Broncos improve to 3-0 in MAC play with their third 45+ point showing of 2024.
The Western Michigan Broncos and Buffalo Bulls are no stranger to the concept of points. After all, the 2017 meeting between the MAC opponents set the FBS record for points as the Broncos outlasted the Bulls 71-68 in a bizarre 7-overtime affair.
Saturday’s installment of Western Michigan vs. Buffalo didn’t feature a single overtime, but the points were still prevalent. The Broncos once again held the upper-hand, defeating the Bulls for the fourth-straight time in a 48-41 high-flying shootout.
Western Michigan is no stranger to games unfolding in this fashion, as the Broncos previously bested Ball State 45-42 earlier in the month. Lance Taylor’s team once again unleashed an assertive offense which reached 45 points for the third time in 2024. Quarterback Hayden Wolff completed 20-of-31 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns. All three of Wolff’s touchdowns landed in the gloves of his tight end Blake Bosma who saw a career performance with 85 yards on six receptions. But the Wolff-Bosma connection wasn’t the only source of points. Running back Jaden Nixon also earned a personal hat trick, scoring three times in a standout 112-yard day.
Buffalo also enjoyed its most prolific offensive performance in quite some time, breaking the 40-point barrier for the first time since Sept. 24, 2022. Bulls quarterback CJ Ogbonna shattered his season high with 309 passing yards when his previous best stood at 185. Ogbonna delivered a pair of touchdown passes — one to Victor Snow and another to Taji Johnson. Ogbonna received tremendous support from the run game which collected 242 yards and three touchdowns on over seven yards per carry, highlighted by Al-Jay Henderson’s 97 yards.
Defense oftentimes seemed optional as the teams combined for 1,040 yards, still falling a couple hundred yards short of the 1,328 produced in the 7-overtime matchup from 2017.
Buffalo held a 10-7 advantage after 15 minutes, but Western Michigan caught fire in the second quarter with three-straight touchdowns to launch the period. The Broncos established a 35-17 lead in the middle of the third quarter on one of Nixon’s touchdowns. However, the game was anything but decided as Ogbonna and the Bulls rapidly fired back. By the 11-minute mark of the fourth quarter, Buffalo knotted the game at 38 apiece on a 57-yard scamper by Henderson, followed by a successful two-point conversion.
Immediately after Henderson’s touchdown, Western Michigan nearly answered with one of its own as Jordin Parker raced 75 yards on the ensuing kickoff. The Broncos’ brief offensive possession stalled, but they still notched a field goal to claim a 41-38 lead. Then after forcing a rare Buffalo three-and-out, Western Michigan gained cushion on a productive drive capped by a 54-yard highlight touchdown run by Nixon where he hurdled one defender and shed off a hit from another oncoming tackler en route to the end zone.
Buffalo answered with a late field goal, but the Bulls never received the ball again trailing by one possession. Western Michigan needed to gamble to seal the game, attempting a 4th and 1 from its own 34. The Broncos unsurprisingly relied on Nixon to generate that yard, and he earned it by a thin margin to wrap up the offensive barnburner.
Buffalo (4-3, 2-1 MAC) dropped its first MAC game of the Pete Lembo era after previously upending Northern Illinois and Toledo. The Bulls remain in the conference title picture after its most inspiring offensive performance in years, traveling to Ohio next Saturday to round out the month of October.
Western Michigan (4-3, 3-0 MAC) is the only MAC team still unscathed in conference play. Buffalo represents the Broncos’ most impressive win as the first above-.500 team Lance Taylor’s team handled this season. Western Michigan, seeking its first MAC title game appearance since the historic 2016 campaign, continues its journey next Saturday, hosting winless Kent State at Waldo Stadium.