UCO Takes Sting Out of Yellow Jackets

10/27/2011 10:10:00 PM

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EDMOND (Oct. 27) -- Joshua Birmingham ran for three touchdowns to lead a ball-control offense and Tucker Cason keyed a swarming defense as Central Oklahoma got past Black Hills State 30-17 Thursday night at rainy Wantland Stadium.

Birmingham's 34-yard scoring scamper just four plays into the contest gave the Bronchos a lead they would never relinquish in a game that was delayed 36 minutes in the first quarter by lightning, though the Yellow Jackets made things interesting for awhile when they cut a 20-3 halftime deficit to 20-17 after three quarters.

But UCO dominated the final period, putting the game away on Birmingham's final TD and Chris Robbs' third field goal of the game. The Bronchos improved to 2-7 on the year with their second home win in three tries.

“We made some big plays in all three phases of the game and came out with a good win,” head coach Tracy Holland said. “We made some mistakes that really hurt us, but we were able to overcome those and did a lot of good things. We want to build on this and finish the season strong.”

UCO will end the year with two more home games, hosting Northeastern State for the President's Cup battle on Nov. 5 before taking on Lindenwood in the final on Sept. 12.

The Bronchos racked up 26 first downs and finished with 404 yards while running a staggering 96 plays, with a bad snap that went for a 41-yard loss hurting that yardage total. Birmingham finished with 142 yards on a season-high 27 carries, scoring on runs of one, two and 34 yards.

Landon Greve went all but a couple of series at quarterback and hit 25-of-44 passes for 283 yards, with Terrance Davis (eight catches, 103 yards), Christian Hood (7-64) and Bryce Davis (4-66) his main targets.

The Yellow Jackets managed just nine first downs and 185 total yards, the best outing by a UCO defense since holding Southwestern Oklahoma to 136 yards in 2008. BHSU had 99 yards rushing in 39 attempts and was just 7-of-28 passing for 86 yards.

Cason had a sack and 2.5 other tackles for loss among his nine stops while also forcing a fumble from his linebacker spot, while end Colton Byford made a career-high nine tackles with 2.5 for loss and a forced fumble in his first extended action of the season.

Special teams also played a big role as Robbs hit field goals of 28, 36 and 38 yards in addition to making all three extra point tries.

UCO jumped on top quickly, going 73 yards in just four plays on its opening possession of the game. Greve's 32-yard pass on a third-and-three play got the Bronchos to the BHSU 34 and Birmingham scored on the next play from there to make it 7-0 just 1:34 into the game.

It looked like UCO would up that lead minutes later after moving to a second-and-goal at the two following the lightning delay, but Birmingham fumbled the ball at the one while stretching for the goal line.

A fumble recovery by Anthony Anderson at the BHSU 38 set up the next score, though the Bronchos had to settle for Robbs' 38-yard field goal in going on top 10-0 with 5:19 left in the opening period.

Special teams play set up UCO's next score, with Thomas Hill blocking a punt that Richard Stanley picked up and returned nine yards to the BHSU 21. The Bronchos could pick up just two yards, however, and Robbs came on to boot through a 36-yard field goal that made it 13-0 with 2:32 to play in the first period.

UCO made it 20-0 with a 15-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter, though the Bronchos needed a little trickery. Greve had passes of 13 yards to Birmingham, 16 to Terrance Davis and 20 to Bryce Davis in moving the team from its own 20 to the BHSU 10 and on fourth down from there the Bronchos set up for another field goal try.

But holder Tucker Holland took the snap and ran an option to the left side before pitching back to Robbs, who went all the way to the one before being knocked out of bounds. Birmingham scored on the next play with a smash up the middle and UCO was cruising with 5:40 left in the half.

The Yellow Jackets finally got on the board with a 27-yard field goal in the final minute to pull within 20-3 at intermission and an interception led to a short TD drive early in the third quarter that got BHSU within 20-10.

It quickly become a three-point game after a bad snap on a punt resulted in a 41-yard loss back to the UCO three that the Yellow Jackets converted into a touchdown to make it 20-17 with 4:59 left in the third period.

But after that, it was all Bronchos.

UCO limited the Yellow Jackets to 41 yards in 18 plays the rest of the game and forced two turnovers, getting a fumble recovery from Brad Harmon and an interception from Devoris Dozier while scoring the final 10 points to put the game away.

Birmingham carried seven times for 38 yards to key an 11-play, 65-yard drive early in the period that he capped with a two-yard TD burst and Harmon's fumble recovery at the BHSU 45 led to Robbs' 28-yard field goal that made it 30-17 with 4:41 left.

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