Box Score
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Western Michigan has said all along it won't shy away from competition and that was very evident as, despite facing the No. 3-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers, the Broncos played through adversity and from behind for most of the day in a 62-24 loss at Mountaineer Field in front of a sold-out WVU crowd.
After WMU was stifled on three plays in the opening drive, the No. 3 Mounaineers used 3:41 off the clock to move the ball 59 yards on eight plays for their first touchdown of the 2007 campaign.
Patrick White hit Dorrell Jalloh from 19 yards out for the score but the drive was a heavy dose of the WVU ground game. Besides the first and last play of the drive, West Virginia ran the ball six times with White ripping an 11-yard run, the longest of the drive.
Western Michigan was forced to punt on its next possession and Jim Laney put a charge into it, booting the kick 47 yards to pin WVU back on its own three-yard line. White took care of the field position issue, connecting with Darius Reynaud for 58 yards but C.J. Wilson forced the first turnover of the season for the Broncos, forcing a fumble at the WMU 35 yard-line where E.J. Biggers was there to fall on the ball.
The WMU offense took over, traversing 65 yards on seven plays to post a touchdown on a lateral from Tim Hiller to Herb Martin. Martin then found Jamarko Simmons alone in the end zone for a 14-yard score. Simmons was the catalyst of the drive, hauling in three catches for 35 yards and the score. Mike Jones was unable to convert the point after and WMU still trailed, 7-6, with 4:12 remaining in the opening quarter.
WVU extended its lead to 14-6 on a 50-yard catch and run from White to Steve Slaton on the fourth play of a drive that began on the Mountaineers' 42-yard line.
Western Michigan had an opportunity to mount a drive on the ensuing possession but a 26-yard completion from Hiller to Simmons was negated when WMU was called for holding along the offensive line. The play put the Broncos in the shadow of their own end zone on third and long, forcing them to play conservative with a run up the middle and a punt one play later.
WVU capitalized again, this time needing only two plays. White directed traffic down the field as he worked his way 38 yards for his first running score of the season to give the Mountaineers a 21-6 lead at the outset of the second quarter.
A Hiller interception gave WVU the ball on the Broncos' 40-yard line but the WMU defense held, forcing the Mountaineers to turnover the ball over on downs.
The Broncos had another drive stifled by mistakes, this time it was a turnover in their own territory. After Hiller had hit Simmons over the middle for a first down, he found Martin down the sideline for another. A delay of game penalty forced WMU into a second and 18 situation. Hiller pitched to Brandon West on the next play and he bobbled and lost the ball, giving it back to WVU.
Slaton popped his 34th career rushing touchdown at the 4:46 mark of the second quarter to finish the half with 21 yards on eight carries. White led WVU on the ground with 62 yards on seven carries.
Western Michigan would not go quietly into the locker room trailing by 22 points. Mark Bonds saw his first action on the ensuing drive and ran for nine yards to the WMU 35-yard line. Hiller began to get in rhythm on the drive, hitting Branden Ledbetter for 19 yards, to Simmons for 23 yards, three yards and four yards on a critical fourth down and three on the West Virginia 20-yard line. The completion kept the drive alive and two plays later West ran to the WVU two-yard line. A pass interference call on the Mountaineers gave WMU new life with a first down at the two-yard line and Hiller ran it in for the score. He hit Ledbetter in the back of the end zone to bring WMU to within a pair of scores at the half, 28-14.
Hiller threw for 156 yards on 15-of-22 passing and ran for one score. Simmons had 104 yards with a touchdown on eight catches to lead the Broncos.
The story of the first half may have been what WMU did to itself almost as much as what No. 3 WVU did to the Broncos. Western Michigan had 10 penalties for 67 yards. Seven of those penalties (for 51 yards) came in the second quarter and were mainly of the delay of game and false start variety.
West Virginia flexed its muscle in the second half. After both teams were forced to punt on their opening drives WVU used five plays and one play, respectively to build its two-touchdown halftime lead to a 42-14 lead with 8:39 left in the third quarter.
The last score, a 22?yard run from White was the result of a Hiller interception. It was the second of the day for the redshirt sophomore who had not thrown even one pick in a game since Oct. 29, 2005 (Kent State).
Down by 28 points, Western Michigan did not go into a corner. It came out and scored. Thomas Peregrin replaced Hiller under center and led the Bronco offense down the field, completing a deep sideline pass to Ledbetter and hitting Simmons in the back of the end zone for the junior's second score of the game. The scoring grab gave Simmons two touchdowns in a game for the first time in his career. It was also threw a touchdown for the first time since he had a pair in a 31-10 win over Toledo on Sept. 9, 2006.
Peregrin hit Simmons for his first two completions of the game, the first for nine yards and the second for six. After a personal foul penalty on WVU for hitting Simmons out of bounds, Peregrin found him again for three yards. West ran for five yards on the next play and on third and 14 Peregrin found Ledbetter for 20 yards to give WMU a first down at WVU's six-yard line. The senior zipped a pass six yards, hitting Simmons between the two and the seven on his jersey, to pull WMU to within three scores, 42-21, with a little over five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Defensively for WMU, Austin Pritchard led with 11 tackles. WMU did force a pair of turnovers to offset the two interceptions.
Game Notes
- WMU's 2007 season opener marks the first time Tim Hiller will see the field in a game in 647 days
- WVU, ranked third in the Associated Press poll is the highest ranked team WMU has faced since 1999 (No. 4 Florida) and 2000 (No. 4 Wisconsin)
- Herb Martin throws first touchdown of career with a 14-yard throw to Jamarko Simmons in the opening quarter
- Third career 100-yard receiving game for Jamarko Simmons (last since 172 yards against Cincinnati in International Bowl
- Two interceptions marks the last time Tim Hiller has thrown one interception in a game and thrown multiple interceptions in a game (Kent State, Oct. 29, 2005)
- Two tackles by running back Brandon West are a single-game career high
- First multi-touchdown game of Simmons' career
