KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan football team earned bowl eligibility for the third-straight season after the Broncos defeated Bowling Green, 23-10, at Stafford-Smith Field at Waldo Stadium on Saturday.
Junior running back
Cole Cabana had a career day with 110 yards rushing on seven carries and one touchdown. it was the first 100 yard rushing game of his career.
Jalen Buckley rushed for 77 yards on 24 carries, while
Broc Lowry threw for 146 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver eclipsed 100 yards for the third time this season and his career, with 109 on five receptions.
Justyce Betts and
Daeh McCullough led the Bronco defense with seven tackles, with each also picking off BGSU Jay Kastantin. The WMU defense had four sacks on the day, with
DeJuan Echoles Jr. recording two of them.
The Falcons forced the Broncos to a three-and-out to open the game and then marched down the field on an 11-play, 69-yard drive that ate up 6:27 on the clock. Kastantin found Kentrell White open in the endzone for the 7-yard touchdown pass. It was the only time that BGSU found the endzone on the day.
WMU went 3-and-out on the ensuing drive but the defense forced the Falcons to a 3-and-out of their own. After a punt gave the Broncos the ball on their own 18. On the first play of the drive, Cabana took a hand-off up the middle and raced to the endzone for an 82-yard touchdown. It was the longest play from scrimmage for Western Michigan this season, tying the score up at 7-7 with 3:12 left in the first quarter.
The Broncos put together a 6-play, 69-yard drive to take a 14-7 lead with 6:36 left in the second quarter. Lowry found
Ryan Brotherton wide open in the endzone for a 6-yard touchdown pass.
BGSU's Travis Kenner kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to cut WMU's lead to 14-10.
The Bronco defense took over in the second half, holding BGSU to just 125 total yards and forcing all three of its turnovers.
Dieter Kelly connected on a 32-yard field goal in with 9:11 left in the third quarter to push WMU's lead to 17-10.
He hit his second field goal of the day, this time from 50 yards, early in the fourth quarter to put the Broncos up by 10.
BGSU was driving late in the quarter and was near the redzone when a wide-receiver reverse pass Brennan Ridley was intercepted by Betts. The pass was intended for Kastantin, but Betts out-jumped the quarterback for a one-handed pick, the first of his career.
Kelly then added his third field goal of the game, this time with 15 seconds left to play.
Western Michigan now heads into its #MACtion schedule, traveling to Akron to take on the Zips on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
