The Western Michigan Broncos are fresh off their best season in the schools history. Only an eight point loss in the Cotton Bowl to Wisconsin kept them from a perfect 14-0 season. In fact, I repeatedly sang their praises in almost everyone of getmoresports.com’s NCAA Football Throwdown Podcasts last year.
Unfortunately, head coach P.J. Fleck has moved on to the Big-10 to coach the Minnesota Golden Gophers. New head coach and former Broncos quarterback Tim Lester will hope to continue the success that Fleck built during his tenure. He has his work cut out for him.
The Western Michigan Broncos will open their 2017 campaign on the road in the Coliseum against the USC Trojans. The #2 ranked Trojans are fully loaded and Sam Darnold will look to have a field day against the under-manned MAC defense. That fully explains why the Western Michigan Broncos will open the season on September 2nd as 27 point dogs.
Afterwards, they travel back to Michigan to face the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing. How’s that to have in your opening non-conference schedule. I think we can all agree that a second run at a regular season unbeaten record should be put to bed right then.
Offense
The Western Michigan Broncos were one of the best offenses in the country in 2016. Now, quarterback and team captain Zach Terrell is gone. With him went his 33-4 ratio that he accumulated last season. Along with Terrell, the three top receivers depart, including Corey Davis. Davis was the first wide receiver taken in the 2017 NFL draft. The foursome combined for 67.4 percent of the Western Michigan Bronco’s offensive output. Ouch.
In steps Tom Flacco. Yes, I said Flacco. Tom is the younger brother of quarterback and Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco for the Baltimore Ravens. Unlike Zach Terrell, Flacco is expected to jump start the revamped offense by running the ball as well as throwing it.
The multi-dimensional option at quarterback should help alleviate some of the pressure for an inexperienced receiving corp. Wide out D’Wayne Eskridge and tight end Donnie Ernsberger return. The problem is that both combined for only 19 receptions in mop up duty for Western Michigan last year. Fellow receivers Rodney Graves, Anton Curtis and Hunter Broersma will also get a chance to produce.
On the flip side to that coin, the running game that ranked 24th nationally will return their starting two tail backs. Jarvion Franklin and Jamauri Bogan will once again look to provide a solid one-two punch for Western Michigan. Together, the talented duo rushed for nearly 2,300 yards in 2016. They also have All MAC linemen John Keenoy and Chukwuma Okorafor to help make holes for them to run through.
Defense
The Broncos do return some key pieces to help the defensive side of the football. That may be a key for them if teams start to load the box and stymie the Western Michigan run game.
Defensive ends Nathan Braster and Eric Assoua supplied Western Michigan with 13.5 tackles for a loss in 2016. Sadly, Andre Turner is the only defensive tackle that played any meaningful minutes for Western Michigan last season.
The Broncos linebackers should be solid. Three All-MAC caliber performers return to help stop opposing teams ground attacks. Leading tackler Robert Spillane (111 tackles), Asantay Brown (95 tackles) and Caleb Bailey’s (9 TFL and 3 sacks) should do the trick.
Western Michigan only suffered one loss in their starting secondary. Returning corners Obbie Jackson, Sam Beal and Darius Phillips combined for 21 passes defended along with five interceptions. Also, sophomores Justin Tranquill and Davontae Ginwright look to shore up the safety spots.
Prediction
First of all, lets get one thing straight. The Broncos will not repeat their 2016 performance this season. That being said, they are loaded in the run game and the defense should be able to hold their own in the MAC.
Western Michigan should be able to compete for another MAC Conference championship. Odds-makers have them slated behind Toledo as a 4 to 1 (+400) favorite to do just that. Either way, the Broncos should find themselves bowl bound again in 2017. Tim Lester has some big shoes to fill, but asking him to reproduce last season’s results is simply impossible.
The Broncos should rebound from an 0-2 start and acquire eight wins in their last ten games. Realistically, every game after the Broncos first two are winnable and a few more losses along the journey shouldn’t keep them from another post-season appearance.
Las Vegas has the Western Michigan Broncos at 8.5 over/under win total. Sounds about right to me. Look for Western Michigan to finish the 2017 NCAA College Football season 8-4 and give new head coach Tim Lester plenty to be proud about.
Western Michigan Schedule
9-2 @ USC
9-9 @ Michigan State
9-16 vs. Idaho
9-23 vs. Wagner
9-30 vs. Ball State
10-7 @ Buffalo
10-14 vs. Akron
10-21 @ Eastern Michigan
11-1 vs. Central Michigan
11-8 vs. Kent State
11-15 @ Northern Illinois
11-24 @ Toledo
The getmoresports.com NCAA College Football Throwdown Podcast will be returning to the air on August 24th. We will be highlighting the first five games on August 26th of the 2017 NCAA College Football season. That will be the first of three installments leading into the first week of the season. We also we will be covering our expectations for the Heisman Trophy front runners as well as predictions for conference winners and team totals.
Our second NCAA College Football Throwdown Podcast is penciled in for August 29th. In that installment, we will discussing all the games that will be played on August 31st and the 1st of September.
Our third segment will officially be airing on August 31st. In this addition of the NCAA College Football Throwdown, we will be covering all the relevant games for Sept 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
Keeping with tradition, EJ the Rainmaker and Erik the Hun will give their predictions for the contests. On top of that, we will be providing our dog play of the podcast as well as cash money plays for the week. Join us for all three opening episodes and improve your college football knowledge while increasing the size of your sports book betting account. Come join us and help everyone make it rain. #moneytreesgrow
