For a bowl game promoting spicy chicken, the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl certainly went ham. Western Michigan and Middle Tennessee State combined for 76 points on 10 touchdowns, with the Broncos pulling away late for a 45-31 win. Just two touchdowns were from fewer than 15 yards out, and the median touchdown play went 45 yards.
The 5 spiciest plays of the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, Western Michigan’s first-ever bowl win
There is an island in the Bahamas inhabited by pigs. On Christmas Eve, another island went HAM.
The game went bonkers. There was enough spice in this game to season a 200-piece bucket of Popeyes Chicken. Here’s the spiciest of the spicy.
5. The game’s first touchdown came just 1:17 into the contest, when Richie James took a beautifully executed option pitch near midfield and found nothing but Bahamian grass in front of him.
The stage was set, and neither team disappointed.
4. CONTROVERSY! Just four minutes into the game, Brent Stockstill looked for Richie James deep and found a replay nightmare. Did James make the catch? Did he break the plane before losing the ball? And how do you explain an end zone fumble touchback to a bunch of Bahamians?
The referees eventually decided that James had caught the ball, and that the call on the field -- a touchdown -- stood, as there was not a definitive camera angle for overturning it. Middle Tennessee went up 14-7.
3. The day’s longest touchdown came from Corey Davis, who might be the fastest man in the Bahamas today.
Davis’ touchdown put the cap on a 34-point first quarter that featured four touchdowns longer than 40 yards and 448 yards of total offense.
2. Western Michigan’s Zach Terrell found Daniel Braverman on the sideline in the fourth quarter. 68 yards and one big block later, Western Michigan again had the lead.
The touchdown put the Broncos up 31-24. They never trailed again.
1. The biggest play had to come from Western Michigan halfback Jamauri Bogan, who ran for 215 yards and four touchdowns on just 19 carries. Bogan's best run may well have been a non-touchdown, a 61-yard fourth-quarter scamper that set up the Broncos' game-winning score. The only reason Bogan didn't score on this one: Exhaustion.
Bogan later dove in from 1 yard out, then added a second touchdown dive to cement the first bowl win in Western Michigan football history. Gatorade was dumped. Boats were rowed. Chicken was eaten. And everyone was entertained.
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