Box Score BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Western Michigan football team downed Buffalo, 48-41, on the road at UB Stadium on Saturday to take sole possession of first place in the Mid-American Conference.
 
The Broncos (4-3, 3-0 MAC) stopped the Bulls in the red-zone with just over a minute left, forcing a field goal that cut their lead to 48-41. Buffalo opted to not go for the on-side kick and Jaden Nixon fair-caught the ball to get it at the 25. WMU ran the ball three straight times to force the Bulls to use all three of their timeouts and faced a fourth-and-one at its own 34. Nixon took the hand off and was initially ruled down behind the first-down marker but a measurement gave the Broncos the first down and the victory.
 
Nixon finished with 112 yards rushing on 14 carries and three touchdowns, his second time this season running for three scores. Jalen Buckley had 56 yards on 13 carries as the team rushed for 209 yards. Hayden Wolff went 20-for-31 for 280 yards and three touchdowns. All three of those touchdown passes went to tight end Blake Bosma. Bosma had six receptions for 85 yards and became the first tight end in program history to catch three touchdowns in a game. Kenneth Womack had three receptions for 71 yards, while Zahir Abdus-Salaam and Anthony Sambucci also caught three passes.
 
Jacob Wahlberg led the team with eight tackles, while Donald Willis was just behind him with seven.
 
This did not start off well for Western Michigan, as a bad snap on the team's first drive of the game turned the ball over to Buffalo on the WMU 31-yard line. The Bulls capitalized and Messiah Burch ran it in from seven yards out to take a 7-0 lead.
 
Western Michigan responded on the very next drive. Wolff connected with Womack on gains of 11 and 41 yards to get the Broncos down to the UB 16. That's when Wolff found Bosma on the fade route in the endzone to tie it up at 7-7.
 
 The Bulls got deep into WMU territory on the following drive but were held in the red zone by the Broncos and forced to kick a field goal. Upton Bellenfant made it from 26 yards to give Buffalo the lead back, 10-7.
 
Buffalo then got back into WMU territory after forcing the Broncos to punt. WMU's defense stood strong again, this time stopping the Bulls on a fourth-and-one at the Western Michigan 31. The WMU drove down the field again on a 10-play, 69-yard drive capped off by Nixon's first touchdown run of the day. Western Michigan took a 14-10 lead and never trailed after that.
 
Wolff and Bosma connected on two more touchdowns in the second quarter to put WMU up 21-10 and then 28-10. Buffalo cut the lead to 28-17 with a touchdown with 3:22 left in the second quarter.
 
WMU forced Buffalo to punt on the opening possession of the third quarter and marched won the field to go up 35-17 on a two-yard touchdown run by Nixon with 8:21 to play in the third quarter.
 
The Bulls responded with two-straight touchdowns, first with C.J. Ogbonna passing it to Taj Johnson from 12-yards out to cut the lead to 35-24. Then forced WMU to a three-and-out and then scored on a 12-play drive that went into the first second of the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 35-30 after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
 
Western Michigan countered with a scoring drive of its own, getting down to the UB 18 and Luka Zurak nailing a 35-yard field goal to push ahead 38-30.
 
Three plays later, Al-Jay Henderson ran 68-yards to the house for a touchdown and the Bulls converted the two-point conversion, tying the game at 38-38.
 
Jordin Parker took the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to the Buffalo 21, resulting in a 37-yard field goal by Zurak to push WMU ahead 41-38.
 
WMU's defense forced Buffalo to a three-and-out and got the ball back on its 15. Wolff hit Bosma on a third-and-six for a first down to extend the drive. WMU had a first and 10 at the Bronco 40, with Nixon advancing it to the 46. On the next play, Nixon took it 54-yards to the house in a highlight-reel run for his third of the game, giving WMU a 48-38 lead.
 
Western Michigan returns home to host Kent State on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 3:30 p.m. for Homecoming and its annual WMU Hall of Fame Game. Tickets are on-sale at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.