2007 Week 9

YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) - Usually, it's B-Dawg who answers the questions during his postgame press conferences.

The tables were turned following Eastern Michigan's 26-19 loss to cross-state rival Western Michigan on Oct. 27, 2007.

It was B-Dawg who wanted to know the answer to one pressing question.

"Can anybody around here make a tackle?" he asked out loud.

At crunch time, when Eastern Michigan has really needed a stop, the answer has been a resounding, "No."

For the second time in three weeks, an opponent that was driving for a game-tying field goal wound up with the winning touchdown on a tackle-busting play. This time, it was backup halfback Brandon West of Western Michigan who did the honors, scoring on a 3-yard run with 1:30 left in the game to put the Broncos ahead in a 26-19 victory over the suddenly reeling Hurons.

It was Eastern's fifth straight loss after a 3-1 start. In two of those losses, the Hurons led with less than two minutes remaining, only to surrender a touchdown run in which the entire defense seemed to forget the basics of tackling.

Two weeks ago, it was Ohio's Kelvin McRae who slipped through three defenders and broke free from linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw on an 11-yard run with 1:08 left. That run put Ohio ahead 28-24 and the Bobcats tacked on a field goal to win 31-24.

This game was eerily similar. EMU was holding on to a 19-16 lead when Western moved its way into field goal range. The Broncos (6-3) were content to run the ball, which is a wise move against an EMU defense neutered by B-Dawg's defensive sliders. B-Dawg has his defensive AWR at 5 percent and his tackling at 45 percent.

West was in the game only because impact halfback Mark Bonds was knocked out of the game earlier. Perhaps the Hurons (3-6) roughed up the wrong player, because Bonds had only 17 yards on 12 carries, while West had 66 and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

Eastern took its 19-16 lead on quarterback Tyler Jones' 2-yard run with 3:21 remaining, but the defense was in full retreat mode on the next Western drive.

The winning touchdown came on an option pitch to the right side by quarterback Thomas Peregrin, who was nailed by Holtzclaw just after delivering the pitch. West juked free safety Zedrick Bryant, left cornerback Lyle Garrison searching for his jock, got a beneficial chop block by tight end Matt Stevens on linebacker Andre Hatchett, then kept his balance to walk into the end zone.

"I don't care what kind of sliders we have, I don't care what our players are rated," B-Dawg said. "My guys were made to look like fools on that play. If they have any ounce of dignity, they will be embarrassed when they watch the game film."

As was the case against Ohio, Eastern's attempt to come back was an unmitigated failure. Outside linebacker Austin Pritchard played like he was 13 feet tall to knock down two passes to the outside receiver, who was at least five yards behind him. On third down, Scott Gajos sacked Jones and on fourth down Dontayo Gage dropped a pass near the first-down marker with 45 seconds left.

Like in the Ohio game, Eastern's defense forced a field goal and had enough time to give it one more go. And, like in the Ohio game, sacks killed the drive. John Neely had a chance to break a short pass for a touchdown, but dropped the ball with five seconds left. Neely had inside position on the only player defending the right sideline.

The Hurons blew a 12-7 lead that included the first safety in this dynasty's history. Impact defensive tackle Jason Jones broke through and tackled Bonds in the end zone.

Eastern had 16 recruits visiting the game. They couldn't have been very impressed.

It was a huge win for Western, which stays in the hunt for the MAC Championship Game by improving to 3-2 in the league. Toledo leads the MAC West at 4-1. Eastern still has a shot at winning the West at 2-2, and can really help its case by winning next Tuesday at Toledo.

The game got a Greatest Game score of 345 points.