WMU kicker ends Central comeback
Mike Dzikowski
Western Michigan redshirt freshman kicker Robert Menchinger had other ideas. Menchinger made a 23-yard field goal as time expired, giving WMU the 20-17 win.
“I told them that if they got inside of the 30-yard line, I would win the game for them,” Menchinger said.
The field goal came after a 14-play, 70-yard CMU drive that tied the game.
The Chippewas, (3-7 overall and 2-6 in the MAC) drive started when WMU quarterback Jon Drach was stopped on fourth down and two at the CMU 27-yard line.
CMU drove 70 yards, 34 of them on the feet of Terrence Jackson. Jackson ran for 153 yards on 39 carries, his seventh straight game with more than 100 yards, bringing his season total to 1,114.
The Chippewas drove down to the WMU seven yard line as the game came down to a fourth down and four.
Gorney rolled out to his right and connected with Turner for the score.
“I had two guys in the area being covered by one of their players,” Gorney said. “I was really hesitant on who to throw to.”
That hesitation proved to pay off as Turner became open seconds before Gorney unleashed the ball.
“I wasn’t going to run the ball on fourth and four, get booed and then fired. I personally thought it was a hell of a call,” DeBord said.
Western’s Anthony Turner picked up Paul Savich’s squib kick and returned it 26 yards to the WMU 44 yard line.
CMU stuck with the squib kick instead of kicking it deep because of the talent WMU (5-5 overall and 4-3 in the MAC) has on special teams.
“They have such an explosive return game, I didn’t want them to run the ball up the middle on us with their speed,” DeBord said.
The second half was a battle of field position as CMU’s average start was at its own 23 yard line while WMU’s average start was at its 42.
Bronco quarterback Jon Drach and the rest of the WMU offense drove 50 yards in 55 seconds on six plays.
The key play of the drive was Drach, who appeared to be sacked, switching the ball to his left hand and tossing it to Benny Clark for a first down.
“He (the CMU defender) had my right hand so I flipped it with my left hand,” Drach said.
Clark took the ball down to the six-yard line two plays later, setting up the kick.
“We had timeouts left so we ran the ball. We were trying to get the ball in the center of the field, and if you gain yards, its a bonus. It worked out to our advantage,” Drach said.
The kick was good and WMU pulled out the victory and fourth place in the Mid-American Conference’s West Division.
“I knew it was good when I kicked it, but I watched it. You don’t get an opportunity to watch too many of those,” Menchinger said.
The loss at Western extends WMU’s home winning streak against the Chippewas as CMU has not won in Kalamazoo since 1993.
“It was just an amazing range of emotions,” Gorney said. “We put together a great drive and thought we were headed for overtime. But they came right back and won it.”
WMU had two scoring opportunities in the first half as the Broncos had a bad snap on the CMU five yard line but were unable to attempt the field goal.
And on fourth and one at the Chippewas 28-yard line, WMU was stopped.
“In retrospect now, I think there were about four calls I wouldn’t have made,” said WMU Head Coach Gary Darnell.
At the end of the first half WMU called a timeout as the CMU offense was unable to move the ball setting up a punting situation. The Chippewas let the clock run down leaving as little time left as possible.
“Before the timeout we had a punt return on, but after their timeout we switched to a punt block,” Darnell said.
The punt-block defense worked as Brian Brandt’s punt was blocked and rolled into the endzone giving, Western a 7-0 halftime lead.
The Chippewas have lost three games this season by less than ten points.
“I have talked to a lot of coaches, and all of them told me that this would be the most difficult year,” DeBord said. “They said we would be in a lot of close games this season but not pull them out.”
CMU travels to Boise State (7-4 overall and 6-2 MAC) Saturday for a 4 p.m. game. This game is a make-up from the events canceled in light of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Boise State, who is in the bowl hunt, is led on the ground by Brock Forsey who has rushed for 987 yards this season. Ryan Dinwiddie leads them through the air completing 201- of-321 passes for 3043 yards.
