KALAMAZOO, Mich. – A fake-spike touchdown pass from redshirt sophomore quarterback Kaleb Eleby to redshirt junior Jaylen Hall with 17 seconds left capped off Western Michigan football's unbelievable comeback to defeat Toledo 41-38 on Wednesday night inside Waldo Stadium.

Trailing by 10 with 2:54 remaining the Broncos embarked on an 11-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Eleby registering his second rushing touchdown of the night from one-yard away. After missing the extra point, the Broncos trailed 38-34 with 45 seconds remaining.  

Trailing by four, senior kicker Thiago Kapps executed a perfect onside kick up the middle of the field that was recovered by junior punter Nick Mihalic to give the Brown & Gold the ball at their own 49 yard-line. On the ensuing drive Eleby connected with sophomore running back Sean Tyler for gains of 11 and 13 yards before finding senior D'Wayne Eskridge for 18 yards to put the ball at the Toledo nine-yard line.

With 17 seconds remaining Eleby faked a spike and found Jaylen Hall wide open in the end zone to complete the Broncos' comeback and put Western Michigan ahead 41-38. Toledo had a chance to tie the game at the end but two incompletions followed by an interception from redshirt junior Harrison Taylor sealed the Bronco victory.

Wednesday's victory marked the first victory over Toledo for head coach Tim Lester and improved the Broncos overall record to 2-0. WMU hits the road next week for a pivotal match-up against in-state rival Central Michigan on Wednesday, Nov. 18. Kick-off is set for 7:00 p.m. in Mount Pleasant and can be seen on ESPN2.

In Wednesday's victory the Broncos never led until 17 seconds remaining and trailed the Rockets by 10 on three separate occasions. Toledo racked up 501 total yards of offense compared to WMU's 437. The Broncos posted 153 yards on the ground with Tyler leading the way with 100 yards on 12 carries.

It was a big night on the ground for Tyler who rushed for 100 yards, eclipsing the 100-yard mark for the second time in his career. The Richton Park, Ill., native also had a career-high eight catches out of the backfield for 47 yards.

For the second straight week D'Wayne Eskridge had over 230 yards of total offense, eclipsing the 100-yard receiving mark for the second straight week. Eskridge caught seven passes for 131 yards and one touchdown. Eskridge also registered 116 yards on four kick-off returns.  

Skyy Moore caught his first touchdown pass of the season to go along with three catches for 85 yards while Jaylen Hall had two catches for 21 yards and one touchdown.

Through the air Eleby completed 20 of his 29 pass attempts for 284 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. The redshirt sophomore quarterback also had a career-high two rushing touchdowns on five carries. Through the first two games Eleby has thrown for 546 yards and six touchdowns while completing 71 percent of his passes.

Defensively the Broncos were led by reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Year TreShaun Hayward with 9.5 tackles, earning one tackle for loss. Behind Hayward was redshirt senior Bricen Garner with nine tackles and one tackles for loss.

On the night the Broncos registered 10 tackles for loss from nine different players. The duo of senior A.J. Thomas and junior Ralph Holley led the way with two tackles for loss each. In the secondary, redshirt junior Harrison Taylor registered his first interception of the season to seal WMU's 41-38 victory.

To open the game, the Broncos were forced to punt which led to the Rockets embarking on a six play, 75-yard drive to take an early 7-0 lead. WMU struck back quickly moving the ball down to the one-yard line in just six plays before Eleby ran right up the middle on fourth down to tie the game.  

The two teams traded scores near the end of the first quarter to knot things up at 14-14 after the first 15 minutes of play. Toledo pulled away in the second quarter, scoring 10 unanswered points to hold a 24-14 lead at halftime. In the second quarter alone WMU had just 37 yards of total offense.

After both teams punted the ball to begin the second half, WMU scored quickly on a 47-yard touchdown pass from Eleby to Eskridge to trim the Toledo lead down to three with 8:55 remaining in the third.  However, Toledo answered right back with a 13-play, 99 yard drive that chewed up over six minutes of clock to extend its lead back to 10 going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter the Broncos trailed by 10 with 2:54 remaining before an Eleby touchdown run coupled by a recovered onside kick and a trick-play touchdown propelled the Broncos back in front. Western Michigan earned 192 of its 437 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter.