Box Score
EDMOND (Oct. 25) – Two big sacks thwarted a late comeback try by Midwestern State and Central Oklahoma held on for a 38-33 Lone Star Conference upset of the No. 25-ranked Mustangs Saturday afternoon at Wantland Stadium.
The streaking Bronchos seized a 14-0 first-quarter lead and never trailed in winning for the fifth straight time after a 0-4 start, ending MSU's 24-game winning streak over Oklahoma teams and ruining the Mustangs' playoff chances in the process with the thrilling Homecoming victory.
“That was another great win for our football team,” said UCO coach Tracy Holland, whose team is now 5-4 on the year and 4-3 in league play. “Our defense came up with a bunch of big plays and we did some good things on offense. We played extremely hard and beat a really good team.”
UCO's defense rose to the occasion – again – in the final minutes after MSU took over at its own 29-yard-line with 2:33 to play, with the Mustangs quickly picking up two first downs in moving to the Broncho 45.
Cornerback Matt Gates stopped BeeJay Mathis for a one-yard loss on a screen pass on first down from there and then tackle Mike Reed sacked MSU quarterback Zack Eskridge for a nine- yard loss back to the UCO 45.
Safety Ellis White batted down Eskridge's long third-and-20 pass and the Bronchos sealed the win on fourth-and-20 with an all-out blitz, getting a 12-yard sack from back-up linebacker Tucker Cason.
The Mustangs outgained UCO 390-254, but the Bronchos caused three turnovers and scored on a 69-yard interception return by linebacker Terry Hardeman while also forcing MSU to twice settle for field goals after taking over deep in UCO territory.
Hardeman finished with a career-high 16 tackles, while Marcus Martinez had 12 stops and T.J. Shaw and K.C. Asiodu 10 apiece.
Quarterback Brandon Noohi once again sparked the offense, passing for 225 yards and one touchdown while running for two more scores. Eight different receivers caught at least one pass for the Bronchos and Da'Marean Pullen rushed for 69 hard-earned yards and a TD on 15 carries.
Defense set up UCO's first TD, with Shaw forcing a fumble on the second play of the game that Asiodu recovered at the Midwestern 29.
Noohi converted a fourth-and-one play at the 20 with a two-yard keeper and he ended the short scoring drive with a 14-yard TD strike to Kendall Hendricks to give the Bronchos a quick 7-0 lead.
Hendricks set up UCO's next score with a 29-yard punt return to the Mustang 41, with the Bronchos needing just two plays to go the rest of the way. Noohi found Daniel Morrell for a 33-yard gain on first down and Pullen bulled up the middle for an eight-yard scoring run on the next play to make it 14-0 with 6:41 left in the opening period.
MSU pulled within 14-7 early in the second period of the first of four TD passes by Eskridge and the Mustangs were in business again moments later when a lengthy drive reached the UCO 25, but again the defense came to the rescue.
On third-and-seven from the 25, Eskridge came under heavy pressure and his screen pass attempt was picked off by Hardeman at the 31, with the junior linebacker sprinting untouched the rest of the way for his first collegiate touchdown that gave the Bronchos a 21-7 lead.
MSU answered back quickly with another Eskridge touchdown pass but missed the extra point and UCO took a 24-13 halftime lead when a pair of 15-yard penalties on the Mustangs helped the Bronchos move within range of a 28-yard Chad Susman field goal on the last play of the half.
A Jose Martinez field goal pulled MSU within 24-16 early in the third period and UCO made it 31-16 late in the quarter on Noohi's seven-yard scoring scamper that was set up by a 45-yard pass from Noohi to Morrell.
MSU scored on their next two possessions to make it 31-27 with 11:34 to play, with the Bronchos coming back two possessions later with their final scoring drive to again take a double-digit lead. A 31-yard pass from Noohi to Rick Montgomery was the big play in a five-play, 68-yard drive that Noohi capped with a three-yard keeper that made it 38-27 with 6:09 remaining.
The Mustangs scored with 3:40 left to make it 38-33 and forced a quick punt to set up their final possession, but UCO's defense was up to the task.
The Bronchos put their LSC North Division lead on the line next week, hosting East Central in the home finale.
