The inaugural Popeyes Bahamas Bowl started with promise, got pretty one-sided in a hurry, but ended in true MAC/Conference USA fashion with a flurry of points before Western Kentucky’s Jeff Brohm would win his first-ever bowl game as a head coach, 49-48. Central Michigan went for the win on a two-point conversion after completing a ridiculous hook-and-lateral Hail Mary sequence, but a back corner fade on the try proved unsuccessful.
2014 Bahamas Bowl final score: Western Kentucky outlasts Central Michigan, 49-48
Central Michigan did its best to make a five-touchdown deficit interesting, but Western Kentucky held on to win the first bowl game held outside of the United States or Canada since the 1930s.
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Both teams’ starting quarterbacks finished the game with five or more touchdown passes. WKU’s senior signal caller Brandon Doughty finished the afternoon 31 of 42 for 486 yards and the aforementioned five TDs, while his counterpart for the Chippewas, sophomore Cooper Rush, completed 28 of his 45 passes for 493 yards, seven TDs and an interception.
The Hilltoppers jumped out to an emphatic head start with 441 yards of offense in the first half to go along with a 42-14 halftime lead. But despite trailing by five scores heading into the fourth, CMU stayed at it and managed to close the gap to just 14 points before an unsuccessful onside kick. The Chips still managed to get things down to seven and following a touchback with one second remaining, were able to convert the unthinkable sequence that helped get them back within one.
A pair of senior wide receivers had the kind of games fans from both teams have grown to expect. Chippewas wideout Titus Davis called it a college career with six grabs for 139 yards and four touchdowns. Though Jared Dangerfield was the more decorated pass catcher for the Hilltoppers coming into this one, senior Willie McNeal pulled down five grabs for 155 in his final college football game as well.
Neither teams’ defense provided much resistance all afternoon long, as the teams easily gave up more than 1,000 yards and more than 100 points combined.
Western Kentucky heads to the offseason with some real momentum having ended Marshall’s “New Year’s Six” Bowl aspirations and winning a bowl in consecutive contests. Central Michigan coach Dan Enos was unable to repeat the same formula that saw the Chips win the 2012 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl as the fourth-place team in the MAC’s West division finishes the year 7-6 after the loss.
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