2016 MAC Championship Game

The 2016 MAC Championship Game was a NCAA Division I college football conference championship game for the Mid-American Conference (MAC). It was the 20th MAC Football Championship Game and was played at Ford Field in Detroit on Friday, December 2, 2016, televised on ESPN2.[1] The game featured the East Division co-champion Ohio Bobcats against the outright West Division champion Western Michigan Broncos.

2016 Marathon MAC Championship Game
Conference Championship
Western Michigan Broncos Ohio Bobcats
(12–0) (8–4)
29 23
Head coach: 
P. J. Fleck		 Head coach: 
Frank Solich
APCoachesCFP
131417
1234 Total
Western Michigan 61733 29
Ohio 07133 23
DateDecember 2, 2016
Season2016
StadiumFord Field
LocationDetroit, Michigan
FavoriteWMU −18.5
Attendance45,615
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN2/IMG College
AnnouncersAdam Amin, Mack Brown, Molly McGrath (ESPN2)
David Shumate, Jon Jansen (IMG College)
2016 Mid-American Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
Ohio xy  6 –2     8 –6  
Miami x  6 –2     6 –7  
Akron  3 –5     5 –7  
Bowling Green  3 –5     4 –8  
Kent State  2 –6     3 –9  
Buffalo  1 –7     2 –10  
West Division
No. 15 Western Michigan xy$  8 –0     13 –1  
Toledo  6 –2     9 –4  
Northern Illinois  5 –3     5 –7  
Eastern Michigan  4 –4     7 –6  
Central Michigan  3 –5     6 –7  
Ball State  1 –7     4 –8  
Championship: Western Michigan 29, Ohio 23
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

Teams

The Ohio Bobcats clinched their spot in the 2016 MAC Championship Game by beating Akron 9–3 in their final regular season game. They tied with divisional rival Miami for the East title, but advanced to the MAC title game by virtue of their 17–7 win at Miami on October 1. Under 12th year head coach Frank Solich, the Bobcats finished the regular season with an 8–4 record, with key wins coming against Kansas and Toledo. Ohio finished 1–1 against Power 5 teams; they lost to Tennessee (from the SEC) and beat Kansas (from the Big 12).

The Western Michigan Broncos earned a spot in the 2016 MAC Championship Game after winning the MAC West outright by defeating Toledo 55–35 in their final home game. Under fourth year head coach P. J. Fleck, the Broncos finished the regular season with a perfect record, defeating both Big Ten Conference teams they faced (Northwestern and Illinois). The Broncos also defeated archrival Central Michigan for the third straight year by a score of 49–10.

Game summary

The Broncos opened the game with two first-quarter field goals, and the first quarter ended 6–0 in favor of the undefeated Broncos. Western Michigan had outscored opponents 135–59 in the first quarter during the season. They started the second quarter with their third field goal of the game, and extended their lead to nine. Ohio got on the scoreboard in the second quarter with an eight-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Greg Windham to Jordan Reid and cut the Broncos' lead to three, the closest the game had been since WMU's first field goal. The Broncos responded with two passing touchdowns and led at the half, 23–7. The Bobcats opened the third quarter with a touchdown inside the first two minutes to bring Ohio within 10 points as the extra point was no good. Broncos' kicker Butch Hampton responded with just under 3:30 left in the quarter with his fourth field goal of the game. The Bobcats cut the lead to six points with just over a minute left in the third quarter as Windham connected with Papi White for a 31-yard touchdown pass and the third quarter ended with Western Michigan leading 26–20. Ohio cut the Broncos' lead to three with 7:14 left in the final quarter after Louie Zervos kicked his first field goal of the game, from 37 yards. WMU kicker Butch Hampton improved to five-for-five on field goals on the game with 1:24 left in the fourth quarter to extend Western Michigan's lead to six. Ohio's would-be game-winning drive was abruptly cut short when Windham's pass was intercepted over the middle by Robert Spillane with 0:51 left in the game. Western Michigan took over and ran out the clock to with the MAC Championship.

Scoring summary
Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP WMU OHIO
1 6:40 6 28 2:40 WMU 42-yard field goal by Butch Hampton 3 0
1 5:31 4 7 1:02 WMU 27-yard field goal by Butch Hampton 6 0
2 9:42 17 77 9:03 WMU 21-yard field goal by Butch Hampton 9 0
2 8:08 4 73 1:29 OHIO Jordan Reid 8-yard touchdown reception from Greg Windham, Louie Zervos kick good 9 7
2 7:49 1 70 0:19 WMU Corey Davis 70-yard touchdown reception from Zach Terrell, Butch Hampton kick good 16 7
2 0:36 5 54 0:55 WMU Carrington Thompson 8-yard touchdown reception from Zach Terrell, Butch Hampton kick good 23 7
3 13:55 1 5 0:06 OHIO Greg Windham 5-yard touchdown reception from Greg Windham, Louie Zervos kick no good 23 13
3 3:28 4 5 1:32 WMU 33-yard field goal by Butch Hampton 26 13
3 1:09 5 81 2:19 OHIO Papi White 31-yard touchdown reception from Greg Windham, Louie Zervos kick good 26 20
4 7:14 13 48 5:05 OHIO 37-yard field goal by Louie Zervos 26 23
4 1:24 12 56 5:50 WMU 33-yard field goal by Butch Hampton 29 23
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 29 23
Western Michigan vs Ohio
1 234Total
• No. 7 Western Michigan 6 1733 29
Ohio 0 7133 23
  • Date: December 2, 2016
  • Location:
    Ford Field
    Detroit, MI
  • Game start: 6:00 pm
  • Game attendance: 45,615
  • Game weather: Indoors
  • TV announcers (ESPN2): Adam Amin (Play-by-Play), Mack Brown (Analyst)
The Ohio University Bobcats line up on offense against the Western Michigan University Broncos.

Statistics
StatisticsWMUOHIO
First downs2114
Third down efficiency4–155–12
Rushes–yards44–11422–37
Passing yards301214
Passing: Comp–Att–Int20–32–214–31–1
Time of possession37:4522:15
CategoryTeamPlayerStatistics
PassingWMUZach Terrell (QB)20/32, 301 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
OHIOGreg Windham (QB)14/30, 214 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT
RushingWMUJamauri Bogan (RB)26 att, 73 yds
OHIOGreg Windham (QB)3 att, 14 yds
ReceivingWMUCorey Davis (WR)9 rec, 155 yds, 1 TD
OHIOPapi White (WR)2 rec, 98 yds, 1 TD


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gollark: https://ia802706.us.archive.org/33/items/TedChiangSeventyTwoLetters/Ted_Chiang_72_Letters.pdf
gollark: There was a Ted Chiang story about that actually.
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References
  1. "MAC Announces 2016 Football Regular Season Schedule". mac-sports.com. The Mid-American Conference. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
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