HOUSTON, Texas -- The Western Michigan football team improved to 2-1 on the season, picking up a tough road win at Rice, 28-21, at Rice Stadium on Saturday night.
The Broncos (2-1, 0-0 MAC) out-gained the Owls 333-330 on the night. The defense held a vaunted rushing offense to 209 and held them to 1-of-10 on third down conversions. Texas native
Zavian Tibbs had a career-high seven tackles, while Rutgers transfer
Daeh McCullough also had seven. Ohio State transfer defensive lineman
Ahmed Tounkara had four tackles, a key sack and a pass break-up on a fourth down conversion attempt late in the game.
Running back
Jalen Buckley rushed for a season-high 117 yards rushing on 13 carries and a touchdown. Lolo Matalae had a career-high 62 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, while
Broc Lowry had 39 yards rushing with a touchdown and went 14-for-20 passing for 116 yards and a score.
After trading punts for the majority of the first quarter, the Broncos broke through to take a 7-0 lead with 1:29 to play. A 66-yard run by Buckley set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Lowry.
Rice tied it up with a 9-play, 81-yard drive with 5:04 to play in the second quarter, with quarterback Jacurri Brown running it in from the two.
WMU took the lead again when Lowry connected with
Aveion Chenault from 34-yards for the touchdown to cap off a 6-play, 65-yard drive. The touchdown catch was the longest of Chenault's career, with Broncos heading into the half with a 14-7 lead.
Rice opened the third quarter with the ball and drove down the field to tie it up 14-14 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Tyvonn Byars.
The Broncos fumbled the ensuing kickoff but forced a three-and-out and the Owls missed a field goal to give WMU the ball back at the 28. From there, Western Michigan did what it does best. The Broncos put together a 16-play, 72-yard drive that took 8:27 off the clock. The drive was capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Buckley, his fourth of the season.
The teams traded punts and Rice had the ball on its 20 with 7:58 to play in the game, trailing 21-14. Tibbs stopped Brown at the 27 to force a fourth-and-three. RU opted to go for it on fourth down, but Brown was flushed from the pocket and his pass was tipped by Tounkara, giving WMU the ball back deep in Rice territory.
Western Michigan ate more time off the clock before Mataele scored from the one to push the lead to 28-14.
Rice added a late touchdown with 9 seconds to play, but WMU recovered the on-side kick to seal the win.
Western Michigan welcomes the Broncos of Boise State for the first-ever meeting between the two programs on Saturday. Game time is set for 3:30 or 4 p.m. and set to be on either ESPN2 or ESPNU. Tickets are on-sale at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.
