Upset Special

9/22/2012 6:43:00 PM

Brad Harmon

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EDMOND (Sept. 22) – A cross-country touchdown pass and short interception return sparked Central Oklahoma to an historic victory Saturday afternoon at Wantland Stadium.

Adrian Nelson heaved a 92-yard TD pass to Marquis Walters and defensive end Colton Byford rumbled 25 yards with an interception six minutes later to ignite a 29-point second-half outburst that carried the Bronchos to a big 35-20 upset of No. 9-ranked Washburn 35-20.

It was UCO's first win of the season and also the first for rookie head coach Nick Bobeck as UCO claimed its initial Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association victory after opening with three losses.

And this against a returning NCAA Division II playoff team that entered the game 3-0 with a top-10 national ranking.

“What a great, great win for this program and our players,” Bobeck said. “Our kids have been staying after it and they deserved to have some good things happen to them today. We made some big plays on both sides of the ball and came away with a big win over a really good football team.”

Things were going WU's way when the Ichabods followed a touchdown pass in the final seconds of the first half with a TD on their opening possession of the third quarter to go ahead 14-6 and it appeared even worse for UCO when it faced a third-and-long situation from its own eight-yard-line a minute later.

That's when Nelson dropped back near the goal line and fired a long pass to Walters streaking down the sideline. The redshirt freshman gathered in the pass at midfield and stepped through a pair of tackles before streaking in for the 92-yard score that marked the third-longest TD pass in school history.

The Bronchos still trailed 14-12 after failing on the two-point conversion try, but that changed six minutes later when Byford picked off a swing pass from WU quarterback Mitch Buhler at the 25 and fought his way into the end zone. Nelson found C.J. Carson with the two-point conversion pass and UCO was on top 20-14.

Christian Bobo added a one-yard TD plunge and Joshua Birmingham an eight-yard scoring scamper in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 35-14 as UCO's offensive line took over the line of scrimmage, with the Ichabods scoring a consolation TD on a 75-yard pass in the final minutes.

UCO had its best offensive outing of the season, finishing with 387 yards. Nelson ended up 14-of-29 passing for 218 yards, while Birmingham ended up with 137 yards rushing on 22 carries and Christian Hood caught five passes for 79 yards.

The Ichabods ended up with 414 yards, including 368 passing thanks to the late TD, but Washburn managed just 46 yards on 29 rushes against a fierce UCO defense.

Brad Harmon led the Bronchos with eight tackles and an interception, while Devoris Dozier added eight tackles and Turner Troup seven. UCO had nine tackles for loss in the game.

Washburn spent most of the first quarter on UCO's side of the field, but Harmon's interception at the Broncho two-yard-line helped keep the Ichabods off the scoreboard.

UCO finally broke the scoreless deadlock on Chris Robbs' 25-yard field goal with 6:48 left in the half and the senior place-kicker added a 28-yarder at the 1:27 mark to make it 6-0.

WU came back with a 74-yard scoring drive to take the lead, getting the touchdown with just 13 seconds remaining on a 32-yard pass.

The Ichabods upped that to 14-6 with their first drive of the second half, but the tide soon turned.

UCO goes back on the road for another huge MIAA test next Saturday, traveling to St. Joseph, Mo. To take on No. 7 Missouri Western.

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