tennessee State in the Motor City Bowl.

Central Michigan (10-4) was guided by Quinn, who was named interim coach three weeks ago after Brian Kelly left to take the job at Cincinnati.

"I can't control the future," Quinn said. "All I can do is stay strong. The statement has been made.

"The players followed my lead and made a statement, but they didn't win this game for Jeff Quinn. They won it for the 2006 CMU football team."

Quinn has the support of quarterback Dan LeFevour.

"He brings a lot to the table," LeFevour said. "He was understaffed (after Brian Kelly left with several assistants) and we still had a great game plan. He pulled out a victory for us."

Quinn helped the Chippewas to their first bowl victory. They had lost the 1990 California Raisin and the 1994 Las Vegas Bowl.

Sneed also had a huge hand in the victory, scoring on runs of one and 29 yards in the first quarter to help the Chippewas to a 14-0 lead.

Doug Kress returned an interception 56 yards for a score midway through the third quarter, extending the advantage to 28-7.

"They ran the same play about four plays before and beat us on it," Kress said. "You know what they say about fool me once. I must have run a 4.2 40 to the end zone. Did anybody clock me on that?"

With a large contingent of gold and burgundy filling the stands at Ford Field, the game drew a crowd of 54,113, a record for the Motor City Bowl.

Eugene Gross and DeMarco McNair had touchdown runs for Middle Tennessee (7-6), which was playing its first bowl game in school history.

"The difference was their offensive line," Blue Raiders coach Rick Stockstill said. "We were a little overmatched there."

The meeting between the Chippewas and the Blue Raiders was the eighth of a record 32 bowl games on the postseason slate.

The bowl season continues Wednesday with the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco, which pits Florida State (6-6) against UCLA (7-5).