Western Michigan seizes control of MAC title fate, slows Parker Navarro in 17-13 win over Ohio

Kalamazoo — Lance Taylor needed to reel himself back in at halftime.

Western Michigan trailed by four points and had been playing poorly in an intense, high-stakes game. The winner would have the inside track to make the MAC title game. But for as bad as his team had played, trailing by four at halftime meant the Broncos were right in the game. 

“We were down four points, had not played very well, but we were right in the football game,” Taylor said. “And that's where you want to be. Like, you wanna be in the fight against a really good football team, defending MAC champs. I mean, they just beat Miami (OH) in a rivalry game. I mean, they're a really good football team. And so I really had to talk myself off the ledge as I came into half and be positive because we were right where we wanted to be, and all we had to do was focus on our job in the second half and just execute a little bit better.”

Western Michigan (6-4, 5-1 MAC) did just that, winning its bout with Ohio (6-4, 4-2) on senior night in a MACtion game, staying in the thick of a bigger fight: The MAC title race. And as the Broncos got bowl eligible and are winners of six of their last seven games, Tuesday’s performance was something of a microcosm for the season. While it took the offense a while to find its footing, the defense pitched a gem, frustrating and flustering the Bobcats and quarterback Parker Navarro, making enough plays to win a close, low-scoring battle. 

With two regular season games remaining, at Northern Illinois next Tuesday and at Eastern Michigan to close the season a week after that, the Broncos are right in the thick of it. 

Western Michigan is now 5-1 in the MAC and can be in first place in the league alone by the end of Wednesday if Toledo beats Miami (OH) and Central Michigan beats Buffalo in other mid-week MACtion games. The Redhawks and Bulls entered the week tied atop the league with WMU and Ohio at 4-1 in conference play. 

And with Buffalo playing Miami (OH) and Ohio after the Chippewas, all Western Michigan needs to do is win its final two contests to guarantee a spot at Ford Field.

“The ability to just stay up, stay and be consistent each week has really been our formula for success,” Taylor said. “We're not gonna change anything as we move forward this week. We've gotta continue to show up and work for it.”

On Tuesday against the Bobcats, it was the Western Michigan defense providing an early spark. The Broncos kicked off and, on the fifth play from scrimmage, senior safety Tate Hallock swooped down from a robber position to intercept Navarro on a pass toward the left hash.

Hallock returned his interception 37 yards, getting tackled at the Ohio 33, setting up a 46-yard Palmer Domschke field goal three plays later. 

“I don't think he did,” Hallock said on whether or not Navarro ever saw him on the play. “Uh, we've been working on it all week. Uh, they loved the little glance route, so just saw my opportunity and just took it.”

The defense, as it has all season for the Western Michigan, made life hell for the opposing offense. 

Ohio finished with 287 yards of offense, went 3-of-11 on third downs and got held under 14 points for just the second time this year. The other team to keep the Bobcats down so effectively? Ohio State. 

And Navarro, the man at the center of Western Michigan’s game plan, went 8-for-19 for 70 yards and the interception as a passer. 

Along with Hallock’s early interception, the Broncos defensive backs were sticky on routes and challenging throws down the field all night. Multiple throws from Navarro were nearly intercepted for a second time, including one where Hallock got his hands on the ball near the goal line. 

After the performance, Taylor praised the secondary for its growth to round out what has been a fearsome defense driving much of WMU’s success. 

“I thought all night our defense in the secondary continued to plaster and play really tough contesting plays, make everything contested,” Taylor said. “Uh, and I'm really proud of that group. I think they've grown maybe the most on our defense.”

One aspect of Navarro’s game did help him outfox the Broncos in a number of key moments and pick up a few of the Bobcats’ conversions: His slippery nature as a runner. 

Multiple times, it appeared Navarro got hemmed in by rushers only to find a gap and shoot out for a positive gain. Other times defenders had hands on him in the backfield only for Navarro to spin out of their grasp. 

He erased open field angles with his speed and the frustrations began to mount as the Broncos struggled to corral Navarro. 

As Navarro coasted out of bounds on a 20-yard scramble on Ohio’s 17-play, 10-plus minute scoring drive in the second half, WMU cornerback Jarvarius Franklin, one of the nearest defenders, stuck his hands out with his palms up, exasperation at trying, and failing, to contain Navarro on the ground. 

“I would say the first half we got frustrated,” Hallock said. “He's just so elusive and so good and he's the best in the conference to do it and probably one of the best in the country too, to be honest with you. We just had to get a better game plan to, you know, just wrap up to be honest. Do your job, doing your 1/11th.”

Navarro did finish with 18 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown, but the Broncos eventually found a way to get to him when it mattered most. 

In what Taylor called a “refuse to lose” moment from the defense, Ohio had a little more than two minutes left on the clock, three timeouts and 80 yards to go to try and take a lead. 

That drive ended four plays later and 10 yards backwards, as Nadame Tucker came up with a sack and Navarro’s eventual 4th and 20 pass attempt fell incomplete. 

“You saw, one, a group that believed in each other, believed that we were going to find a way to win that game,” Taylor said. “And then no matter what happened, a refuse to lose mentality. We were not gonna be affected.”

A bungling of the end-game clock management didn’t matter, either, as the defense came back out and shut down the Bobcats on a desperation drive with no timeouts. 

Then the offense, after putting up 14 second half points behind a road-grading series to start the third quarter and another score set up on Tailique Williams’ making yet another clutch play, this time a 71-yard catch and run on a play that looked doomed, finally took a knee. 

For as poorly as the Broncos started on offense, the defense kept them in it. And eventually, the offense found its stride and pushed Western Michigan to a win. 

“I've been here for the last three years and, you know, the first two years we couldn't finish,” Hallock said. “We couldn't finish. And this year that's all we've done is finish. Toledo and this game, just finishing that fourth quarter and getting the job done is, it's amazing to watch.”

It’s a recipe that’s resulted in winning six of their last seven games after an 0-3 start, one that keeps leading to wins one way or another, and a formula that now has Western Michigan in the driver’s seat to make the MAC title game in Detroit in December.