COMMERCE, Texas (Sept. 29) ? In a hard-hitting defensive struggle, it was an extra point that proved to be the difference for Central Oklahoma here Saturday night.
Freshman Alex Weaver's PAT was perfect following Ben Birmingham's 13-yard touchdown run, lifting the Bronchos past Texas A&M-Commerce 21-20 in a Lone Star Conference North Division overtime thriller.
The win ended UCO's three-game losing streak and moved the Bronchos to 2-3 on the year, 2-2 in the overall league standings and 1-0 in the LSC North.
“What a great, great win for this football team,” UCO coach Chuck Langston said. “We had our backs to the wall a lot of times tonight, but our defense stayed strong and came up with some big stops and we did what we had to do to pick up a big conference win on the road.”
UCO won the toss in overtime and elected to go on defense first, but the Lions ruined that strategy when they scored on a 24-yard pass from Trent Miller to Meldrick Grice to take a 20-14 lead. TAMU-C's lead stayed there when Chris Quiroga's extra point was wide left and UCO took advantage.
The Bronchos then took their turn on offense at the 25 and converted a fourth-and-inches situation at the 16 on Colin Clancy's one-yard quarterback keeper before Birmingham scored two plays later on a burst up the middle. Weaver, a true freshman seeing his first action as UCO's place-kicker, split the uprights with his third PAT of the game to end it.
Birmingham was UCO's offensive workhorse, carrying 30 times for 198 yards ? the 27th-best game in school history ? and two touchdowns as the Bronchos were limited to 240 total yards.
TAMU-C managed 292 yards in 77 plays against UCO's overworked defense, with linebacker Will Lewis making 15 tackles, T.J. Shaw coming up with two big interceptions and end Corey Lewis getting two of the Bronchos' seven sacks.
UCO broke a 7-7 halftime deadlock on its opening possession of the third quarter when Birmingham burst through a big hole up the middle on a first-and-10 play from the eight and outraced everybody down the sideline for a 92-yard TD run.
It was the longest scoring run in Memorial Stadium's 57-year history and the fifth-longest at UCO, giving the Bronchos a 14-7 lead with 10:59 left in the period.
The Lions answered right back in stunning fashion on the ensuing kickoff. Nabil El-Amin took the kick at the three, made it past a wave of UCO defenders at the 20 and went untouched up the middle the rest of the way for a 97-yard return that tied it 14-all.
Neither team could do anything offensive after that until midway through the final quarter when TAMU-C used a long pass to get deep inside UCO territory before losing a fumble. The Lions, limited to 23 yards in their first 25 second-half plays, hit a 56-yard pass to the five, but El-Amin fumbled on second down from there and Chandler Richardson recovered for the Bronchos.
That was the last scoring threat the rest of regulation, which ended with TAMU-C holding a 267-215 advantage in total yards.
TAMU-C dominated in taking a 7-0 first-quarter lead, outgaining the Bronchos 133-27 in the first 15 minutes.
Shaw's first interception at the UCO five-yard-line stopped one scoring threat, but the Lions were back in business minutes later after taking over at their own 48 following a short punt. TAMU-C was 3-for-3 on third-down conversions in a 10-play scoring drive, with El-Amin's two-yard run ending it with 2:30 left in the opening period.
The Lions missed a 40-yard field goal on their next possession and then UCO's defense took over the rest of the half as the Bronchos limited TAMU-C to 25 second-period yards.
Clewis and the Bronchos forced TAMU-C to punt twice after the Lions took over in UCO territory, with Shaw's second interception then setting up the Bronchos' first touchdown.
TAMU-C gained just four yards and punted after taking over at the UCO 49 following an interception, with the Bronchos forcing another punt after the Lions gained possession at midfield when a fake punt try fell just short.
Shaw set up UCO's tying score late in the half when he picked off a Terry Mayo pass at the Broncho 40 and returned it 25 yards to the TAMU-C 35.
Clancy hit Rick Montgomery with a 29-yard pass on second-and-7 from the 32, with Montgomery making a leaping catch between two defenders at the Lion four. Tailback Maurice Little got the score on second down from there, taking a pitch around right end and just getting into the end zone.
Weaver's extra point made it 7-7 with 1:15 left in the half.
UCO returns to LSC North play Thursday when it travels to Ada to take on East Central in a 7 p.m. contest.
Box Score
