JEFF ALLEN: IS WESTERN MICHIGAN THE NEW SHERIFF IN THE MAC ???
The Western Michigan Broncos haven’t won a MAC championship in 26 years and haven’t even played
in a MAC championship title game in 15 years. Last year was a breakout year for the Broncos who won
eight games, won the first Bowl Game in school history (were 0-6) and finished in a four-way tie atop
the MAC West only to lose the head-to-head tie breaker to Illinois. Last year WMU knocked on the door.
This year we think they’ll kick it in.
The resurgence in Kalamazoo is directly attributable to the hiring of head coach P.J. Fleck three years ago.
Fleck has a MAC conference pedigree as he was a 1st Team all conference WR for Northern Illinois before
having a cup of coffee with the 49ers. He returned to DeKalb as the NIU wide out coach for three years
before joining the Greg Schiano staff at Rutgers and following on to Tampa Bay. Fleck is a brilliant recruiter
and has posted back-to-back 8-5 years after a 1-11 mark in his first season. Fleck was conference Coach
of the Year and has the Broncos perfectly positioned to be a force in the MAC for years to come.
The Broncos return just 13 starters but most importantly, eight are from the offense and include a veteran
three year starter at QB, a sophomore RB that was the MAC Offensive Player of the year as a true frosh, and
four starting offensive linemen. The offense has improved from 17.2 ppg. to 36.0 ppg. in just two years and
although the defense took a step back last year, Fleck’s constant infusion of new and better talent can’t do
anything but improve the Bronco’s stop unit improvement.
Key players to watch will be QB Zach Terrell who is off B2B 3500+ yard passing years where he was second
team all-MAC both years. WMU returns three backs that rushed for more than 500 yards last year including
Jamauri Bogan (1080, 6.5, 16 TDs), Jarvion Franklin (761, 4.8, 5) and LaVonte Bellamy (509, 6.4, 2) from the
slot. Corey Davis (90 catches, 1438, 16.0, 12 TDs) also returns at wide out. As you can see, the Broncos are
loaded and will score points.
Westen Mich’s season will in large part depend on September where the Broncos play a challenging but not
daunting non-conference schedule which includes Big Ten foes Northwestern and Illinois on the road. Las year
Western Michigan was competitive in a look ahead spot for Michigan State (lost 37-24 while Spartans had revenge
game against Oregon on deck) and Ohio State (38-12, +32.5) in a game they were till the half. Perhaps their
most interesting game will be their September 24th rematch game at home vs. Georgia Southern. Last year the
Broncos traveled to Statesboro and were smoked by the Eagle option attack 43-17.
The Bronco’s MAC schedule screams of title game and conference championship. WMU misses the best two
teams in the East (Bowling Green and Ohio) and gets Northern Illinois and Toledo at home. Possible upset alert
games could come in their conference opener against Central Michigan which is followed by Northern Illinois who
has beaten them seven straight times. If Fleck can have his team play up to it’s hype and stay relatively healthy for
most of the year, Western Michigan looks to be a 10+ win team that could be conference champion and with some
breaks even get in the mix for a better money name brand bowl.