2008 Week 13

Chris May had enough.

The junior free safety from Eastern Michigan was tired of going into retreat mode every time Central Michigan had the football. The Chippewas have the most potent offense in the Mid-American Conference, one which the Hurons were powerless to stop all day long.

Finally, May took matters into his own hands.

May forced a fumble that the Hurons recovered as the Chippewas were on the verge of taking a late lead and ended CMU's comeback hopes with an interception, enabling Eastern Michigan to pull off its biggest victory of B-Dawg's two-year tenure, a 44-41 decision on Nov. 25, 2008.

The Hurons' fourth victory in their last five games squared their record at 6-6, making them bowl-eligible. Now comes the wait to see if that will be good enough to get EMU into the postseason or if B-Dawg's next task will be to begin parlaying this success into an improved recruiting class. CMU came in with a 9-2 record, 6-1 in the MAC.

"My team really needed a game like this, but I needed it even more," B-Dawg said. "I began the night attempting to start a Madden franchise. Well, trailing 31-0 late in the first half, with all five drives ending in turnovers, I removed the stench of Madden from my PS3 and put NCAA back in. This was the most fun game I've played so far in NCAA '08. It's as if the NCAA gods were saying, 'Come back, B-Dawg. This is your home.' Win or lose, this was an incredibly fun game to play. Life is good. Life is real good."

Both teams exchanged punches like two great heavyweights duking it out. Neither flinched until May forced two late turnovers to give the Hurons the edge. There were an incredible nine lead changes before Eastern took the lead for good on Dwayne Harrison's 1-yard run with 4:13 remaining.

That was still plenty of time for the high-powered Chips to do some damage. With 91 OVR Dan LeFevour at the controls, Central once again moved easily down the field and deep into Eastern territory. A third-and-three pass to Sam Williams appeared to get the Chips closer to an inevitable touchdown, but Williams was drilled by May and coughed up the ball. It was recovered by EMU strong safety Jacob Wyatt with 2:21 left in the game.

The Hurons, enjoying their best offensive output in B-Dawg's two seasons, couldn't run out the clock and gave the ball back to CMU with 1:40 left. On third-and-11, however, May picked off a pass with 52 seconds to go. EMU chose to punt on fourth-and-inches from CMU's 45-yard line, leaving the Chips only three seconds to get something done from their own 20. A Hail Mary fell incomplete as time expired.

It was the second straight fourth-quarter comeback for the Hurons, who were able to score 17 points in the final eight seconds of the first three quarters.

The biggest play in B-Dawg's mind, however, came early in the game. CMU had marched easily down the field to take a 7-0 lead on the first of two touchdown catches by Bryan Anderson. However, Dontayo Gage returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for his second touchdown on a kick return this season.

"That was Dontayo's way of grabbing us all by our collective collars and saying, 'Not today, boys! We're not quitting! This is our game to win!'" B-Dawg said. "That gave us a huge boost in confidence. We wound up getting into a shoot-out with a team you don't want to be trading touchdowns with, but we got those two big turnovers and that was that."

There were two bizarre plays in this game that you won't see every day, both on back-to-back snaps.

Harrison fumbled the ball, but it was picked up by fellow halfback L.J. Robertson, who broke a tackle and went 40 yards for a touchdown with 6:24 left in the third quarter.

"Just the way we drew it up on the chalkboard," B-Dawg said with a smirk.

On the extra point, though, B-Dawg saw something he's never seen in a video game. Holder Andrew Schmitt appeared to stand up just before the extra point, then got back into his stance. The snap sailed past him and the play stopped as soon as the ball hit the ground, resulting in a failed extra point.

"In real life, your kicker could pick up the ball and try something," B-Dawg said. "I don't know if that was a glitch or if bad snaps are built into the game. It would be cool if they were, because they happen in real life."

Both offenses were unstoppable. EMU was 11-for-14 on third down, while CMU was 9-for-12 and punted only once.

EMU quarterback Tyler Jones had a pick-free game for the fourth time in his last five starts, going 10-for-16 for 171 yards and two touchdowns. He was also the Hurons' leading rusher, running 13 times for 79 yards and a touchdown out of the "option run" playbook.

The game got a Greatest Game score of 418.

"Way too low," B-Dawg said. "EA wasn't watching the same game I was."

If EMU qualifies for a bowl game, fullback Brandon Downs won't be able to play, unless it's the International Bowl in January. He suffered a torn pectoral muscle with 5:05 left in the second quarter and will be out for seven weeks.