Advertisement

Western Kentucky holds off crazy Central Michigan comeback to win Bahamas Bowl (Video)

What a crazy game.

Central Michigan had no answer for Western Kentucky’s high-powered offense in the first half of the inaugural Bahamas Bowl, but the Chippewas stormed all the way back from a 49-14 fourth quarter deficit and had a chance to win the game with a two-point conversion following a wacky Hail Mary touchdown with no time remaining. That two-point attempt fell short and WKU hung on for a 49-48 win – the first bowl win in program history.

The Chippewas scored five times in the fourth quarter – all on Cooper Rush touchdown passes. The last one came on the Hail Mary with one-second left with the Chippewas trailing 49-42. From his own 25-yard line, Rush chucked the ball down the field to wideout Jesse Kroll, who caught the pass in traffic at the WKU 30-yard line.

And then this happened (video via @CJZero):

Kroll managed to lateral the ball to a teammate. Three laterals later, the ball was in the hands of Titus Davis, who sprinted toward the goal line for an improbable touchdown.

Instead of going for the extra point to force overtime, CMU head coach Dan Enos opted to go for two, but it failed and the Hilltoppers were finally able to exhale.

Rush finished with 493 yards passing and seven touchdowns – an FBS record for a bowl game. Four of those scores came from Davis, who caught six passes for 139 yards, including the miraculous last-second play.

Central Michigan’s crazy fourth quarter overshadowed what was a dominant offensive performance from Western Kentucky through three quarters. The Hilltoppers, led by quarterback Brandon Doughty, put up a whopping 441 yards of offense in the first half to take a 42-14 halftime lead.

Doughty completed 31-of-42 passes for 486 yards and five touchdowns – all of which came in the first half. Doughty connected with 11 different receivers and the Hilltoppers finished with 646 yards of total offense on the day.

The game, played in front of a sparse crowd at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, had all the makings of a shootout from the start. Touchdowns were scored on the game’s first three drives – two by Western Kentucky and one by Central Michigan. The Chippewas looked primed to keep that trend going, but Rush was intercepted by Cam Thomas in the end zone.

The Hilltoppers increased their lead on the next two drives to take a 28-7 lead, and by halftime the lead ballooned to 42-14. The Hilltoppers scored again early in the third quarter on a 21-yard Anthony Wales touchdown run.

Up 49-14, Western Kentucky was completely in control, but the Chippewas did not give up. Rush hit Davis on scores of 12 and 23 yards on their first two fourth quarter drive and a fumble by WKU’s Willie McNeal allowed the Chippewas to score again to cut the deficit to 49-35 with 3:06 to go.

CMU then forced a WKU punt. Four plays later, Rush hit Anthony Garland for a 7-yard score, making it 49-42. The Chippewas went for an onside kick with 1:09 to play, but the Hilltoppers came up with the recovery. Central Michigan still had two timeouts and were able to force a punt. That set up the craziest play in the college football season. Unfortunately for the Chippewas, they still came up one point short.

The win gives Western Kentucky a 8-5 record to end the season. Central Michigan dropped to 7-6.

For more Western Kentucky news, InsideHilltopperSports.com.

For more Central Michigan news, visit ChippewaCountry.com.

- - - - - - -

Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!