PITTSBURGH, PA (WKZO AM/FM) — The Western Michigan football team defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers, 44-41, on the road in front of 40,581 fans at Heinz Field on Saturday afternoon.
The win is the first over a Power 5 conference team for head coach Tim Lester.
The Broncos put up 510 yards of offense on Pitt and held the ball for a season-high 40:15, limiting them to just 19:45 with the ball. Sophomore quarterback Kaleb Eleby had a season-high 337 yards passing with three touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver and Pittsburgh-area native Skyy Moore had a career-high 11 receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown in front of friends and family. Fellow wideout Corey Crooms had a career-high eight receptions and a career-best 161 yards and a touchdown.
On the ground, the Broncos totaled 160 yards thanks two the two-pronged attack of Sean Tyler and La’Darius Jefferson. Tyler had a game-high 84 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown, he also caught three passes and a touchdown. Jefferson rushed for two touchdowns and 78 yards on a game-high 22 carries.
WMU recorded a season-high three turnovers on defense with two fumble recoveries and an interception. Junior linebacker Zaire Barnes had a career-high 10 tackles, two tackles for loss, and both fumble recoveries. Middle linebacker Corvin Moment had six tackles and forced a fumble. Senior defensive end had a key sack late in the game, while Braden Fiske had WMU’s other sack on the game.
With time winding down in the fourth quarter the Broncos held 44-34 lead until Panther quarterback Kenny Pickett threw his sixth touchdown of the game to cut the lead to three with just 3:48 left to play. Western Michigan started the drive on its 25 after a touch back and quickly got sent back to its 22 after a three-yard loss on the first running play. Jefferson ran it for six yards on the next play to give the Broncos a big third and seven on their own 28. Eleby found Crooms for the eighth time on the afternoon for the first down. Two plays later Tyler cracked off a 34-yard run to force the Panthers to take their final timeout. Eleby handed it off to Jefferson for three straight plays to kill the clock and earn the victory.
After the Broncos punted twice and the Panthers punted once, Pitt got the ball with 8:18 left in the first quarter and took a quick 7-0 lead on a 67-yard touchdown pass from Pickett to Jordan Addison.
It was the only time in the game that Pittsburgh held the lead because the Broncos responded with a 10-play 75-yard scoring drive capped off by a one-yard run by Tyler to tie it up at 7-7. Eleby completed four passes on the drive and the Panthers committed two pass interference penalties, including one in the endzone before Tyler jumped over the pile and into the endzone.
Moment forced Picket to fumble on a quarterback draw on the next drive, with Barnes snatching the ball up at the Pittsburgh 41-yard line. On the next play Eleby threaded the needed to Jaylen Hall to get down to the three-yard line before Jefferson punched it in from one-yard out to take a 14-7 lead.
The Panthers were forced to punt on their next drive and WMU took over on its 46-yard line after a shanked punt. Eleby connected with Moore to push into PITT territory and then four plays later found him over the middle on a slant route for 30 yards and a touchdown, pushing ahead 20-7 after a mixed extra point.
The Panthers scored on two of their next three drives to tie it up at 20-20. After a punt by Nick Mihallic, Pittsburgh was pushed back to its own 17. On the first play of PITT’s drive, Picket fumbled the exchange on the handoff and Barnes swooped in to pick it up and run down to the nine before being tackled. Two plays later Eleby found Tyler out of the backfield and he walked in for the touchdown to take a 27-20 lead.
On the next PITT drive Darius Jackson intercepted Pickett to give the Broncos the ball at the 43-yard line of Pittsburgh. WMU’s drive stalled due to penalties and the Panthers took over on their own 31 after a punt. Pittsburgh scored four plays later on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Pickett to Addison.
The teams went into the half squared away at 27-27.
WMU forced a three-and-out to start the third quarter but had a drive of its own stall at the Pittsburgh 29-yard line after Tyler was stopped on a fourth-and-two running play.
The Bronco defense forced another three and out by the Panthers on the next drive and took over on their own 44. After Tyler rushed for two yards Eleby connected with Crooms over the middle. Crooms broke a tackle and took it the distance for a 54-yard touchdown and WMU went ahead 34-27.
Pittsburgh scored on the next drive to tie it up with Picket throwing his fifth touchdown of the game, this time to Krull from 24-yards out.
The Broncos responded again, this time with a seven-play 75-yard touchdown drive. Another pass interference penalty on the Panthers helped move the chain for WMU and then Eleby connected with Crooms for 25 yards to get down to the Pittsburgh 29. Tyler broke off a 14-yard run down to the Panther five-yard line as the third quarter expired. Jefferson ran it twice and into the endzone to open the fourth quarter, putting the Broncos ahead 41-34.
Pittsburgh drove down into WMU territory but stalled and attempted to go for it on fourth and eight from the Bronco 48-yard line. Pickett dropped back to pass and was sacked by Ali Fayad, giving WMU the ball back on PITT’s 38. Western Michigan moved deeper into Panther territory but a big sack by the Panthers forced the Broncos to attempt a field goal. Parker Sampson connected from 29-yards out on the eventual game-winning field goal.
Western Michigan returns home to take on the reigning Mountain West Champions San Jose State on Saturday at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX or online at www.wmubroncos.com.
ALL CONTENT IN THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY THE STAFF AT WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
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