2008 Week 10

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) - Brandon West has a way of inflicting maximum damage in a minimum amount of time against Eastern Michigan.

West, a junior halfback for Western Michigan, missed two quarters with a bruised thigh but scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns as the Broncos pulled away and beat the Hurons 29-3 on Nov. 8, 2008.

West ran 19 times for 77 yards and two touchdowns in limited duty, while gaining 27 yards on his only catch. West's absence meant that B-Dawg's boy from his abbreviated NCAA '06 'nasty, Kirk Elsworth, got some playing time. Elsworth scored on a 9-yard run in the third quarter of what had been a defensive struggle.

Last year, it was West who came off the bench when starter Mark Bonds was knocked out of the EMU game with an injury. West scored the winning touchdown with 1:30 remaining on an absolutely sick 3-yard run. He finished that game with 66 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

"The kid has our number, what can I say?" EMU coach B-Dawg said. "To make matters worse, we get to face him one more time next year. I guess no dynasty is complete without having some nemesis who seems to own you."

The Hurons (4-6, 2-4 MAC) had an outstanding defensive performance going as the game headed into the final four minutes. Eastern was still in the game, trailing only 9-3 when Sean Dutcher kicked a 38-yard field goal on fourth-and-five with 5:11 remaining.

Western (6-3, 5-1 MAC) seized momentum when West scored on a 2-yard run with 3:23 to go. The 2-pointer failed when Spenser Smith tackled quarterback Tim Hiller on an attempted play-action pass, but the Broncos poured it on after that to turn the game into a rout.

Robert Livington picked off a bullet pass that was thrown blindly to the left side of the screen which, thanks to EA's eternal genius, B-Dawg was unable to see on his standard-width television. Livingston returned the pick 65 yards for a touchdown with 2:20 left in the game.

"I know I've been pretty silent on this issue, but I really think it's a travesty that EA completely catered to wide-screen TV owners with this game," B-Dawg said. "It's quite possibly the worst gaffe ever on an EA game, worse than the lefty home run glitch in MVP 2004, worse than the lack of pancakes and offensive line progression in Madden 2003, worse than the jetpack cheese in Madden 2004, worse than (dare I say it?) plus-5 momentum in NCAA 2006."

Tyler Jones had trouble shaking off that interception, because he proceeded to throw one to Dustin Dulco on his next pass attempt. That set up an 11-yard touchdown run by West with 1:26 remaining.

The loss ended Eastern's two-game winning streak. B-Dawg was actually relieved to see his team lose.

"After those slider changes, we went out and won two in a row after getting punked a few times," B-Dawg said. "I'd hate to think I'd set up the sliders in such a way that the CPU could never score against us. Western wore us down in the fourth quarter, which you'd expect given the type of talent we have."

Jones had gone two straight games without throwing an interception and nearly made it three games in a row before the interception return by Livingston became the first of three picks by the Broncos in four pass attempts over a 1:11 span late in the game. Jones made a touchdown-saving tackle on a 27-yard interception return by Scott Gajos with 1:09 remaining.

Defensive tackle Brandon Slater had his third blocked extra point of the season following Elsworth's touchdown run.

Western quarterback Tim Hiller came in with 33 touchdown passes in eight games, but didn't throw one against the Hurons. His biggest achievement was not giving up a pick to the house. The Hurons have five interception returns for touchdowns this season.