CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A comeback on Western Michigan's final drive was not to be
as the Broncos fell to No. 24 Illinois, 23-20.
The crowd of 43,684 held its collective breath throughout the second
half as the game went back-and-forth until the final play.
Down by three points with 1:05 remaining, Western Michigan
had the opportunity to either go ahead or tie the game with a field goal and
force overtime but after Alex Carder found Robert Arnheim for 14 yards to the
Broncos' 46-yard line the Illini came up with only their second sack of the
game, forcing WMU to scramble on the next two plays.
Carder found Jordan White twice more for 20 total yards but
the clock hit triple zero as White was tackled in bounds at Illinois' 41-yard
line, ending the game. It was the second
time in 21 games against ranked teams that Western Michigan fell by just three
points.
White finished with a career matching 14 catches for 134 yards
and a touchdown. Carder registered his
sixth career 300-yard passing game with 308 and two TDs.
On the previous drive, WMU's defense stopped Illinois on
fourth-and-4 to get the ball back but had no time outs remaining.
The Broncos took a 13-10 lead into halftime but fell behind,
20-13 with 1:37 remaining in the third quarter.
The Western Michigan defense held its own and more during
the opening 30 minutes against the Illini.
The Broncos held the opponent to just 10 points, while sacking Nathan
Scheelhaase three times. Drew Nowak came
up with a fumble recovery late in the second quarter on a strip by Doug
Wiggins.
The Broncos first scoring drive was 18 plays, tied with four
other drives for the second longest in terms of plays in program history, going
59 yards and resulting in a John Potter 26-yard field goal. Potter missed on attempts from 44 and 49
yards during the first half but made good on the 26-yard attempt and a 24 yard
attempt at the 3:26 mark of the second quarter.
With seven first half points, Potter moved past Robert
Sanford (1997-2000) for second on the total career points list at WMU (259).
That score put WMU within four points at that point but the
defense came up big on the ensuing Illinois drive. The Broncos went to work on offense at
Illinois' 39-yard after a 21-yard punt.
Alex Carder found Jordan White for four yards and after an incomplete
pass to Robert Arnheim, found Chleb Ravenell for a 35-yard TD strike to take
the lead for with 1:42 left before the break.
White had 10 catches for 89 yards in the first half, giving
him 10 or more catches in three of the first four games of the year. He became the fourth Bronco receiver to go
over 200 receptions in a career. Carder
was 22-for-34 in the first half for 206 yards.
Illinois, which was stopped in the red zone for the first
time this season in the first half, put together a 10-play, 80-yard scoring
drive to take the lead back, 17-13. The
drive was aided by an off-sides call on WMU on third down. The Illini's next drive, which resulted in a
field goal, also was kept alive by a defensive penalty on the Broncos, but
Western Michigan was not fazed, answering on its final drive of the third
quarter.
Tevin Drake opened the drive up with an eight-yard run and
after a short completion to White for a first down, Carder again found White
for a first down, this time for 16 yards.
On third down, Carder found Robert Arnheim for 34 yards inside Illinois'
five-yard line. The Broncos scored two
plays later on a Carder to White hook up from seven yards out. It was Carder's 37th career TD
pass and White's 18th career TD reception.
Illinois grabbed a 23-20 lead with 8:14 remaining on an
11-play, 77-yard drive with Derek Dimke's 21-yard field goal.
Western Michigan takes its first plane trip since the 2008
opener at Nebraska when the team travels to Connecticut on Oct. 1. The game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. on SportsNet
NY and will air locally in the Kalamazoo/Grand Rapids/Battle Creek area on
WZZM-TV.
