WMU endures both the conditions and a sloppy contest with Akron to get their first conference victory late Saturday night.
“When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in,” Haruki Murakami wrote in Kafka on the Shore. “That’s what this storm’s all about.”
Kafka on the Shore is a story centered on attempting to escape your fate and finding the resolve to persevere through great personal strife, a lesson both the Western Michigan Broncos (3-3, 1-1 MAC) and Akron Zips (1-6, 0-2 MAC) had to learn in real time in a rollicking, back-and-forth contest which ended up as one of the most bizarre games of the 2024 season.
There were, on this particular night, three storms to contend with in the literal and figurative senses— including one which delayed the game for five hours and five minutes— but WMU would pull through in the end, taking home the 34-24 victory over the Akron Zips late Saturday night.
The first storm for the Broncos to contend with was a flurry of Akron offensive scores.
The Zips jumped all over the Broncos to start the contest, with the defense forcing the WMU offense to three punts and a turnover-on-downs on the first four possessions. The Akron attack played perfect complimentary football, posting three of their best drives of the season, needing just 14 plays to rack up 17 points on a Garrison Smith field goal and two Tahj Bullock rushing touchdowns to hold the three-score lead with 14:16 to go in the first half.
The second storm would create adversity early in the second quarter, completely changing the timbre of the game. Through driving hail, the Akron defense once again forced a quick WMU punt on their next possession.
The boot by Ryan Millmore flew 51 yards in to the waiting hands of Jordan Castleberry— but he couldn’t hold on as the hail continued to fall, muffing the catch and allowing Western’s Josh Franklin to recover the ball in the endzone to give WMU their first score of the day to bring the game to a 17-7 margin with 12:03 to go.
The special teams score ignited the Broncos, as two straight turnovers forced by the defense— a forced fumble by Aaron Wofford recovered by Bilhal Kone and an interception by Isaiah Paul— were turned into a Hayden Wolff-to-Kenneth Womack passing score and a Broc Lowry QB keeper rushing score to take the 21-17 lead with 2:34 remaining.
Special teams once again came through to bookend the Broncos scoring account in the second quarter with a Luka Zurak field goal from 39 yards out to push the lead to 24-17 at the halftime break.
The Zips put together their best drive of the day to start the second half, driving 77 yards over 11 plays before Jordon Simmons capped off the effort with a four-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game back up at 24-all with 10:37 to go in the third quarter.
With the scoreboard balanced, the Zips defense bowed up and forced a turnover-on-downs on WMU’s ensuing possession, with Hayden Wolff’s deep-shot prayer from the Akron 33-yard line falling incomplete in part thanks to Bryan McCoy’s incoming pressure.
But once again, Akron’s offense did not play up to the moment, as Ben Finley failed to connect on a deep shot with Bobby Golden on first down then lost three yards on a QB keeper on second down before fumbling the ball on third-and-13. Popeye Williams would recover the loose ball, and Kaevion Mack scored on a 10-yard reception three plays later to put the Broncos back up 31-24.
The weather would be too much to bear after that score, as the game’s “third” storm would produce enough lightning and severe weather to delay the game for over five hours. After initial skepticism the game could go on, both teams would both take the field to resume play at 11:05 p.m. Eastern time.
Akron’s first full drive ended in a punt, while Western’s first drive ended in a Luka Zurak field goal, putting the score at its ultimate 34-24 final score with 11:28 remaining.
The Zips did mount a late comeback attempt, with Garrison Smith attempting a 34-yard field goal to try and get Akron in position for an onsides/quick score combo, but the kick was declared wide left— much to the consternation of the Zips— allowing WMU to go into victory formation.
Hayden Wolff finished 17-of-25 for 191 yards and two touchdowns for WMU, with Jalen Buckley eclipsing 100 yards for the first time in 2024 after coming off an early injury. Zahir Abdus-Salaam led the Broncos with nine carries for 49 yards. Malique Dieudonne led WMU in receiving yards (48) on three catches, with Kenneth Womack (four catches, 46 yards) and Kaevion Mack (two catches, 24 yards) each scoring once.
Bilhal Kone led the Broncos in tackles with 10 total (eight solo) and had a fumble recovery, while Aaron Wofford had six tackles, a team-leading three pass break-ups and a forced fumble.
For Akron, Ben Finley finished 24-of-36 for 395 yards and two turnovers (one fumble, one interception.) Tahj Bullock led the scoring attack for the Zips from the QB position, scoring twice on the ground and recording stats three different ways, with four carries for 14 yards, 18 yards on 2-of-2 passing and four receptions for 54 yards (third-best receiver in both categories.)
Adrian Norton had another great day at receiver, hauling in eight catches for 168 yards, while Jordon Simmons once again contributed in both the rushing and receiving games with 63 rushing yards and 97 receiving yards.
The Akron defense did the best they could given the situations they were asked to cover. New Hampshire transfer Nathan Kapongo topped the charts with nine tackles (six solo) and 1.5 tackles-for-loss on the day. Kabbask Richards and Bennett Adler also notched 1.5 TFLs on the day for Akron, while three Zips each notched a pass break-up.
WMU gets set to face a Buffalo squad fresh off an upset of Toledo next Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, while Akron looks forward to the BYE week.