Box Score OXFORD, Ohio – The Western Michigan football team rolled up nearly 500 yards of offense and became bowl-eligible for the first time since the 2011 season, jumping out to a huge lead on Miami and never letting up on the way to a 41-10 win at Yager Stadium on Saturday. The Broncos improve to 6-3 on the season and 4-1 in Mid-American Conference play.
Jarvion Franklin broke the program's single-season touchdown record with three scores on the afternoon, adding two touchdowns in the first half and one in the second for 22 rushing touchdowns on the season. He went off for 182 rushing yards on 29 carries to reach 1,330 rushing yards on the season, and needs just 31 more yards to reach the MAC single-season freshman rushing record set in 2009.
Corey Davis recorded a receiving touchdown for the fourth straight game and finished with seven catches for 114 yards. That total included 73 receiving yards in the third quarter alone, which featured a five-yard fade on the Broncos' first drive of the second half and a 44-yard dash down the sidelines that led to a WMU touchdown two plays later.
The Western Michigan defense contained a productive RedHawk attack, holding Miami to just 236 total yards of offense and taking the ball away twice with a pair of interceptions. The pass rush was elite in recording six sacks for a total of 40 yards lost, marking the second straight game in which the Broncos posted six or more sacks.
That pass rush also triggered the Broncos' first score of the game. Jarrell McKinney sacked Andrew Hendrix on a Miami 4th-and-5 from the WMU 29-yard line on the RedHawks' first possession of the game, giving the Broncos the ball on the 36-yard-line. It took just three plays before Franklin burst through the line untouched en route to a 55-yard touchdown run, making it 7-0 with 7:55 to play in the first quarter.
The second score of the half also came as a result of a defensive stand, though this time it was a forced turnover that flipped the tables. Miami drove all the way to the WMU 16 and was threatening to score, but Donald Celiscar leaped in front of a RedHawk receiver in the end zone and hauled in his ninth career interception. The Broncos methodically rushed the ball down the field, with Franklin recording a rush of 14 yards and Dareyon Chance one of 12 yards to put the team into Miami territory. Terrell connected with Davis on a 10-yard slant down to the Miami 6, and two plays later Franklin found a huge hole on the left side for his 21st rushing touchdown of the season, making it 14-0.
The freshman running back's third touchdown rush of the game came in the middle of the third quarter, when he made a sharp cut against the grain after crossing the line of scrimmage and dashed over the right tackle into the endzone. Andrew Haldeman's extra point made it 38-10 with 5:08 left in the period.
The lead ballooned to 21 points midway through the second quarter after a stout defensive stand gave the Broncos excellent starting field position. Opening the drive on the Miami 37 after a punt return by Daniel Braverman, the Broncos advanced deep into the RedHawk side of the field on a 14-yard catch-and-run by Darius Phillips. Franklin went over left tackle for 18 yards down to the Miami 5, and Terrell called his own number on the next play for a five-yard touchdown rush to make it 21-0 with 8:09 remaining in the quarter.
Miami cut the deficit to just 14 points at the end of the first half and trailed just 24-10, but WMU scored on their first drive of the second half to quash the rally. The big play of the drive came on 1st-and-10 from the Miami 36, when Terrell hit Darius Phillips on a crossing route that was stretched out to the sideline. Phillips was shoved out of bounds at the 9-yard-line. Davis closed out the drive with a beauty of a catch, hauling in a fade over the defensive back and putting the Broncos ahead 31-10.
