CMU sends shockwave through Stillwater
Hail Mary touchdown pass punctuates fourth quarter that featured three lead changes, two interceptions and the one play the entire country was talking about
Junior receiver Corey Willis was in the wrong place at the right time, and it put him and his team in position to go down in Central Michigan football history.
Trailing 27-24 with 0:00 on the clock, senior receiver Jesse Kroll caught a Hail Mary pass nine yards short of the end zone and tossed the ball to Willis. Then Willis dashed toward the end zone and reached over the goal line capping a 30-27 win over No. 22 Oklahoma State in front of tens of thousands of stunned fans on Saturday.
“He was supposed to be behind me,” Kroll said. "Corey is awesome. I don't know if anybody else in the entire stadium could've made that play...That's something you don't see everyday."
After the touchdown, the Chippewas entire bench sprinted onto the field and met Willis in the back of the end zone to celebrate the victory in front of thousands of stunned Oklahoma State fans.
"That place got really really quiet," said head coach John Bonamego. "I could've ordered a hot dog from the field, up in the press box, it was that quiet."
The Chippewas snapped Oklahoma State’s 15-game winning streak over unranked opponents and their 5-0 record against Mid-American Conference teams.
“They’re a great football team,” Bonamego said during Saturday’s press conference. “This is a great victory for us, great victory for our program and I don’t even know what to say to be honest. I’m still shaking.”
For Willis, scoring the touchdown created a moment he said he would carry with him for the rest of his life, and for his teammate Kroll.
“I feel like if I don’t make that play, I would never have lived that down for the rest of my life,” Willis said. “I had to do my job. Jesse made the biggest play. He had to go up with two guys. All I’ve got to do is run to the end zone.”
Not only did CMU overcome being picked to lose by three touchdowns, it gave the Chippewas their first victory over a ranked opponent since a 20-3 win over Michigan State in 1991.
“I usually don’t pay attention to the (betting) lines, but I think we started the week off 20-point underdogs,” Bonamego said. “We were kind of playing with house money a little bit. We didn’t have anything to lose and everything to gain.”
The victory didn’t come without controversy.
In the play preceding the Hail Mary, Oklahoma State was called for intentional grounding on fourth down with no time left on the clock.
Because the penalty resulted in a loss of downs, the referees awarded CMU with one last play.
However, Bill Carollo, coordinator of MAC Football Officials, said the officiating crew made an error on the call and CMU should not have received the ball.
"The crew made a misapplication of the rule and should not have extended the contest with one final play," he said.
On Sunday, the MAC and Big 12 suspended both officiating crews for two games.
Despite the criticism surrounding the win, CMU exited Stillwater with a 2-0 record heading into its matchup at Kelly/Shorts Stadium against UNLV next Saturday.
“I want (the players) to enjoy it, I’m going to enjoy it,” Bonamego said, “but tomorrow we’ll go grade the tape and we’ll start working on UNLV.”
Bonamego said he expects the win to serve as a momentum builder for his team moving forward.
“If anything I think it gives us motivation,” he said. “We now know what we’re capable of."
Senior quarterback Cooper Rush and the Chippewas came close to knocking off top teams before, but they let the opportunity slip away.
On Saturday, however, CMU’s fortunes changed for the good.
“It feels great,” Rush said. “We knew we were right there and we knew we had the opportunities last season, and to be able to pull it off feels wonderful.”
The Chippewas were greeted by tons of fans and the CMU band when they returned to Mount Pleasant late Saturday night.
"We didn't need a plane, we could've floated back," Bonamego said.
For Kroll — who also played a key role in CMU's Hail Mary touchdown in the 2014 Bahamas Bowl —sharing this moment with the CMU fans and seeing the support for the team when they pulled into the Kelly/Shorts parking lot was icing on the cake for the sixth-year senior.
“I love this university,” Kroll said. “It means a lot to be able to do something meaningful for everyone here.”
