GMAC Bowl Recap
Central Michigan 44, Troy 41 (2 OT)
Yes, Troy’s most recent bowl game ended the same way its previous bowl game did. However, the Trojans have nothing to regret about this particular postseason loss.
One season ago - in the 2008 New Orleans Bowl - a sloppy Troy team stumbled late in the second half and dropped a 30-27 overtime decision to a decidedly mediocre Southern Mississippi squad. When a blocked field goal in overtime sealed Troy’s unhappy fate, the 2008 Sun Belt champions had reason to kick themselves as they traveled back to their Alabama home.
This time - as the 2010 GMAC Bowl lingers in the mind’s eye - coach Larry Blakeney and Co. have no reason to be the slightest bit ashamed, even though a blocked field goal killed them once more.
Troy and Central Michigan staged a classic duel at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. In the preview for this game on the Sun Belt Fans blog, we said that this bowl game had a chance to evoke memories of the 2001 GMAC Bowl, a remarkable and rousing affair in which Marshall overcame a mammoth deficit to top East Carolina by a 64-61 score in double overtime.
Well, well, well: This year’s GMAC showdown very nearly equaled the 2001 version on a number of levels. Back in the early part of the just-ended decade, two NFL quarterbacks - Marshall’s Byron Leftwich and East Carolina’s David Garrard - flung the football for hours on end in a gridiron epic. On the first Wednesday of 2010, two signal callers who might also break into the big time - Troy’s Levi Brown and Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour - traded punches and matched scores well into the Alabama night.
LeFevour spent much of the game throwing to favorite target Antonio Brown, a wonderful receiver who caught 13 passes for 178 yards and took a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown precisely when the Chippewas - down 31-19 - were sagging in the fourth quarter.
Brown spent most of his night tossing the pigskin to receiver Jerrel Jernigan, a spinning, side-stepping stud who undressed CMU’s defense to the tune of nine catches for 154 yards.
LeFevour threw for 395 yards. Brown accumulated 386 passing yards.
LeFevour completed 33 passes, Brown 31.
LeFevour piloted CMU to 27 first downs, while Brown led Troy to 31 first downs.
LeFevour presided over a 504-yard performance by his offense. Brown saw his Trojan teammates rack up 572 yards.
LeFevour led his team on a go-ahead touchdown drive that culminated with a four-yard touchdown pass to receiver Bryan Anderson with 1:17 left in regulation, giving CMU a 34-31 edge.
Brown led his team on a tying field goal drive that ended with a 46-yard boot from Troy kicker Michael Taylor. The clutch kick tied the score at 34-all with just 31 seconds left in regulation.
LeFevour led Central Michigan to an easy touchdown in the first possession of the first overtime “inning.” Brown directed Troy to an equally easy touchdown on Troy’s possession in the first overtime sequence.
It wasn’t until the second overtime that one of these quarterbacks - both among the very best in their conferences’ respective histories - would finally flinch in a 41-41 tie.
Brown - who excelled for most of this clash - had Jernigan open on a 3rd and 9 at the Central Michigan 14, but the throw was high. One play later, the Chippewas brought back haunting bowl game memories for Troy’s coaching staff and players, blocking a 31-yard attempt by Taylor and recreating the scene of last season’s sad story against Southern Miss.
All the Chips needed to do to break the MAC’s 14-game bowl losing streak was to hold onto the ball, and that’s exactly what Central Michigan managed to do. When CMU kicker Andrew Aguila’s 37-yard field goal split the uprights in the second bonus stanza, Troy’s hope of giving the Sun Belt two bowl winners in one season fell agonizingly short.
But it wasn’t for a lack of trying. For that matter, it wasn’t for a lack of execution, either.
Troy and Levi Brown were awesome, but Central Michigan and Dan LeFevour did the Trojans one better. The 2010 GMAC Bowl might have evoked bitter recollections from the Trojans, but after participating in a classic such as this one, the 2009 Sun Belt champions should hold their heads very high.
By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer