2016 MAC Championship Game

August 2023 MAC Championship Game Marathon Conference Championship 2016 MAC Championship Game.jpg The Ohio University Bobcats line up on offense against the Western Michigan University Broncos December 2 2016 2016 Ford Field Detroit, Michigan Western Michigan Broncos 12–0 13 14 17 P. J. Fleck 6 17 3 3 Ohio Bobcats 8–4 Frank Solich 0 7 13 3 Corey Davis (WR, WMU) Western Michigan by 16.5 45,615 ESPN2/IMG College Adam Amin, Mack Brown, Molly McGrath (ESPN2)David Shumate, Jon Jansen (IMG College) The 2016 MAC Championship Game was an NCAA Division I college football conference championship game for the Mid-American Conference (MAC). It was the 20th MAC Football Championship Game and was played at Ford Field in Detroit on Friday, December 2, 2016, televised on ESPN2.MAC Announces 2016 Football Regular Season Schedule http://www.mac-sports.com/news/2016/2/22/FB_0222162125.aspx mac-sports.com The Mid-American Conference 12 October 2016 The game featured the East Division co-champion Ohio Bobcats against the outright West Division champion Western Michigan Broncos. Teams The Ohio Bobcats clinched their spot in the 2016 MAC Championship Game by beating Akron 9–3 in their final regular season game. They tied with divisional rival Miami for the East title, but advanced to the MAC title game by virtue of their 17–7 win at Miami on October 1. Under 12th year head coach Frank Solich, the Bobcats finished the regular season with an 8–4 record, with key wins coming against Kansas and Toledo. Ohio finished 1–1 against Power 5 teams; they lost to Tennessee (from the SEC) and beat Kansas (from the Big 12). The Western Michigan Broncos earned a spot in the 2016 MAC Championship Game after winning the MAC West outright by defeating Toledo 55–35 in their final home game. Under fourth year head coach P. J. Fleck, the Broncos finished the regular season with a perfect record, defeating both Big Ten Conference teams they faced (Northwestern and Illinois). The Broncos also defeated archrival Central Michigan for the third straight year by a score of 49–10. Game summary The Broncos opened the game with two first-quarter field goals, and the first quarter ended 6–0 in favor of the undefeated Broncos. Western Michigan had outscored opponents 135–59 in the first quarter during the season. They started the second quarter with their third field goal of the game, and extended their lead to nine. Ohio got on the scoreboard in the second quarter with an eight-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Greg Windham to Jordan Reid and cut the Broncos' lead to three, the closest the game had been since WMU's first field goal. The Broncos responded with two passing touchdowns and led at the half, 23–7. The Bobcats opened the third quarter with a touchdown inside the first two minutes to bring Ohio within 10 points as the extra point was no good. Broncos' kicker Butch Hampton responded with just under 3:30 left in the quarter with his fourth field goal of the game. The Bobcats cut the lead to six points with just over a minute left in the third quarter as Windham connected with Papi White for a 31-yard touchdown pass and the third quarter ended with Western Michigan leading 26–20. Ohio cut the Broncos' lead to three with 7:14 left in the final quarter after Louie Zervos kicked his first field goal of the game, from 37 yards. WMU kicker Butch Hampton improved to five-for-five on field goals on the game with 1:24 left in the fourth quarter to extend Western Michigan's lead to six. Ohio's would-be game-winning drive was abruptly cut short when Windham's pass was intercepted over the middle by Robert Spillane with 0:51 left in the game. Western Michigan took over and ran out the clock to with the MAC Championship. Scoring summary WMU OHIO 1 6:40 WMU 6 28 2:40 FG 42 Butch Hampton 3 0 1 5:31 WMU 4 7 1:02 FG 27 Butch Hampton 6 0 2 9:42 WMU 17 77 9:03 FG 21 Butch Hampton 9 0 2 8:08 OHIO 4 73 1:29 RecTD Jordan Reid Greg Windham 8 good Louie Zervos 9 7 2 7:49 WMU 1 70 0:19 RecTD Corey Davis Zach Terrell 70 good Butch Hampton 16 7 2 0:36 WMU 5 54 0:55 RecTD Carrington Thompson Zach Terrell 8 good Butch Hampton 23 7 3 13:55 OHIO 1 5 0:06 RecTD Greg Windham Greg Windham 5 no good Louie Zervos 23 13 3 3:28 WMU 4 5 1:32 FG 33 Butch Hampton 26 13 3 1:09 OHIO 5 81 2:19 RecTD Papi White Greg Windham 31 good Louie Zervos 26 20 4 7:14 OHIO 13 48 5:05 FG 37 Louie Zervos 26 23 4 1:24 WMU 12 56 5:50 FG 33 Butch Hampton 29 23 29 23 Western Michigan vs Ohio No. 17 Western Michigan Ohio 6 17 3 3 0 7 13 3 December 2, 2016 Ford FieldDetroit, MI 6:00 pm 45,615 Indoors Adam Amin (Play-by-Play), Mack Brown (Analyst) ESPN2 Statistics Statistics WMU OHIO First downs 21 14 Third down efficiency 4–15 5–12 Rushes–yards 44–114 22–37 Passing yards 301 214 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 20–32–2 14–31–1 Time of possession 37:45 22:15 Category Team Player StatisticsPassing WMU Zach Terrell (QB) 20/32, 301 yds, 2 TD, 2 INTOHIO Greg Windham (QB) 14/30, 214 yds, 3 TD, 1 INTRushing WMU Jamauri Bogan (RB) 26 att, 73 ydsOHIO Greg Windham (QB) 3 att, 14 ydsReceiving WMU Corey Davis (WR) 9 rec, 155 yds, 1 TDOHIO Papi White (WR) 2 rec, 98 yds, 1 TD References Championship Game Category:MAC Championship Game Category:Ohio Bobcats football games Category:Western Michigan Broncos football games Category:American football competitions in Detroit Category:December 2016 sports events in the United States MAC Championship MAC Championship