2016 MAC Championship Game

2016 Mid-American Conference football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
East Division
Ohio xy		6	–	2		8	–	5
Miami (OH) x		6	–	2		6	–	6
Akron		3	–	5		5	–	7
Bowling Green		3	–	5		4	–	8
Kent State		2	–	6		3	–	9
Buffalo		1	–	7		2	–	10
West Division
No. 12 Western Michigan xy$%		8	–	0		13	–	0
Toledo		6	–	2		9	–	3
Northern Illinois		5	–	3		5	–	7
Eastern Michigan		4	–	4		7	–	5
Central Michigan		3	–	5		6	–	6
Ball State		1	–	7		4	–	8
Championship: Western Michigan 29, Ohio 23
% – BCS at-large representative $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant As of December 5, 2016; Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 MAC Championship Game was a NCAA Division I college football conference championship game for the Mid-American Conference (MAC). It was the 20th MAC Football Championship Game and was played at Ford Field in Detroit on Friday, December 2, 2016, televised on ESPN2.^[1] The game featured the East Division co-champion Ohio Bobcats against the outright West Division champion Western Michigan Broncos.

Teams

The Ohio Bobcats clinched their spot in the 2016 MAC Championship Game by beating Akron 9–3 in their final regular season game. They tied with divisional rival Miami for the East title, but advanced to the MAC title game by virtue of their 17–7 win at Miami on October 1. Under 12th year head coach Frank Solich, the Bobcats finished the regular season with an 8–4 record, with key wins coming against Kansas and Toledo. Ohio finished 1–1 against Power 5 teams; they lost to Tennessee (from the SEC) and beat Kansas (from the Big 12).

The Western Michigan Broncos earned a spot in the 2016 MAC Championship Game after winning the MAC West outright by defeating Toledo 55–35 in their final home game. Under fourth year head coach P. J. Fleck, the Broncos finished the regular season with a perfect record, defeating both Big Ten Conference teams they faced (Northwestern and Illinois). The Broncos also defeated archrival Central Michigan for the third straight year by a score of 49–10.

Game summary

Scoring summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
#17 Broncos	6	17	3	3	29
Bobcats	0	7	13	3	23

The Broncos opened the game with two first-quarter field goals, and the first quarter ended 6-0 in favor of the undefeated Broncos. Western Michigan has now outscored opponents 135-59 in the first quarter. They started the second quarter with their third field goal of the game, and extended their lead to nine. Ohio got on the scoreboard in the second quarter with an 8-yard touchdown pass from QB Greg Windham to Jordan Reid, and cut the Broncos' lead to three, the closest the game has been since WMU's first field goal. The Broncos have since responded with two passing touchdowns, and lead at the half, 23-7. The Bobcats opened the third quarter with a touchdown inside the first two minutes; Broncos' kicker Butch Hampton responded with just under 3:30 left in the quarter with his fourth field goal of the game. The Bobcats cut the game to six points with just over a minute left in the third quarter as Windham connected with Papi White for a 31-yard touchdown pass, and the third quarter ended 26-20, WMU. Ohio cut the Broncos' lead to three with 7:14 left in the final quarter after Louie Zervos kicked his first field goal of the game, from 37 yards. WMU kicker Butch Hampton improved to 5/5 on field goals on the game with 1:24 left in the fourth quarter, after hitting a 33-yard field goal to extend Western Michigan's lead to six. Ohio's would-be game-winning drive was abruptly cut short when Greg Windham's pass was intercepted over the middle by Robert Spillane with 0:51 left in the game.

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	WMU	OHIO
1	6:40	6	28	2:40	WMU	42-yard field goal by Butch Hampton	3	0
1	5:31	4	7	1:02	WMU	27-yard field goal by Butch Hampton	6	0
2	9:42	17	77	9:03	WMU	21-yard field goal by Butch Hampton	9	0
2	8:08	4	73	1:29	OHIO	Jordan Reid 8-yard touchdown reception from Greg Windham, Louie Zervos kick good	9	7
2	7:49	1	70	0:19	WMU	Corey Davis 70-yard touchdown reception from Zach Terrell, Butch Hampton kick good	16	7
2	0:36	5	54	0:55	WMU	Carrington Thompson 8-yard touchdown reception from Zach Terrell, Butch Hampton kick good	23	7
3	13:55	1	5	0:06	OHIO	Greg Windham 5-yard touchdown reception from Greg Windham, Louie Zervos kick no good	23	13
3	3:28	4	5	1:32	WMU	33-yard field goal by Butch Hampton	26	13
3	1:09	5	81	2:19	OHIO	Papi White 31-yard touchdown reception from Greg Windham, Louie Zervos kick good	26	20
4	7:14	13	48	5:05	OHIO	37-yard field goal by Louie Zervos	26	23
4	1:24	12	56	5:50	WMU	33-yard field goal by Butch Hampton	29	23
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							29	23

Statistics

Statistics	WMU	OHIO
First downs	21	14
Third down efficiency	4–15	5–12
Rushes–yards	44–114	22–37
Passing yards	301	214
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	20–32–2	14–31–1
Time of possession	37:45	22:15

Category	Team	Player	Statistics
Passing	WMU	Zach Terrell (QB)	20/32, 301 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
Passing	OHIO	Greg Windham (QB)	14/30, 214 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	WMU	Jamauri Bogan (RB)	26 att, 73 yds
Rushing	OHIO	Greg Windham (QB)	3 att, 14 yds
Receiving	WMU	Corey Davis (WR)	9 rec, 155 yds, 1 TD
Receiving	OHIO	Papi White (WR)	2 rec, 98 yds, 1 TD

References

↑ "MAC Announces 2016 Football Regular Season Schedule". mac-sports.com. The Mid-American Conference. Retrieved 12 October 2016.

MAC Championship Game

Years	1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Venues	Marshall University Stadium (1997–2000, 2002) Glass Bowl (2001) Doyt Perry Stadium (2003) Ford Field (2004–present)

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