Eight years have passed and the Broncos and Badgers are at it for the first time since sharing the New Year’s Six stage in 2016.
“Surreal” would be the only way to describe it.
Chants of “Row the Boat” echoed throughout AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX as one half of the grandiose venue was decorated in the colors of brown and gold. One of the largest conglomerations of Western Michigan fans gathered together over 1,000 miles south of campus. It was an experience many alumni never thought would come to fruition. But it did.
On January 2, 2017, the Western Michigan Broncos crashed the exclusive party of the New Year’s Six, toting an undefeated record into its most important game in program history, pitted against the Big Ten runner-up Wisconsin Badgers.
How did an underlooked team from Kalamazoo that had never attained as many as 10 victories before wind up on such a lofty stage at a world-class venue? It was a vision former head coach P.J. Fleck had when he first took the job in 2013. There were growing pains as the program bottomed out at 1-11 in Fleck’s first year at the helm. But the young head coach quickly established himself as one of college football’s chief motivators. He instilled his “Row the Boat” mantra in the program, drilling into his players that you use your past to create your future in a similar manner to the way one rows a boat — putting your oar in the water and looking in the rearview while progressing further.
That mantra, and several other Fleck sayings like “F.A.M.I.L.Y.” (forget about me, I love you) turned into more than just sayings. They were culture pillars that elevated that 1-11 team to the next level in 2014 when the program attained an 8-5 record in a dramatic turnaround. They were culture pillars that elevated that 1-11 team to the first bowl victory in program history in 2015 when the Broncos traveled to the international grounds of the Bahamas to upend Middle Tennessee for their first-ever bowl win. And of course, they were culture pillars that elevated that 1-11 team to an undefeated regular season in 2016, a MAC championship, and a historic season unlike any the Western Michigan Broncos had ever witnessed or seen since.
The famous 2016 Western Michigan squad did not produce its historic results without encountering adversity. In Week 1, Western Michigan traveled to Northwestern and barely skated by the Wildcats. A bizarre fumble-out-of-the-end-zone sequence combined with running back Jamauri Bogan’s game-winning touchdown with 5:38 remaining lifted the Broncos by the slimmest margins over the Wildcats, 22-21.
From there, they cooked with gas. Western Michigan began throttling opponents, ranging from another Big Ten foe in Illinois to its MAC competition, skating past its conference peers en route to an 12-0 record. The national attention amplified during this undefeated run as the Broncos were one of the two last unbeaten teams in the country, sharing this prestigious designation with Nick Saban’s dynasty at Alabama. Western Michigan’s undefeated status gained such ground in college football discourse that the Broncos hosted their first and only College GameDay appearance to showcase the program in a non-marquee matchup against a 2-8 Buffalo team.
Luring in a massive crowd of Bronco fans and alumni, Western Michigan not only impressed the GameDay crew during the three-hour spectacle in the morning — the Broncos proved their merit on the field in the afternoon by pitching a 38-0 shutout over the Bulls in a day dedicated to celebrating the university.
Western Michigan breezed through most of its regular season competition, devoid of a single one-score game other than that escape at Northwestern in the opening week. But the MAC Championship Game tested the Broncos in that manner again, as a feisty Ohio Bobcats team looked primed for an upset. Ohio was driving down the field eyeing a game-winning touchdown in the final minute when Western Michigan linebacker Robert Spillane captured a sealing interception that will forever be etched in the lore of the program. That interception essentially locked up an unthinkable opportunity for the Broncos — a chance to compete in a New Year’s Six bowl, becoming the first and only MAC team to achieve this honor in the College Football Playoff era.
Less than 48 hours after Spillane’s interception, Western Michigan learned of its destination. The Broncos were to face Wisconsin in the AT&T Cotton Bowl, set at the backdrop of AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. The anticipation surrounding the game was unlike any other Western Michigan fans experienced. Up until that point, not a single team in the three years of the College Football Playoff era pieced together an undefeated record, and Western Michigan was provided the opportunity to be the pioneer.
Equipped with a veteran quarterback in Zach Terrell, college football’s all-time leading receiving yards leader in Corey Davis, and a dangerous thunder and lightning tailback duo in Jamauri Bogan and Jarvion Franklin, the Broncos were ready to compete against their third Big Ten opponent of the year. However, shortly after kickoff, Wisconsin proved to be a step up in competition from any team Western Michigan collided with all season. The favored Badgers established an early 14-0 advantage on two possessions with ease, utilizing the playmaking of tight end Troy Fumagalli and the running back tandem of Corey Clement and Dare Ogunbowale.
Western Michigan countered with two mundane possessions that went nowhere, but the Broncos woke up after coming up empty-handed in the early going. Staying true to its identity, Fleck’s team launched a 16-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that hogged roughly nine minutes of possession. The slow and steady drive maneuvered its way to the red zone and at the goal line, Terrell worked his magic. Terrell called his own number on a QB bootleg, juking a Wisconsin defender out of his cleats en route to a 2-yard touchdown which provided life on the brown and gold side of the stadium.
The teams then traded field goals to obtain a score of 17-10 by the third quarter, and the underdog MAC team received two golden opportunities — back-to-back possessions with a chance to tie the ballgame. The first wound up in a midfield punt and Western Michigan’s defense survived that shortcoming. But the second opportunity resulted in a miscue that would ultimately spoil the Broncos’ bid at an undefeated season. On the first play of a drive initiating from the Western Michigan 3-yard line, former WMU commit T.J. Edwards intercepted Terrell, placing the Badgers in perfect position for a Fumagalli touchdown.
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Western Michigan did respond however, but the clock was not its friend during said response. The Broncos’ drive to slice the deficit to one possession cost nine minutes of game clock, but it ended in an unforgettable manner. On a 4th and 4 from the Wisconsin 11-yard line, Terrell hoisted the ball into the end zone while backpedaling to the receiver that helped put Western Michigan on the map. It was Terrell’s last collegiate throw, and it couldn’t have seen a more fitting result. The ball would up in the hands of college football’s all-time receiving yards leader in Davis, who fought through multiple Wisconsin defenders to snag the contested catch. It was the culmination of four years of working together, climbing from the cellar to the mountaintop, and despite the loss, there couldn’t have been a more perfect final connection as the QB and WR rode off into the sunset.
The play resulted in six points, and although an ensuing missed extra point quickly quelled the momentum, it didn’t end up mattering. A pivotal third down conversion to Fumagalli on Wisconsin’s final drive locked up a 24-16 Cotton Bowl victory for the Badgers, which ended Western Michigan’s inspiring journey to perfection.
Eight years have passed since and much has changed, especially within the Western Michigan program. The Broncos have yet to reach the lofty stage of the MAC Championship Game and not a single one of their MAC peers flirted with an undefeated regular season or the possibility of crashing the New Year’s Six party. Fleck departed for the Minnesota opening within a week’s timespan after the conclusion of the Cotton Bowl, and Western Michigan is currently on its second head coach since that magical run.
While Western Michigan hasn’t returned to that stage, the program’s connection with Wisconsin is unmistakable. The Broncos and Badgers haven’t squared off once since that Monday in January, but that changes Aug. 30, 2024. Western Michigan travels west to the Badger State to battle Wisconsin for the first time since that memorable spectacle at AT&T Stadium. The Badgers are just a football team, but the sight of the “Motion W” logo truly invokes a spirit within Western Michigan fans. It’s a spirit of hope, knowing that the program can truly accomplish when a culture is instilled and the players are built to overcome adversity.