AKRON, Ohio -- Javarion Franklin and Zach Terrell made sure one of the biggest weeks in the 100-year history of the Western Michigan football ended on a high note.Franklin, a junior running back, rushed for a school-record 281 yards and quarterback Terrell threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more as No. 24 Western Michigan -- ranked in the Top 25 this week for the first time in school history -- shut out Akron 41-0 on Saturday.Corey Davis caught two touchdown passes to add to his career school record, finishing with eight catches for 63 yards. The Broncos (7-0, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) had 585 yards of offense.It was an incredible credit to our players, Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck said. They played possessed. They executed the game plan perfectly.Franklin, whose previous career-high rushing game was 211 yards against Idaho two seasons ago, ran for a 2-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Terrell was 21 for 31 for 207 yards.By the time the fourth quarter started, I really had no idea I had a lot of yards, Franklin said. Jamauri (Bogan) kept saying something about 200 but I thought he was lying, so Im like, `hey, whatever. I just go out there and move the chains.Western Michigan held Akron (4-3, 2-1) to 283 yards of offense and snuffed out their biggest threat in the second quarter when quarterback TraVon Chapman was intercepted by Broncos linebacker Casey Carson at the WMU 3-yard line.Chapman, subbing for injured starter Thomas Woodson for the third straight game, was 13 for 31 for 153 yards and was intercepted twice.THE TAKEAWAYWestern Michigan: The strong season continues for the Broncos. They looked efficient on most of their offensive drives and shut down the Zips. Every win makes coach P.J. Fleck more attractive to the Power Five teams expected to have coaching vacancies after the season.Akron: The Zips suffered their first MAC loss, but theyre still likely to compete for the East Division crown. That means they could see WMU again in the conference championship game.Every now and then, you just get beat, Akron coach Terry Bowden said. Tonight, we just got beat on offense and on defense. Western Michigan just took it to us, and we didnt have any answers.POLL IMPLICATIONSNot many people saw Western Michigan roll over the Zips. But the score was decisive enough for the Broncos to hold their No. 24 spot or even move up.GIVING IT UPWestern Michigan became the last FBS team in the nation to commit a turnover when Akron defensive end Daumantas Venckus recovered a Davon Tucker fumble at the Akron 14 in the second quarter. WMUs Terrell had thrown an interception deep in Akron territory in the first quarter, but a defensive holding call nullified the play. Akron intercepted Terrell for real in the fourth quarter.WORKING ON A DREAMWestern Michigan is 7-0 for the first time since 1941, when it finished the season 8-0. The Broncos havent won the conference since 1988, when they went 7-1 in the MAC and 9-3 overall. They were 1-13 in 2013 -- Flecks first season -- before going 8-5 the past two years.THATS NOT VERY NICEA motivating technique for the Akron players Saturday was a pregame burning of an oar -- designed to make light of Flecks Row the Boat mantra, which is supposed to symbolize a group of people working in unison for a common goal. Fleck, who came up with the mantra after losing an infant son shortly after birth a few years ago, didnt like it.Its not very classy, in my opinion, Fleck said after the game. Were not into revenge. I do believe in righteousness....Very simple, I think its just two different cultures.ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAMOne of the biggest cheers from the sparse crowd at InfoCision Stadium came in the second quarter when the PA announcer informed the crowd that the Cleveland Indians had taken the lead in the American League Championship Series being played about 40 miles away at Progressive Field. The Indians took a 2-0 lead over Toronto.UP NEXTWestern Michigan: The Broncos return home to play Eastern Michigan.Akron: The Zips travel to face Ball State.---Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacyFor some of his other recent stories: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/mitch-stacy Fred Warner Super Bowl Jersey . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. Deebo Samuel Super Bowl Jersey . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. http://www.thesf49ersshoponline.com/Youth-kwon-alexander-49ers-jersey/ . JOHNS, N. Jeff Wilson Super Bowl Jersey . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. Tevin Coleman Super Bowl Jersey . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. RIO DE JANEIRO -- The 63 came pretty much out of nowhere. Stacy Lewis has been muddling through a so-so year on the LPGA Tour, contending but not winning.She got married recently, which made her preparations -- and expectations -- for the Olympic golf tournament somewhat limited.When she walked off the driving range Thursday morning, she was annoyed with herself because she could not get her swing dialed in.But something worked as she traversed the Olympic Golf Course.Lewis shot an 8-under-par 63 in the second round of the Olympic womens golf competition Thursday, including a double-bogey, to surge up the leaderboard. She is 1 stroke behind South Koreas Inbee Park through 36 holes.I dont know if something seemed to click and I got some more confidence as the day went on, said Lewis, who is a shot ahead of Great Britains Charley Hull and Canadas Brooke Henderson. I think the putts going in definitely helped. Anytime you see some putts go in, it frees up the swing a little bit more. But I dont know ... I didnt expect this today at all.Lewis, who is one of three Americans in the Olympic field, along with Lexi Thompson and Gerina Piller, took a carefree attitude coming into the Olympics. Lewis knew she had played well in her past four starts -- all top-10s. She figured that she wasnt going to sweat it after getting married on Aug. 6.After a brief honeymoon in Charleston, South Carolina, Lewis got back to work, but still thought she would enjoy the experience of being here more than worry about grinding at golf.I was excited from the get-go with the announcement of the Olympics, Lewis said. There are probably a lot of reasons why we shouldnt have come and shouldnt have done this, whether it was Zika or other issues.I just did my homework, and nobody gave me a good reason why I shouldnt come. I mean, thered have to be something seriously wrong with me to not come play in the Olympics. This has been so cool. Just a different feel about it. Feeels like a different tournament.ddddddddddddIm truthfully more excited about the diving I get to go watch this afternoon than the round I played. Im looking forward to doing all this other stuff versus the golf, and thats what this week is about for us.So far, it is paying off for Lewis, 31, who made 11 birdies, a double-bogey and a bogey on Thursday. She birdied the last four holes to take the clubhouse lead before Park birdied the last two holes to post a two-day total of 10 under.An 11-time winner on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships, Lewis has gone 18 months without a victory.But during that span she has had 11 runner-up finishes and 27 top-10s, including those four events coming into this week.The first half of the year wasnt very good, she said. Wasnt in contention very much. The swing, the putting, nothing was where I wanted it to be. Actually, on my way to Portland (for a tournament in late June), I pulled out DVDs of a couple of my old wins, and just was trying to see what is different. Something has to be different here. Saw one thing in the setup of my putting, and that was kind of the big thing was the setup of my putting. Got my hands a little bit further away from me.But also saw that I hit a lot of bad shots and won golf tournaments. I dont know what it was, but just watching those videos really helped me, helped me start playing better. And really, from Portland on, Ive played some really good golf. The last four weeks, I think Ive had four top-10s. So the golf is going in the right direction, and thats when I win -- its usually after some top-10s. And so I know I just need to keep grinding out and keep trying to play some good golf.Now shes in a great spot, with the chance at a medal, perhaps even gold, in her sights. And keeping expectations at a minimum might not be so easy. ' ' '
