Western Michigan fought all the way to the end, but its bid for a perfect season came up short at the hands of the Wisconsin Badgers in the Cotton Bowl.
Wisconsin led the whole way, but WMU managed to cut the lead to 24-16 with 3:27 remaining on a highlight reel fourth down touchdown catch by star wideout Corey Davis. And after an onside kick failed, Western Michigan had a chance to get the ball back by quickly forcing the Wisconsin offense to a third-and-eight with 2:42 to go.
Instead of running the ball and forcing the Broncos to use their final timeout, Wisconsin went to a play-action pass. Senior quarterback Bart Houston, playing in his final collegiate game, found his favorite target, tight end Troy Fumagalli, behind the defense for a 26-yard gain and a backbreaking first down.
From there, the Badgers ran out the clock and hung on for the victory.
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The Broncos, the 13-0 MAC champions, fought valiantly and showed they belonged on the field with one of the Big Ten’s best, but just had no answer for the Houston-to-Fumagalli connection. Wisconsin threw the ball just 14 times compared to 38 runs, and when it did, the junior tight end was making plays all over the field. Fumagalli finished the game with six catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.
He had a crazy one-handed catch to set up Wisconsin’s first touchdown in the first quarter, and hauled in a leaping touchdown grab in the fourth from backup Alex Hornibrook for what proved to be the decisive touchdown.
Here’s that one-handed play:
And here’s the touchdown:
Many of those plays to Fumagalli came out of play-action looks set up by the ground attack of Corey Clement. Clement carried 22 times for 71 yards and a score. Fellow senior Dare Ogunbowale also added a score for the Badgers. And like he has all season, coach Paul Chryst worked in jet sweeps to Jazz Peavy (three rushes for 50 yards) to keep the defense off balance.
The touchdown runs by Clement and Ogunbowale gave the Badgers a 14-0 lead after one quarter, but the Broncos managed to fight back. They cut the lead to 14-7 with a 16-play, 65-yard scoring drive in the second quarter that was capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by Zach Terrell on a naked bootleg on third-and-goal.
Wisconsin worked its way into WMU territory on the ensuing drive, but was held to a field goal, making it 17-7 at halftime.
Western Michigan opened the second half with a field goal and forced back-to-back Wisconsin punts to start the second half. One of those Wisconsin punts pinned WMU at its own three. That’s when Terrell made a mistake and forced one into coverage. That pass was picked off by Badgers linebacker T.J. Edwards (a former WMU commit), giving UW great field position.
Three plays later, Hornibrook — in the game as part of Chryst’s usual two-quarterback rotation — found Fumagalli for an eight-yard touchdown.
The score was 24-10 with 12:26 to go when WMU’s offense went back on the field. The Broncos methodically moved down the field and 8:59 later, Terrell lobbed one up to Davis to cut the lead to 24-16 (the PAT was wide right).
rpmsports18: Western Michigan has life ESPN Cotton Bowl: Western Michigan vs. Wisconsin https://t.co/dYfp4xlYme pic.twitter.com/FlDGsdg7bH
— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) January 2, 2017
But it was just too little, too late for the Broncos.
In the end, WMU’s dream season finishes with a 13-1 record with hot coaching prospect P.J. Fleck seemingly returning for a fifth season (unless the NFL comes calling).
On the other side, Wisconsin (11-3) finishes the year with a strong performance after a disappointing loss in the Big Ten title game.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
