NEW YORK, NY—(Marketwired – July 08, 2015) – The crazy finish of the inaugural Popeyes Bahamas Bowl in which Central Michigan scored a 75–yard, three–lateral touchdown as time expired has advanced to the Round of 8 in the bracket to decide the 2015 ESPY for Best Play.
CMU's touchdown, the No. 2 seed in the 16–play bracket, received 69 percent of the online vote to defeat No. 15 seed Dwayne Bravo of the West Indies cricket team. The Chippewas' relay TD now faces No. 7 seed Tyler Ennis of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. Voting in the Round of 8 continues through July 8 at ESPYS.com.
The plays that win the Round of 8 matchups will advance to a four–way vote for the Best Play award. The final voting will be conducted from July 8 until the start of The 2015 ESPYS Presented by Capital One from Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on July 15 at 8 p.m. ET, broadcast by ABC.
Central Michigan trailed Western Kentucky 49–42 and had the ball with one second to play at the CMU 25–yard line. Chippewas quarterback Cooper Rush scrambled to his right out of a heavy rush and threw 47 yards downfield, where Jesse Kroll caught it at the WKU 28. As Kroll was being wrapped up by tacklers, he flipped the ball up in the air behind him to Deon Butler, who snagged it and picked up 11 yards to the Hilltoppers 17. In the grasp of WKU defenders, Butler shoveled the ball to Courtney Williams, who battled for a pair of yards to the 15. Bottled up, Williams saw a wide–open Titus Davis several yards to his right. Davis caught the final lateral, and he eluded three WKU pursuers on a diagonal dash and dive to the end–zone pylon for the touchdown that brought CMU to within 49–48.
The touchdown became an immediate hit on both television and social media, and capped a would–be comeback by Central Michigan, that trailed WKU 49–14 entering the final quarter. Despite the touchdown, Central Michigan was unable to complete a two–point conversion pass that would have won the game and been the greatest fourth–quarter comeback in bowl game history.
The 2015 ESPYS Presented by Capital One will be hosted by comedian, actor and television host Joel McHale, most widely known for hosting The Soup on E! as well as playing Jeff Winger on Community.
The award show gathers top celebrities from sports and entertainment to commemorate the past year in sports by recognizing major sports achievements, reliving unforgettable moments and saluting the leading performers and performances. The ESPYS honor ESPN's commitment to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, a partnership launched with the late Jim Valvano at the inaugural ESPYS in 1993. Follow The 2015 ESPYS on Twitter @ESPYS.
About The Popeyes Bahamas Bowl
The Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, a NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) postseason bowl game, is committed to promoting the Islands of The Bahamas and the educational and athletic opportunities for the youth of The Bahamas through college football, while providing its conference partners and their alumni, fans and sponsors a first–class bowl experience. Owned and operated by ESPN Events, the second Popeyes Bahamas Bowl will take place in Nassau, Bahamas on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015 at Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium between schools from Conference USA and the Mid–American Conference. The game will be televised nationally in the United States on ESPN. For more information, visit PopeyesBahamasBowl.com.
ESPN Events, a subsidiary of ESPN, owns and operates a large portfolio of collegiate sporting events worldwide. The roster includes three Labor Day weekend college football games; 13 college bowl games, nine college basketball events and two college award shows, which accounts for approximately 250–plus hours of programming, reaches almost 64 million viewers and attracts over 700,000 attendees each year. With satellite offices in Boca Raton, Boise, Birmingham, Dallas–Fort Worth, Albuquerque, St. Petersburg and Las Vegas, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.
ESPN Events also manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program.
Collegiate Football
AdvoCare Texas Kickoff (Houston); AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl (Houston); Birmingham Bowl (Alabama); Boca Raton Bowl (Florida); Celebration Bowl (Atlanta); Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise); Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Hawai'i Bowl (Honolulu); Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Dallas–Fort Worth); MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.); Orlando Kickoff (Florida); Popeyes Bahamas Bowl (Nassau); Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.); Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl (Nevada); St. Petersburg Bowl (Florida); The Home Depot College Football Awards (Atlanta) and Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl (Dallas–Fort Worth)
Collegiate Basketball
Armed Forces Classic (Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan); DIRECTV Wooden Legacy (Orange County, Calif.); College Basketball Awards Presented by Wendy's (Los Angeles); Gildan Charleston Classic (South Carolina); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Jimmy V Men's Classic Presented by Corona (New York City); Jimmy V Women's Classic Presented by Corona (Hartford/Storrs, Conn.); Orlando Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Puerto Rico Tip–Off (San Juan, PR) and State Farm Champions Classic (Chicago)
For more information, visit www.espnevents.com or follow on Twitter and Facebook.
The following files are available for download:
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