Chippewas Fall at Western, 41-39

Saturday, October 10

Kalamazoo, Mich.

12:00 PM

Central Michigan University

2-4 , 1-1

Western Michigan

2-3 , 1-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Central Michigan	7	9	3	20	39
Western Michigan	10	17	7	7	41

10/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Final Stats

Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - In a game that included dazzling big plays and more than 900 yards in total offense, it came down to ball control and one short pass.

Western Michigan held the ball for the final eight-plus minutes Saturday in holding off Central Michigan, 41-39, in a Mid-American Conference game before 20,201 at Waldo Stadium.

The win was Western's second straight over CMU as the Cannon Trophy will remain in Kalamazoo.

"It stings a lot because I'll never get a chance to play them again," CMU senior defensive end Blake Serpa said. "I hope that the underclassmen never get this feeling the rest of the time that they're here. Tough loss."

The Chippewas slipped to 2-4, 1-1 MAC. Western is 2-3, 1-0. CMU plays host to Buffalo at home next week (1 p.m.).

"Worse one," said CMU quarterback Cooper Rush, comparing Saturday's loss to the Chippewas' three previous this season. "Definitely the worst one. MAC game, rivalry game. Now we've got to bounce back. Long season. Lot of football left.

"Starts tomorrow. We'll watch the film and it's going to sting for a little. Then you realize you've got a game Saturday that you've got to get ready for. MAC game again. We'll be ready."

Rush completed 23 of 32 pass attempts for 321 yards and four touchdowns as CMU finished with 482 yards in total offense. Western finished with 477 and teams had 24 first downs apiece.

Western quarterback Zach Terrell was 15-for-22 for 262 yards and four scores, three of which went to speedy, slippery junior Daniel Braverman, who caught six passes for 137 yards.

The Chippewas, who committed two turnovers, were flagged eight times for 75 yards in penalties, and found themselves in a 27-16 halftime deficit that grew to 34-16 early in the third quarter.

Several of those penalties were of the unsportsmanlike conduct variety, and came early in the game. CMU linebacker Nathan Ricketts was ejected for targeting on Western's first possession of the game.

"That happens sometimes in an emotional game like this," said first-year CMU coach John Bonamego, a former Chippewa player. "I think I learned something. I think maybe I had them a little bit too keyed up coming out of the gate. This game means a lot to me. Can't say I'd do anything differently if I had it to do over.

"I think when you don't play your best and you have mistakes it makes it a lot harder to digest than if you just flat-out get outplayed. Which I don't think was the case today. Give credit to Western. They've got a good football team, they're well coached, they played hard, played a good game.

"But we definitely hurt ourselves more than anything today."

The Chippewas clawed back on a Brian Eavey field goal and two Rush touchdown passes, one to Ben McCord, the other to Corey Willis, to make it 34-32 early in the fourth quarter.

The Chippewas' potential game-tying two-point conversion after the Willis TD failed, leaving CMU in a two-point hole.

Terrell connected with Braverman on a 64-yard TD pass play on Western's next play from scrimmage to extend the Bronco lead to 41-32. CMU answered with a Jahray Hayes 15-yard TD run with 8:24 to play which made it 41-39.

Rush and his teammates would never see the ball again.

Western drove from its own 29 to the CMU 1, draining the clock with a 15-play drive. With 1:47 left, the Broncos faced a fourth-and-2 at the CMU 8.

Instead of taking a short field-goal try, Western went for it and converted when Terrell found a leaping Corey Davis for a first down to the Chippewa 1. The Broncos then ran out the clock.

"I thought we were going to get the ball back," Rush said. "They went for the win, they made the play.

"We beat ourselves in the first half. That's the worst part about it. You dig youself that big a hole it's tough to come out of and we just ran out of time."