KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Western Michigan football team outlasted Akron and Mother Nature to improve to 2-0 in Mid-American Conference play after a 34-24 win over the Zips on Saturday night.
The game was delayed by storms for five hours and five minutes late in the third quarter, before being resumed at 11:05 p.m.
It was the Zips that jumped out to an big lead early on. A 38-yard field goal put them up 3-0 with 10:21 left in the first quarter. Tahj Bullock rushed in his first of two touchdowns with 5:18 left in the first to push Akron's lead to 10-0. He then added another just 44 seconds into the second quarter to put the Broncos in a 17-0 hole.
Then came the hail.
Western Michigan drove the ball to its 44-yard line through a hail and rain storm but was forced to punt after a pass was broken up over the middle. Ryan Millmore came on to punt and booted the ball down to the 5-yard line where Jordan Castleberry called for the fair catch. The ball bounced off of Castleberry's chest and into the endzone, where WMU cornerback Josh Franklin jumped on it for the touchdown, cutting the lead to 17-7 with 12:03 left in the second quarter.
Akron responded with a drive into WMU territory but on second and 11 from the WMU 43, Ben Finley passed it to Charles Kellom out in the left flat. Kellom had the ball popped loose by Aaron Wofford and Bilhal Kone jumped on it at the WMU 42 to give the ball back to the Broncos.
Hayden Wolff ran up the middle for four yards and then Jaden Nixon picked up two. On third and four, Wolff dropped back to pass and found Malique Dieudonne and the junior took it down to the Arkon 25. On the next play Wolff found Kenneth Womack in the back of the endzone for the 25-yard touchdown, bringing the Broncos within three, 17-14.
Three plays later, Finley was picked off by Isaiah Paul at the WMU 45. Paul returned his first career interception down to the Akron 35. Wolff connected with Blake Bosma for an 11-yard gain and Nixon ran it for 19 down to the UA five. Redshirt freshman quarterback Broc Lowry ran it into the endzone for his first collegiate touchdown, to put the Broncos up 21-17.
After the Zips drove down the field missed a field goal, the Broncos moved the ball quickly down the field to the Akron 22 with four second left in the second quarter. Zurak stepped up an nailed a 39-yard field goal to send Western Michigan to the locker room with a 24-17 lead.
Akron took the opening drive of the third quarter down the field and scored on a 4-yard run by Jordan Simmons to tie it up at 24-24. WMU responded with drive into UA territory but was stopped on a fourth-and-5 attempt.
Three plays later, Finley fumbled an exchange with his running back and Popeye Williams pounced on it to give the ball back to the Broncos at the Akron 26. Wolff found Kaevion Mack on the sidelines for a 14-yard gain and then went to him on the next play for a 10-yard touchdown pass to put the Broncos up 31-24.
Then the lightning started and the game was delayed for five hours and five minutes at the 4:02 mark of the third quarter.
Once it resumed, WMU kicked off to Akron. The Zips took the ball into WMU territory but a false start penalty on a fourth-and-one from the WMU 47 caused them to punt and the Broncos took over on their own 27 early in the fourth quarter.
Jalen Buckley picked up six yards on the opening play of the drive and then scampered down the field for 61 yards to the Akron six. WMU tried three times to get it into the endzone but were kept out, so Zurka stepped up and nailed a 20-yard field goal to push the lead to 34-24.
From there the Broncos defense and a missed Akron field goal, kept the score the same and WMU pulled out the win.
Wolf finished the game going 17-for-25 with 191 yards passing and two touchdowns. Buckley had 103 yards on seven carries to lead the Broncos, while Womack and Zahir Abdus-Salaam each had four catches. Kone had a team-high 10 tackles, while Aaron Wofford had six along with three break ups and the key forced fumble.
The Broncos are back on the road and head to Buffalo to take on the Bulls on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
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