Western Michigan Holds Off Central Michigan After a 21-0 Start
Western Michigan threw for 48 yards and still won, which tells you how it did it. The Broncos ran 45 times for 224 yards, got all three of its scores by the last six minutes of the third quarter, and held on to beat Central Michigan 21-14 even though the Chippewas outgained them 337 yards to 272.
Jalen Buckley did most of the work. He ran in from 9 yards with 3:08 left in the first quarter and from 7 yards with 5:51 left in the third, bracketing a 10-yard touchdown pass from Broc Lowry to Nate Levicki in the second. That was 21-0, and Western Michigan did not need to score again.
Central Michigan came alive late. Angel Flores hit Jaden Allen for a 32-yard touchdown with 13:52 left in the fourth quarter to make it 21-7, and Jadyn Glasser ran in from 2 yards with 44 seconds left to make it 21-14. That is the whole comeback, and it ran out of clock. Central Michigan got nothing on the board until the fourth quarter, so for three quarters the Chippewas moved the ball and had zero points to show for it. Western Michigan lost one fumble and Central threw one interception, so neither side was exactly tidy.
Western Michigan is 5-2 and Central Michigan is 3-4. Flores, a quarterback, carried the ball 31 times for 117 yards and finished with 24.2 points, which was good for second on the board, behind Buckley's 27. If you started either of them, you got your week's worth, and Western Michigan's 48 passing yards did not hurt anybody's lineup.