MAC Mania!!! Bronco Chris Returns By Popular Demand!

When the Going Gets Tough

The average blood pressure of the MAC Championship spectator would have been high enough to make a cardiologist cringe. Many were expecting the game, myself included, between the Western Michigan Broncos and the Ohio Bobcats to be another easy victory for the undefeated Bronco. Las Vegas had a point spread of 18. Western had many perceived advantages going into the game. First, WMU would have a virtual home game with a record setting crowd of over 45,000 which had to be at least 90% WMU fans. The game was played indoors which should have helped the speedy Bronco offense execute at a high level. The last two games where these cross divisional opponents met were blowouts. WMU dismantled Ohio in Athens in 2015 to a score of 49-14. The year before in Kalamazoo, I witnessed the Broncos outclass the Bobcats 42-21. Confidence was high amongst the Western faithful. Just looking at these factors would be a naive approach though. The Ohio defense has been excellent against the run all year. They have surrendered an average of 106 yards on the ground per game which is almost 35 yards better than the next team in the conference. Ohio’s defense also led the league in sacks by a margin of 12. The matchup between Ohio’s defensive line and WMU’s offensive line would be a key to victory. Also, Ohio and WMU were in the top 3 for turnover margin in the MAC. As PJ Fleck has said many times “The ball is the program”; and both teams value the ball.
Walking into Ford Field was a real treat. To see so many fans attend a MAC game was truly inspiring. MACtion would prove to be as good as game as any could ask for on this championship weekend. Prior to yesterday’s game, the record crowd for any MAC game was less than 37,000. The record setting crowd added to the excitement of the night.

The game started out with WMU controlling most of the action, but only had 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. It was easy to tell that the Bronco crowd wanted to see WMU score a touchdown. The second quarter saw a long 17 play 9:03 WMU drive stall at the 1 yard line. The drive resulted in another Butch Hampton field goal. The next drive Ohio switched quarterbacks to senior Greg Widham. On his first play he completed a 67 yard pass to Papi White. Two plays later the score was 9-7. You could hear the collective crowd thinking “Game On”. However, the very next play from scrimmage Zack Terrell connected with MAC Offensive Player of the Year Corey Davis for a 70 yard touchdown. Corey caught the ball in the middle of the field and burnt the Ohio secondary down the slide line. WMU would score another touchdown to take a controlling 23-7 lead into halftime. It finally seemed like WMU was clicking.
As a former member of the Bronco Marching Band I always enjoy watching halftime performances. The Ohio Marching Band put on an excellent and fitting Rocky themed performance. Ohio wasn’t going to go down without a fight. The Broncos got the ball first in the second half. The first play of the half Zack Terrell gift wrapped a potential pick six. Fortunately for WMU, the Ohio defender didn’t make the catch. However two plays later Terrell committed his second interception of the season and the Bobcats scored a touchdown on the next play. The next big play of the game was a 42 yard punt return by Darius Phillips to set WMU with great field position at the 20 yard line. Again the Ohio defense was able to hold the Broncos to just a field goal. The following drive by Ohio saw Widham and White connect again for a touchdown. The throw and catch were equally impressive and brought the score to an one possession game (26-20). You could see the nails of the Bronco faithful getting shorter and shorter especially when Ohio drove the ball down the field two drives later. The drive ended in a field goal that would bring the game within 3 midway through the fourth. With Western Michigan backpedaling for the 2nd half, the Broncos would respond by driving the ball all the way down the field to the 1 yard line. Again the Ohio defense held WMU to a field goal. Down by 6 Ohio would have 1:19 on the clock to score a touchdown. Greg Windham connected on his first 3 passes of the drive moving the offense from the Ohio 25 yard line to the WMU 37 yard line with almost a minute still left on the clock. MAC fans know how hard it is to go undefeated. Memories of the 2008 Brady Hoke’s Ball State team came to mind. The Cardinals were undefeated going into the championship game, but the college football world was shocked when Turner Gill’s 7-5 Buffalo team upset them. The next play resulted in the loudest collective cheer ever heard at a MAC sporting event. The hot Greg Widham delivered a pass over the middle that was intercepted by linebacker Robert Spillane. This set off a celebration to remember. The crowd and the WMU team jumped, screamed, and high fived for the next several minutes. With victory in hand, the Broncos cheered as Zack Terrell took two knees for the victory. The Broncos were MAC Champions for the first time since 1988. The crowd celebrated throughout the trophy presentation and as they dispersed from Ford Field.
Many questions await for WMU and PJ Fleck in the coming days, but that was not the focus on this night. The one thing that stands out with this championship team is that they never give up. No matter what they come up against whether it is turnovers, the poor officiating, ranking they receive, or the uncertainty about their head coaches future, they will continue to “Row the Boat”. When the going gets tough, the Broncos keep rowing.

Here is an interesting note about the Cotton Bowl pairing. The last time WMU won the MAC Championship was 1988 that same year WMU beat Wisconsin in Madison 24-14.

Your thiinnkg matches mine – great minds think alike!

Your’s is a point of view where real inlceligente shines through.

I blog often and I seriously appreciate your content. This great article has truly peaked my interest. I’m going to bookmark your blog and keep checking for new details about once per week. I opted in for your RSS feed too.

I just want to tell you that I am newbie to blogging and honestly enjoyed your web page. Likely I’m planning to bookmark your blog post . You surely have terrific posts. Kudos for sharing with us your blog site.