SB Nation - Brandon West

Preview: Michigan State vs. Western Michigan

LVS — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:13:59 -0000

In happier times.

Your MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS vs. the WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS
SPARTAN STADIUM, EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN
NOON (ET), BIG TEN NETWORK
WEATHER: PARTLY CLOUDY AND VERY WINDY (18-20 MPH), 55 DEGREES.

Every week's preview introduction seems to warn of ever-more-dire consequences if we lose the game on that particular Saturday. Well, this one's easy: lose this game and:

we'll suffer the indignity of being the first Michigan State team EVAR to lose to two MAC opponents in one season;
we'll suffer the indignity of those two MAC teams being freaking Central and Western;
our season will essentially be over; and,
I will cry.

So, now that we have that out of the way, let's get to the preview! This week with extra malaise!

Western has had an up-and-down season, to say the least. They're 4-5; the losses are an opening-week blowout at Michigan, a close road loss to Indiana, another blowout at the hands of Northern Illinois, a home loss to Central Michigan, and a defeat last week at Kent State. WMU was expected by many to challenge for their conference title, so a 4-5 record is a pretty huge disappointment for Bronco fans. (Sound familiar?) Nonetheless, this is an experienced team led by an accomplished senior quarterback. After the CMU game, I doubt that there was any chance we'd look past WMU . . . but if we somehow do, the Broncos may be talented enough to take advantage.

WHEN MICHIGAN STATE IS ON DEFENSE: Given the state of our defense, this advice probably will apply to all of our remaining games, but none more than this Saturday's: sell out to defend the pass, and make them beat us with the running game. Brandon West is the primary Bronco running back, and while his numbers (161 carries, 824 yards, 5.1 ypc) aren't terrible, the majority of those yards have come in three games: two against two middling-to-bad MAC rush defenses (Buffalo and Toledo), and one 1-AA opponent (Hofstra). As a team, WMU's rushing offense is 10th out of 13 in the MAC, averaging only a shade over 100 yards per game. Our rush defense has been good. We should have no problem stopping their rushing attack; in fact, every time they hand the ball off, it's essentially a win for our defense.

But the WMU passing offense . . . that's a bit different. WMU is 3rd in the MAC in passing offense (284 yards per game) and 6th in pass efficiency. Tim Hiller is obviously a standout and a potential NFL prospect; by the time he leaves Kalamazoo, he'll be the owner of every significant WMU career passing record. He's big (6'5" and 234 pounds) and not a real scrambling threat; this is disturbing only because that's the mold of most QBs that have given MSU real trouble this year (Clausen, Tolzien, Weber, etc.). In his other two starts against Big Ten defenses this season (and mediocre ones at that--Michigan and Indiana), Hiller was decent:

ATT COMP COMP % YARDS TD INT RATING

MICHIGAN 22 38 57.9 258 1 2 113.31

INDIANA 28 43 65.1 266 1 0 124.75

The Michigan stats are greatly inflated by a 73 yard garbage-time touchdown pass. The Indiana stats aren't terrible, but almost certainly won't be enough to win the game for WMU on Saturday.

Statistically, Hiller hasn't been as good this season as he was last year. His rating is way down, as is his completion percentage, his yards per game, yards per attempt and completion, and his TD-INT ratio. (All of this probably has lots to do with the fact that WMU's top two receivers in 2008 both graduated.) However, his sacks are up -- 16 already this year, against only 14 for the entirety of last season.

Hiller's main targets this year are Robert Arnheim and Juan Nunez, but the main thing that's notable about the receiver corps is how deep it is and how well the Broncos spread the ball around: 5 receivers have more htan 30 receptions on the year, and a sixth has more than 20. This could pose problems for an MSU secondary which is thin and has looked utterly clueless in countless instances this season.

Basically, the WMU pass offense isn't spectacular, but it's decent, and it's really the only thing that can keep WMU in the game. Nonetheless, given MSU's laughable track record against one-dimensional passing offenses this season, there's no guarantee of success on our part. The Broncos have allowed a fair amount of sacks this season, so we should really put an emphasis on getting to the quarterback and disrupting Hiller's rhythm. Beyond that, uh, we should cover their receivers? I think we all understand far too well at this point the areas which need improvement.

WHEN MICHIGAN STATE IS ON OFFENSE: . . . we should dominate a Western defense which has struggled mightily against the pass. The Broncos are 13th in the MAC in pass defense (dead last!) and 9th in pass efficiency defense. They have the second-fewest sacks in the MAC. At the beginning of the year, Tim Sullivan at mgoblog said this:

If Western's run defense was pretty bad last year, their pass defense was downright terrible. Facing the same motley crew of offenses, they finished #102 in the nation in pass defense. They were a more respectable #62 in pass efficiency defense.) That indicates they were in lots of shootouts last year (a couple) and games in which the opponent was trying to mount a comeback (a couple more).

The Bronco defense soared to those heights despite two players selected in the NFL Draft in Louis Delmas (2nd Round to the Lions, still technically in the NFL) and EJ Biggers (7th Round to the Buccaneers). I think it's safe to say that you can't expect WMU to replace two NFL-caliber players at one position group. Ohio State they are not. The lone returning starter is strong safety Mario Armstrong.

They've been as bad as advertised. And, For what it's worth, WMU's rush defense hasn't been much better: opponents are averaging 176 yards per game, good for 94th in the country. This also might be a game to see if Baker and Caper can break a few big runs and get some confidence.

This is a very, very short offensive preview for a reason: there's not much to say other than Western is a bad defense, and we should rack up a lot of yards and a lot of points against them. The fewest points WMU has allowed to a 1-A school this season is 23 (to Indiana, no less); overall, they're averaging more than 27 points allowed per game, good for 80th nationally. This. Is. Not. A. Good. Defense. And if we don't score at least 30 points . . . we'll (a) have either called off the dogs in a blowout, or (b) have played terribly on offense.I hate the "we can only stop ourselves" cliche, but here, it's true.

FINAL PREDICTION: I actually really agree with what Graham Couch of the Kalamazoo Gazette said, in an article KJ linked to earlier today:

If Michigan State hadn’t lost to Central Michigan already this year, a WMU win wouldn’t feel so farfetched. But it’s hard to imagine an uninspired effort from the Spartans considering that loss and how much they need this game. That said, the prospect of bowl-eligibility didn’t help Iowa or Illinois get up for the Broncos either of the last two years. Here’s the difference: Both Iowa and Illinois were bad offenses; Michigan State is not.

MSU the better team here, and we desperately need this win to keep ourselves in contention for a bowl berth. After losing to CMU earlier this year, there's no way we (should!) look past this game. In 2007, we lost a heartbreaker to Michigan, and then came back to beat Purdue and Penn State to clinch a bowl berth. This year, the task is substantially easier: beat WMU and Purdue and we're in a bowl. While last week's debacle clearly shows that this team is capable of losing nearly any game, I really doubt it happens here. 41-21, MSU.

And if it does happen here, I mean, last week's thread of shame is going to look like the post-Michigan discussion by comparison. Please, football team of my beloved Alma Mater, do not let this happen.

Western Michigan vs NIU: A Primer for Homecoming 2009

Mike Breese — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:29:19 -0000

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Kalamazoo is the closest city to Dekalb that houses a MAC squad being 3 1/2 hours away. They like to make inroads recruiting in the Chicago area, especially now that long-time NIU recruiting coordinator Mike Sabock has taken the same position east down I-94. The Broncos have also been our homecoming opponent both in 2007 and in 2003. The 2003 game was the most highly-attended game in Northern Illinois history with a total of 28,221 fans coming out to support the Huskies.

If Western Illinois is NIU's little brother than Western Michigan would have to be that kid that you beat up, who goes away for a little while and then comes up with some creative new strategies to beat you up yourself. Then he becomes king of the playground until you gather yourself and start controlling the turf again. What am I talking about?

1950-1982: 15-1 WMU
1983-1988: 5-0 NIU
1991-2000: 6-0 WMU
2001-2005: 5-0 NIU
2006-08: 3-0 WMU

Overall, we have an 11-23 overall record against the Broncos. I like the 10-9 since 1983 stat personally though. '83 was Mallory's last big year and we even beat Western the year after that with Lee Corso as our coach. In the 1990's we were bad, until Coach Novak started turning things around. Gary Darnell left WMU in 2004 and current HC Bill Cubit took the reigns and supremacy over the Huskies in these last few years.

Cubit was OC for WMU from 1997-99, went to Mizzou for a year and then had 2-year stints at both Rutgers & Stanford before landing back in Kalamazoo as the head ball coach.

Flashback to 2006: Garrett Wolfe has rattled off 10+ games of 150 yds or more until we come rolling in to Kalamazoo on what seems like a harmless game. We've beaten WMU every year, so that trend should continue right? Well, Wolfe got held to only 25 yds on 18 carries and the rest was history. Phil Horvath had 3 interceptions and was sacked 3x, while WR Britt Davis was the main offensive contributor. There goes the Heisman & there goes the MAC West. Does that make you cringe? Final score: 14-16.

2007 (Vintage RABA Recap): WMU was homecoming back then too and we came in to the game with a 1-5 record and almost beat the Broncos 13-17. It was the beginning of the Ryan Morris show at QB. This was the game where on a fake MPZ miraculously got off that deep pass for a TD. A couple interesting thoughts I had that day:

Crowd was 23K. So that means its a plus 4,000 to 5,000 fans if we actually have a good football team.

#15 QB Ryan Morris has no arm. He's a poor man's Phil Horvath. Not even that. I still heard "Nicholson Sucks" chants in the crowd when he wasn't even playing lol. There were men open that he couldn't even get the ball. Embarrassing.

Again, I'm very surprised that Joe Novak seems to keep Justin Anderson in there for every play. He just doesn't have that breakaway speed or any other attributes that make him special like a Wolfe or a Turner. I would like to see the other speed backs get a look. Outside runs with Justin Anderson just aren't going to work because his speed isn't good enough.

2008 (Vintage RABA Recap): I actually made the trip up to K-Zoo that year for the game and it was a great time. It only took me 5 days to get a recap up for some reason. 1st quarter of the game, the man that became an instant star against Minnesota the week before, Chandler Harnish, went down with an ankle injury. For the rest of the game, we had to use a mix of Dan Nicholson and Britt Davis. Neither were effective though, as Nicholson got sacked 4 times whereas Grady only ran the ball. On the ground #3 was pretty effective scoring a TD and averaging over 6 ypc. One thing of note was that stellar LG Jason Onyebuagu didn't play in the game last year, which may have added to the problems moving the ball offensively.

Overall, starting your second road game in a row, in-conference, with a rotating door at QB, with one of your best WRs not making the trip, with a new coach, with an inconsistent running game, with a freshman at LT is not going to be a good situation.

We actually outgained the Broncos 439-384 despite losing 26-29. The problem? Settling for FGs instead of TDs. Sound familiar? Just like Idaho. RB Brandon West tore us apart rushing for 175 yds on just 25 carries. WMU QB Tim Hiller tossed the ball around for 186 yds and 3 TDs. A key contributor in last years game in Jamarko Simmons who had 8 catches for 102 yds and a TD has since graduated to the NFL.

Reading Material

HuskieWire Writer's Bloc with WMU Beat Writer Graham Couch

NStar's Offensive Breakdown of WMU

NStar's Defensive Breakdown of WMU

So far this season

9/05	@ Michigan	0-1 (0-0)	L 31-7
9/12	@ Indiana	0-2 (0-0)	L 23-19
9/19	Miami (OH)	1-2 (1-0)	W 48-26
9/26	Hofstra	2-2 (1-0)	W 24-10

@ Michigan: Just domination all around by the Wolverines. Any types of yards or points by the Broncos happened well after UM was up 31-0. WR Juan Nunes had a nice 73 yd TD and that was it for the WMU offense. They averaged 1.6 ypc rushing in this game.

@ Indiana: This was a very odd game where each team wanted to give away the win to the opponent. The Hoosiers settled for 3 FGs and a missed FG whenever they got in to redzone situations. This plus 13 penalties for 106 yds allowed the Broncos to get back in to the game. WMU would have won it too, if they didn't fumble the ball 3 times on their last 3 possessions, allowing IU to get a safety and control the ball until the clock ran out. Total yds were 372-288 in favor of IU. Hiller had to pass the ball around again and rushing was only .8 ypc!

vs Miami: The score is deceiving because WMU got up to 35-0 early in the 3rd quarter. And then 6-48 later in the 3rd. Of course the Redhawks pretty much gave the Broncos the game giving them the ball 4x on the ground and once through the air. Plus 10 penalties for 77 yds. You have to hand it to Miami for fighting hard in garbage time, eventually coming in front of the yardage stat 421-370.

vs Hofstra: Just a lackluster performance against an FCS opponent that didn't have anything special to bring to the table. Early on, WMU couldn't convert a 4th down, threw an interception and settled for a field goal. The Pride managed to stick around until before the end of the 1st half, in which Brandon West ran it in after a long drive by the Broncos. The second half was sloppy too with Western fumbling the ball on both of their first 2 possessions in the 3rd quarter.

09_29_2009 WMU Broncos Football Press Conference

National Rankings

Category	National Rank	Actual	National Leader	Actual	Conf Rank	Mid-American Conference Leader	Actual
Rushing Offense	113	86.25	Air Force	319.00	11	Northern Ill.	188.00
Passing Offense	21	271.25	Hawaii	423.33	3	Toledo	320.50
Total Offense	73	357.50	Texas A&M	574.33	5	Toledo	473.25
Scoring Offense	T-81	24.50	Texas	49.50	4	Central Mich.	32.75
Rushing Defense	84	157.00	Oklahoma	40.67	4	Central Mich.	113.00
Pass Efficiency Defense	74	129.77	Florida	75.31	9	Eastern Mich.	79.69
Total Defense	95	390.25	North Carolina St.	201.25	11	Central Mich.	274.00
Scoring Defense	T-54	22.50	Oklahoma	4.67	3	Central Mich.	16.75
Net Punting	64	35.78	BYU	43.70	6	Ball St.	40.19
Punt Returns	66	8.00	Louisiana Tech	45.50	6	Central Mich.	17.90
Kickoff Returns	32	25.00	Stanford	41.67	3	Temple	28.15
Turnover Margin	91	-.75	Arizona St.	3.33	10	Ohio	1.00
Pass Defense	85	233.25	Eastern Mich.	78.00	11	Eastern Mich.	78.00
Passing Efficiency	51	134.76	Hawaii	180.65	3	Buffalo	143.97
Sacks	T-48	2.00	Texas A&M	4.67	2	Temple	2.67
Tackles For Loss	96	4.50	Oklahoma	11.33	11	Kent St.	7.00
Sacks Allowed	T-71	2.00	Iowa St.	.50	6	Toledo	.75

Notes

Offense - Rushing offense is terrible, but that doesn't mean RB Brandon West isn't a home run threat every time he touches the football.

Defense - Rush D is 84th nationally, but still 4th in the MAC? How bout those MAC defenses. You can pass on these Broncos and overall they are 95th nationally and 11th in the conference in defense. We should be able to pick our spots pretty good, because it's not like WMU's played some of the top offenses out there excluding Michigan in their debut. Bring a lot of pressure.

Special Teams/Other - Brandon West is their kickoff return specialist and he does a great job putting the Broncos in good field position. Turnovers will be huge in this game, because WMU likes to give the ball up a lot on the ground and sometimes through the air as well.

Impact Players

Category	Player	National Rank	Actual
Rushing	Brandon West	T-57	74.00
Passing Efficiency (Min. 15 Att./Game)	Tim Hiller	52	136.88
Total Offense	Tim Hiller	34	249.75
	Brandon West		74.00
Receptions Per Game	Jordan White	T-32	6.00
	Juan Nunez	T-40	5.75
	Robert Arnheim	T-78	4.50
	Chleb Ravenell		3.75
Receiving Yards Per Game	Juan Nunez	36	85.25
	Jordan White	T-81	63.00
	Chleb Ravenell		46.75
	Robert Arnheim		42.25
Interceptions	Jamail Berry		.25
	Deshon Lawrence		.25
Punting (Min. 3.6 Punts/Game)	Ben Armer	73	37.89
Punt Returns (Min. 1.2 Ret./Game)
Kickoff Returns (Min. 1.2 Ret./Game)	Brandon West	36	26.07
Field Goals	John Potter	T-99	.50
Scoring	John Potter		4.50
	Brandon West		4.50
	Juan Nunez		4.50
All-Purpose Runners	Brandon West	4	192.50
	Juan Nunez		85.25
	Jordan White		76.33
Sacks	Cody Cielenski	T-30	.75
	Vernon Stewart		.25
	Austin Pritchard		.25
	Paul Hazel		.25
Tackles	Austin Pritchard	T-21	10.00
Tackles For Loss	Cody Cielenski		1.00
	Austin Pritchard		.88

Notes

The usual suspects in QB Tim Hiller and RB Brandon West are effective on offense. The deep threat at WR is Juan Nunez, who ~~is questionable~~ WILL NOT PLAY this week with a knee bruise. WR Jordan White sees a lot of grabs, but is more of a posession guy. Let's see here...Brandon West, Brandon West, hmm I think we should watch out for Brandon West. Our kicking game and special teams coverage has to be sharp this week.

The O-Line needs to watch out for Cielinski on the defensive line and make sure he doesn't get in to the backfield. Austin Pritchard is Mr. Productive at the weakside LB position. A huge loss for the Broncos on this side of the ball is nickelback Doug Wiggins, who remains suspended for disciplinary reasons. That brings their depth in the secondary down extremely as Wiggins is one of their most talented players and a transfer from THE U of Miami.

The Gameplan

Play physical both on defense and on offense. This game will be won in the trenches and on special teams play. Hold on to the ball. Make sure to get pressure on Hiller so he doesn't have all day to throw. Keep an eye on RB Brandon West at all times and make tackles. Fundamentals and execution were Coach Kill's words of the week and it's time for these Huskies to give a homecoming performance nobody will forget!

Mid-Major College Football Week 2: Rocks, Papers, Scissors

umass09 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:18:09 -0000

Rocks: Brandon West, RB, Western Michigan

The Broncos suffered a tough loss to Indiana this past Saturday 23-19. The offense was decent, but Brandon West averaged 2.4 yards per carry and finished with 36 yards on the ground. West didn't even find the end zone and against a team like the Hoosiers who rank 7th in the Big 10 in total defense, the Broncos should have had more success on the ground.

Paper: Ricky Bustle, HC, Louisiana-Lafayette

Although it could be easy to give this to Kevin Sumlin, of Houston or Butch Jones at Central Michigan, there has to be some recognition for the Sun Belt conference and Louisiana-Lafayette Rajin Cajuns. Ricky Bustle led his team to a 17-15 win over Big 12 foe, Kansas State Wildcats on the road. They were down early on, but then jumped out to a 14-3 lead at half. Late in the fourth quarter, KSU came back to go up 15-14 and then with less then a minute left, the ULL, kicked the game-winning field goal to solidify a 17-15 victory of KSU.

Scissors: Tie between Case Keenum, QB, Houston and Dan LeFevour, QB, Central Michigan

Both quarterbacks took their teams into hostile environments and came away with huge wins.

Keenum brought the Cougars into Stillwater, OK and won by double digits 45-35 over the Cowboys. He went 32-46, 366 passing yards and three touchdowns. Keenum also added 16 yards on the ground and one rushing touchdown. This was the first time in over 20 years that the Cougars have beat a Top 5 team.

LeFevour narrowly escaped a victory in East Lansing as Central Michigan beat Michigan State 29-27. Similar numbers to Keenum, LeFevour went 33-46, 328 yards through the air and three touchdowns. He brought his team within one point with under a minute left in the game with an 11-yard touchdown pass which led to the successful onside kick and game-winning field goal. He also became the Mid American Conference all-time leader in total offense.

Indiana 23, Western Michigan 19: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

John M (The Crimson Quarry) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:00:33 -0000

Here are the stats. What do we see?

The good:

The final score, of course. While a 4 point home win over a MAC school isn't the stuff of legend, the oddsmakers had the game nearly even and practically all media and blog predictions favored the Broncos. All wins matter: just ask Michigan State.
IU outgained Western Michigan 372 to 288 and averaged 6.0 yards per play to Western's 4.0. This speaks particularly well of the defense, which was reasonably effective against one of the nation's most productive offenses of last year.
The rushing game was much, much better. IU ran the ball 33 times for 187 yards and averaged 5.7 yards per carry. Again, no one will confuse Western Michigan's front seven with Ohio State's, but IU ran the ball often and effectively. Even taking Demetrius McCray's 59-yard TD run out of the equation, IU averaged 4 yards per carry.
IU sacked Tim Hiller twice and pressured him more often than that. Jammie Kirlew got into the action with 1.5 sacks. Once again, Greg Middleton made little impact in the stat line other than his crucial forced fumble, but he clearly had an impact on the WMU passing game.
Tandon Doss continued to cement his status as the #1 receiver with 8 catches for 85 yards.
Speaking of McCray, he ran the ball 17 times for 137 yards for an average of nearly 8 yards per carry. Bryan Payton added 5-29 (5.8 ypc) and Mitchell Evans, working out of a Wildcat-like formation as quarterback, was 6-35 (also 5.8 ypc).
Redshirt freshman Nick Freeland continues to kick well. He made three of four field goals, and his only miss was a block. In other words, he hasn't shanked one yet (knock on wood).

The bad:

Once again, after a strong start, IU failed to put the game away despite ample opportunity to do so. IU had two scoring drives in the second half (plus a blocked field goal from the 5 yard line) compared to three in the first half, so IU moved the ball reasonably well in the second half, but managing at least one touchdown on those second half possessions would have given the Hoosiers some breathing room.
IU allowed 161 kick return yards to Brandon West, good enough for 26 yards per return.

The ugly:

13 penalties for 106 yards. On the key drive of the game, the fourth quarter drive that Middleton ended with his forced fumble at the five yard line, IU had four penalties, including three personal fouls. They were oddly clustered as well. IU had consecutive false starts in the first quarter by Tandon Doss and Pete Saxon. In a very odd sequence in the third quarter, tight end Troy Wagner, despite being "covered up" by another player on the line, left his three point stance on two consecutive plays, and each was a false start.

Western Michigan: key contributors.

John M (The Crimson Quarry) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:03:47 -0000

by TONY DING - AP

Tim Hiller leads the WMU offense.

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I've talked a bit about WMU's strengths as a team, but who are the key contributors to watch on Saturday?

Tim Hiller, senior quarterback: Well, if you know anything about Western Michigan you knew that. Here are Hiller's official page and game log. Trivia: Hiller is from Orrville, Ohio, the same town as Bob Knight. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Hiller's numbers were passable overall, but his 57 percent completion percentage against Michigan was below his career average. Hiller completed nearly 65 percent of his passes as a junior and over 63 percent as a sophomore. Still, Michigan was Hiller's third consecutive subpar game: Tiller finished the 2008 season with a 15-32 performance in a loss to Ball State and 19-42 in a Texas Bowl loss to Rice. Hiller has held his own against BCS conference teams as well: in 2007, his performance against IU (28-51, 343 yards, 3 touchdowns) is well-known here, but the next week, against Missouri, Hiller was 30-43, 242, 1TD, 2 INT in a 52-24 loss at Missouri. Later in 2007, in a game that allowed IU to secure an Insight Bowl bid, Hiller was 26-45 for 367 yards and 3 TD 0 INT at Iowa. In 2008, Hiller was 30-49 for 342 yards and 2 TD in a 47-24 loss to Nebraska. Later in the season, in a home-neutral game at Ford Field, Hiller was 28-40 for 301 yards and 2 TD in a 23-17 win over Illinois. In short, Hiller hasn't been intimidated against teams from major conferences, and has a 2-3 career record against such teams.

Brandon West, senior running back: West, for his career, has run for 2548 yards and averaged 4.8 yards per carry. also, he has 746 career receiving yards. How has he done against the big boys? West was fine against IU in 2007, running 12 times for 51 yards and returning a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. Also in 2007, he was very effective against Iowa, running for 116 yards on 30 carries and gaining 93 yards and a TD on 9 receptions. In 2008, he didn't overwhelm against any of the major conference opponents and was less than impressive against Michigan last week.

Juan Nunez, junior wide receiver. Nunez was one of the few Broncos who played well against Michigan. After gaining 701 receiving yards as a sophomore, Nunez caught 7 balls for 151 yards, including a 73 yard touchdown reception, WMU's only score of the game. He did not play against IU in 2007.

Austin Pritchard, senior linebacker. Pritchard was a first-team all-MAC selection in 2008 and WMU's leading tackler. He led the way in tackles for WMU with 11 against Michigan last week.

Doug Wiggins, sophomore free safety. Wiggins transferred from Miami (Fla.) and recorded 9 tackles in his Bronco debut. Wiggins's transfer from Miami was an odd affair, with allegations by Wiggins that the Miami staff wanted to create a fraudulent injury so that he could gain a medical redshirt year after playing in four games. According to this arti cle , Wiggins, a top 50 recruit, nearly attended WMU in the first place. Strange story all around.

Those are the Broncos to watch. As I write this, IU is a 1.5 point favorite, meaning the Hoosiers would be an underdog on a neutral field. Hopefully, IU can begin a new MAC winning streak this year.

All In: Michigan Football Thumps Western Michigan 31-7

Maize n Brew Dave — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:04:16 -0000

by TONY DING - AP

3 months ago: Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez receives a hug from running back Brandon Minor, right, after an NCAA college football game with Western Michigan, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan won 31-7. (AP Photo/Tony Ding)

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When you don't know what to expect out of a team, the story lines are easy. You just ask a bunch of rhetorical questions. When there are more questions than answers that's all you can do. Three days later I've got more answers than I know what to do with. There are so many people deserving of praise. Who do you write about first? Forcier? Hemingway? Rodriguez? Robinson? Denard? The whole bleeping defense? When a team manufactures a win, there isn't a "hero" per se. It's a group of heroes that need to be recognized, because they all contributed. These kids shook off or simply ignored every outside distraction and steamrolled Western Michigan on Saturday 31-7. It wasn't just a game where a better team walked onto the field and won because they were supposed to. If there's such a thing as a statement game on day one, this was it. They were all in.

Whether you've been looking ahead to this game for a month or a week, Western Michigan was a scary opener. Seven returning starters including an NFL-rated Quarterback in Tim Hiller, a senior 1000 yard rusher in Brandon West, and four returning starting Offensive Linemen. It was a 28 PPG offense matching up against a Wolverine defense that gave up 33.5 a game last season (in conference). On the other side of the ball, while you weren't scared of Western's defense, you were scared of Michigan's offense. It was explosive last year. Explosive in the wrong sense. All of 2008 Michigan players seemed be clutching the grenade a little too long or playing hop-scotch in a minefield. Now, with a true freshman under center, irrespective of his spring and fall practices, it was enough to make even the diehards queasy. Mix that in with your starting tailback being out, a slew of untested receivers, and the season from hell in 2008... well... you've got yourself a recipe for a long afternoon.

And this wasn't just a season opener. No way. This was a must win for this coach and this program. After a 3-9 season, all the nonsense from the Free Press, and the national media skewing what the Free Press' report actually claimed to report, Michigan needed this win. Rich Rodriguez needed, nay, deserved this win, just as he has deserved so much better from some of the people who have been assigned to cover him. More importantly, the players knew how important this game was. After months of practice and devotion to the program, their commitment was being called illegal. Their coach and their program were being called into question. They knew the only way to silence the critics was to perform. To go all in.

Oh baby... did they ever.

Michigan was the Michigan we want to remember. They were absolutely dominant on Saturday. The offense clicked. The defense was nasty. Open receivers were hit in stride. The Defensive Line controlled the line of scrimmage and took away yards on third downs. It was a opener that we can look back on fondly with a smile, rather than grimacing and shaking our heads.

Michigan fans finally saw what Bill Martin hired Rich Rodriguez to do. They finally saw what his teams are capable of. Most importantly, they saw just how hard Rodriguez players are willing to play for their coach. Make no mistake, had Michigan lost this game or had it been uncomfortably close, the media would've immediately began harping on how the locker room was divided and how Rodriguez was close to losing his team.

During the pre-game on ESPN we were left with speculation that the locker room was divided. Desmond openly pondered what was going on. Corso and Herbstreit commented that it sounded like trouble. Then, oddly, Craig James came on the air to say none of that speculation was correct. This team was united... and pissed off that people were speculating about this sort of thing. The Game Day crew immediately downplayed James' comments and started talking about the divide between underclassmen and upperclassmen, and how the young guys just want to play and the seniors were more of a barometer.

You're right fellas. They are. All those seniors played with intensity, heart, and determination. The seniors on the offensive line played their best games. Mark Ortmann, save a false start, played as well as he ever has. Greg Mathews was excellent on the return game. Stevie Brown and Obi Ezeh were outstanding, totally eclipsing their performances from last year in a single game. Brandon Graham bull rushed and terrorized Tim Hiller the entire game, even if the stat sheet only says one tackle. Brandon Minor didn't play, but could have, and he was one of the first people to hug Rodriguez after the game was over. Want proof? It's the photo at the top. Those are your seniors, ESPN. Ask them how they feel about Coach Rodriguez. Their play speaks for them. But just in case you actually want to ask a question before speculating, they're available for comment. But then again, I don't think you'll like what they have to say. It doesn't fit your story.

Frankly, our story is better. It's one of redemption, one game at a time. A story about 115 kids who believe in a coach who really does care about them. It talks about two freshmen quarterbacks taking a stadium of 110,000 plus by storm. One with his guile and arm. Another with his feet. There's a subplot about Junior Hemingway coming back from injury to dominate the passing game. Chapters about a defense left for dead in 2008 that, for a game anyway, was as dominant as we've seen since 2006. Let's talk about that story, rather than the one that's supported by a house of cards.

What you saw on Saturday was a group of young men who wanted to prove something. After a week of telling anyone within earshot that they were committed to Michigan Football and Coach Rodriguez, they were tired of no one listening to them. So they decided to let their play do the talking. Guided by two freshman under center and a grizzled old defensive coordinator who everyone thought left his chops in Austin, Michigan made a resounding statement on Saturday.

We're all in.

Nebraska - Western Michigan Preview

Jon Johnston — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:00:08 -0000

Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Mascot: Broncos
2007 Record (MAC): 5-7 (3-4; Tied for third in MAC West)
Coach: Bill Cubit (20-16 in 3 years at Western Michigan)
All-Time Series vs. Nebraska: First Ever Meeting
1-3 All-Time against Big 12 teams, the only win coming in 1994 against Iowa State.

2007 Stats
Offense
- Points/Game: 26.9 (65th)
- Total Offense: 398.0 (57th)
- Rush Yards/Game: 130.4 (86th)
- Pass Efficiency: 130.9 (46th)

Defense
- Points Allowed/Game: 28.9 (73rd)
- Total Defense: 399.3 (68th)
- Rush Yds. Allowed/Game: 179.1 (83rd)
- Pass Efficiency Defense: 120.9 (46th)

Players to Watch:

Offense:
- Junior Quarterback Tim Hiller, 3,021 yards last season with 20 TD's and 15 interceptions. Last year became the only sophomore in Western Michigan history to throw for over 3,000 yards. Started all 12 games last season.
- Junior Running Back Brandon West is the top returning rusher with 848 yards, 4 TD's. Finished second in receptions with 45 for 365. Also had 35 kick returns for 906 yards, a 25.9 average, including a 98 yarder for a TD against Finished 2007 with 2,119 all-purpose yards for a 176.6/game average. Named 2nd team All-Mac in 2007.
- Senior Wide Receive Jamarko Simmons was an All-MAC selection last year, finishing the season with 980 yards and 6 TD's.
- Senior tight end Branden Ledbetter, named third team All-MAC in 2007. Finished 2007 with 38 receptions and 550 yards, 6 TD's.

Defense:
- Senior defensive end Zach Davidson, tied for sack lead with 6.5. Named second-team All-MAC in 2007.
- Senior defensive end Greg Marshall, tied for sack lead with 6.5. Started all 12 games in 2007.
- Senior linebacker Boston McCornell, lead the team in tackles with 99 in 2007. Named second-team All-MAC last season. Started all 12 games last season.
- Senior cornerback Londen Fryar, named first-team All-MAC in 2007 for second straight season. Lead team with 16 pass break-ups.
- Senior free safety Louis Delmas, named second-team All-MAC in 2007 despite missing games due to injury. Potential NFL draft choice, second leading kick returner behind Brandon West.

Overview
Western Michigan has a gob of players returning (all 11 on defense) from a team that ended their 2007 season with the same record as Nebraska. Three of the Broncos losses came in horrifying fashion - giving up a kick return for touchdown after intentionally taking a safety with 15 seconds left against Akron, giving up a one yard TD with 1:07 left against Ball State, and giving up a TD to rival Central Michigan with :12 left.

The entire two deep returns on the Bronco defensive line, with a combined 108 starts between them, so the Husker offensive line will get an immediate test as to whether or not they can establish a running game against an experienced team. This will be the key to the game - can a talented and deep Nebraska line punish a talented and deep defensive line of Western Michigan, wearing them down by the end of the game and then pummeling them into submission?

Quarterback Hiller isn't particularly mobile and the Broncos lost four of their top offensive lineman from last season. Simmons is 6'2", 234 lbs, while tight end Ledbetter is 6'5", 230 lbs, so both make nice big targets for Hiller. Plenty of experience among this group will be a challenge to the Husker defense.

Husker fans keep talking about the Virginia Tech and Missouri games, but overlooking Western Michigan would be dangerous and could be disastrous. A loss to the Broncos would send the fan base reeling and would be a nasty start to the Bo Pelini era. Western Michigan is a decent opening opponent, one of the better we've seen in a few years.

Western Michigan's game plan will be straightforward. If Western Michigan can score early, possibly either on a kick return or turnover, the Broncos will try to stymy the Husker offense as much as possible in an effort to keep the game close going into the fourth quarter and see what happens.

We'll have more predictions coming later in the week.

	ATT	COMP	COMP %	YARDS	TD	INT	RATING
MICHIGAN	22	38	57.9	258	1	2	113.31
INDIANA	28	43	65.1	266	1	0	124.75