In a marquee primetime game, Western Michigan (6-4, 5-1 MAC) took a major step up the rankings, earning bowl eligibility by defeating Ohio (6-4, 4-2 MAC) in a hard-fought contest.
The game started with a promising Bobcat drive, but Western Michigan’s Tate Hallock turned the tide. The Broncos’ seventh-year senior safety stepped in front of a slant intended for Ohio wide receiver Chase Hendricks, stopping the drive in its tracks with his eighth career interception. Yet the Bobcats defense answered the bell, protecting a short field and forcing kicker Palmer Domschke into a 46-yard field goal that was converted to give the Broncos a 3-0 lead.
The Bobcats were slow to get the offense going again, but on their third drive they finally answered Domschke’s runs with a 4-yard touchdown run from quarterback Parker Navarro to take a 7-3 lead.
Advertisement
Unfazed, WMU responded with its own promising momentum, fueled by a clutch fourth-down conversion from quarterback Broc Lowry to true freshman Aveion Chenault. The drive came to a halt, however, when Bobcats JACK defensive end Jay Crable wreaked havoc at just the right time to force a potential WMU touchdown pass off the line. To add to the Broncos’ woe, Domschke was unable to save the ball when his 26-yard field goal attempt hit the left post hard.
As the second quarter progressed, neither offense was able to string together enough plays to do any damage, so the teams headed to the locker room with Ohio leading 7-3. It was Ohio’s second straight midweek game holding an opponent to three at halftime.
The third quarter was a rare affair as each team had only one sustained offensive series, each resulting in a touchdown.
The Broncos started the stanza with a gritty 68-yard drive that included five runs of seven yards or more, with running back Jalen Buckley doing the heavy lifting. He finally materialized in the end zone on a 1-yard Lowry touchdown run, opening a 10-7 Western Michigan lead.
Advertisement
Ohio responded with an absolute odyssey of a drive, taking what the Broncos gave them on a 17-play, 83-yard possession that included 16 points. Bobcats quarterback Parker Navarro and halfback Sieh Bangura traded impressive runs to keep the sticks moving, and Bangura banked in a 5-yard run on 3rd and goal to regain the lead at 13-10. However, the Bobcats missed the PAT – its fourth miss of the season – to hold WMU within a field goal.
The Bobcats’ lead was short-lived due to a championship effort from the home team on both sides of the ball in the final quarter, which sealed the deal.
On its first possession of the fourth, Western Michigan shocked the visitors on a legendary effort from wideout Tailique Williams, who turned a short reception and five to seven broken tackles into a 71-yard run. The Broncos took advantage of a short Buckley run on the next play to take a 17-13 lead with 13:43 left.
Advertisement
Western Michigan dominated the rest of the game, thriving on the ground offensively while wielding a stifling defense. The Broncos lost 7:44 of time on one possession in the fourth quarter, but Domschke’s 37-yard field goal gave Ohio one last chance to win. The Bobcats only fell back, however, unable to convert on a desperate 4th-and-20 to keep the drive alive, allowing Western Michigan to emerge for its sixth win in 7 games.
Bowl eligible for the second year in a row, the Broncos now control their own destiny for their first MAC Championship Game appearance since 2016. Lance Taylor and his team look to continue the championship campaign next Tuesday at Northern Illinois, while Ohio looks to regroup next Tuesday night against UMass after suffering its second MAC loss of the season. As of November 11, Ohio and Western Michigan are the only MAC eligible teams.
