2014 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl
Western Kentucky 49, Central Michigan 48
Box Score
NASSAU, Bahamas -- It was nearly a Christmas miracle.
Cooper Rush threw a Football Bowl Subdivision-record seven touchdowns passes including five in the fourth quarter Wednesday as Central Michigan came nearly all the way back from a 35-point deficit before falling to Western Kentucky, 49-48, in the inaugural Popeyes Bahamas Bowl at Thomas A. Robinson Stadium.
Rush completed 28 of 45 pass attempts for 485 yards. His attempts, completions, yardage and TD passes were all career highs, and his seven TD passes is a school record.
Four of those TD passes went to Titus Davis including the last, a play that began on the Chippewas' 25-yard line with 1 second remaining and will be a staple of every television highlight show for days.
Jesse Kroll went up to catch Rush's desperation heave at about WKU's 35-yard line, came down with it, and lateraled to teammate Deon Butler. Butler in turn lateraled to Courtney Williams, who lateraled to Davis, who outran several WKU defenders for the pylon in an oh-so frantic and dramatic zig-zagging play that more resembled something fans might see on a playground than in a college football game.
WATCH video of Chippewas amazing touchdown at the end of regulation
That brought CMU to 49-48, and coach Dan Enos decided to go for the two-point conversion. Rush's pass to Jesse Kroll fell incomplete.
Davis finished with six catches for 142 yards and in the process became CMU's all-time leader in pass reception yardage with 3,705. The four-TD day gave Davis 13 for the season and 37 for his career, both school records.
The senior supplanted Bryan Anderson atop both lists. Anderson, who played at CMU from 2006-09, finished with 3,648 yards and caught 10 TD passes in 2007.
Davis closed his CMU career third in Mid-American Conference history in TD receptions and fifth in receiving yardage.
Davis' first TD reception came with 10 minutes remaining in the first quarter and it tied the game 7-7.
It appeared at that point that CMU might be able to go toe-to-toe with Western Kentucky's high-powered offense, which ranked sixth in the Football Bowl Subdivision coming into the game.
But the Chippewas couldn't stop WKU - the Hilltoppers (8-5) scored on six of their seven first-half possessions - and they squandered two early opportunities to remain in the game.
Twice CMU visited the red zone only to come up empty, once on an interception, another when they failed to convert on fourth down at WKU's 19-yard line.
Those failures and the inability to stop WKU early left the Chippewas playing catchup the rest of the day.
And, they nearly got there. After Davis scored the final TD to draw CMU to 49-48 with no time on the clock, Chippewa coach Dan Enos elected to go for the two-point coversion.
Rush's high-fade pass to Kroll fell incomplete, giving Western Kentucky the victory.
The Chippewas, playing in the eighth bowl game in school history, simply couldn't stop WKU quarterback Brandon Doughty, who completed 31 of his 42 attempts for 486 yards and five TDs.
CMU finished 7-6 for the second time in three seasons. The Chippewas were 6-6 last season, but did not receive a bowl invitation. The loss snapped CMU's two-game bowl win streak.
Rush's second TD pass, which temporarily reduced CMU's deficit to 14 points, 28-14, with under three minutes to play in the half, went to Courtney Williams and covered 30 yards. Williams, a senior, finished with three catches - two of them for TDs - for a career-high 68 yards.
Martez Walker led the CMU ground game with a career-high 76 yards on nine carries.
The quick-strike Hilltoppers scored twice in the final 1:41 of the half to extend their lead to 42-14 at the break, which was extended to 49-14 after three quarters.
Rush and Davis connected on TD passes of 12 and 23 yards early in the fourth quarter, then Rush hit Williams with a 10-yard scoring strike with 3:06 left to pull CMU to 49-35.
Rush found Anthony Garland for a 7-yard TD with 1:09 to play, drawing CMU within one score, 49-42. The Hilltoppers covered the ensuing onside kick, but couldn't pick up a first down and were forced to punt.
The punt went for a touchback and a penalty on the play on WKU put the ball at CMU's 25 with just 1 second left.
That set the stage for the frantic finish, perhaps one of the most memorable in college football history.
