The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(10-12-2015 05:57 PM)MileHighBronco Wrote:  Far a bit of perspective, realize that Ohio's record has been compiled against questionable competition. Only two teams they have played are currently over .500 - Marshall and Minnesota. Granted, they beat Marshall and lost narrowly at Minnesota.

@Idaho (1 - 4) W 45 - 28
Marshall (5 - 1) W 21 - 10
SE Louisiana FCS W 35 - 14
@Minnesota (4 - 2) L 27 - 24
@Akron (2 - 3) W 14 - 12
Miami (0 - 5) W 34 - 3

Now, this doesn't mean that they are not good or can't/won't beat us. But I don't put a lot of stock at just looking at records to figure out how good a team is. While Ohio has a good record, they are not a juggernaut. Their record may deceive a bit in the same way ours did last season.

Frank Solich said about the Broncos that you can't really look at any stats - you might just as well throw them out, due to the level of competition we played. He sees two great WRs, a big, bruising RB and an experienced QB.

Playing on the road is tough. At Ohio will be difficult. All MAC road games are difficult. Expect a good crowd in Athens. Expect a Bronco team that would like to fix some of the errors made against our rivals.

I expect a win, despite the difficulties. It's doable if our team is hitting on all cylinders.

Its tricky when you start making judgements based on strength of schedule. For fun let's break down the two schedules-

- FCS opponents. Both teams played an FCS team at home, both teams won easily. Toss those out.
- #1OSU and #5MSU. Both losses but that's to be expected, toss those out.
- Idaho, Miami, Akron. All wins but that's to be expected, toss those out.

That leaves us with two games each, one is a win at home over a heated rival, the other is a road loss.

The win-
Ohio: 21-10 v Marshall(5-1)
WMU: 41-39 v CMU(2-4)

The loss-
Ohio: 27-24 @Minnesota(4-2)
WMU: 43-17 @GaSouthern(4-1)

I give Ohio the slight edge in having the more impressive win. Marshall was 13-1 last year, they have a P5 win this year, and their offense is averaging 36pts a game in their 5 wins but Ohio's defense held them to just 10pts. But to the Bronco's credit their offense lit up CMU's defense more than 2 P5s and NIU did. Like I said, its a slight edge to Ohio.

When comparing the two losses its worth noting that because of their conference affiliations one team gets more credit than it should and the other doesn't get enough. Ohio lead for most of the game vs MN and had a chance to tie it when a very controversial call put them out of field goal range and they had to settle for a hail mary. The GaSo game was much less competitive.

So, in my totally homer analysis of the schedules I give Ohio the slight edge. BUT, none of that really matters, I think its going to be hard fought, exciting game. Looking forward to it.

Any Bronco fans making the trip to Athens?

(10-12-2015 10:46 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Any Bronco fans making the trip to Athens?

My wife and I are making the journey from Missouri to Athens. Looking forward to what should be a great game!

(10-12-2015 10:46 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  I give Ohio the slight edge in having the more impressive win. Marshall was 13-1 last year, they have a P5 win this year, and their offense is averaging 36pts a game in their 5 wins but Ohio's defense held them to just 10pts. But to the Bronco's credit their offense lit up CMU's defense more than 2 P5s and NIU did. Like I said, its a slight edge to Ohio.

This is nowhere near the same 13-1 Marshall team from last year. Not even close. Marshall being 5-1 is a product of their weak schedule.

Purdue (1-5) - home opener, worst team in the B1G
Norfolk St. (2-4, FCS)
Kent St. (2-4) - took them 2OT to beat them
Old Dominion (2-3) - at home
So. Miss (3-3) - at home

Not one team with a winning record in there.

While OU wouldn't be mistaken for world beaters, 5-1 is still 5-1. Even ripping off five wins against teams you 'should' beat - without stumbling - is notable. If we win, I'll definitely consider it as a good win.

Purdue is probably the best win out of all of them. And that's not saying much...

(10-13-2015 07:18 AM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  

(10-12-2015 10:46 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  I give Ohio the slight edge in having the more impressive win. Marshall was 13-1 last year, they have a P5 win this year, and their offense is averaging 36pts a game in their 5 wins but Ohio's defense held them to just 10pts. But to the Bronco's credit their offense lit up CMU's defense more than 2 P5s and NIU did. Like I said, its a slight edge to Ohio.

This is nowhere near the same 13-1 Marshall team from last year. Not even close. Marshall being 5-1 is a product of their weak schedule.

Purdue (1-5) - home opener, worst team in the B1G
Norfolk St. (2-4, FCS)
Kent St. (2-4) - took them 2OT to beat them
Old Dominion (2-3) - at home
So. Miss (3-3) - at home

Not one team with a winning record in there.

so. they're 5-1. whats WMU's best win, CMU? a 2-4 team that hasn't beat a team with a winning record either.

bottom line, even if Marshall isn't as good as the 13-1 team from last year they're still good.

(10-13-2015 02:32 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  

(10-13-2015 07:18 AM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  

(10-12-2015 10:46 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  I give Ohio the slight edge in having the more impressive win. Marshall was 13-1 last year, they have a P5 win this year, and their offense is averaging 36pts a game in their 5 wins but Ohio's defense held them to just 10pts. But to the Bronco's credit their offense lit up CMU's defense more than 2 P5s and NIU did. Like I said, its a slight edge to Ohio.

This is nowhere near the same 13-1 Marshall team from last year. Not even close. Marshall being 5-1 is a product of their weak schedule.

Purdue (1-5) - home opener, worst team in the B1G
Norfolk St. (2-4, FCS)
Kent St. (2-4) - took them 2OT to beat them
Old Dominion (2-3) - at home
So. Miss (3-3) - at home

Not one team with a winning record in there.

so. they're 5-1. whats WMU's best win, CMU? a 2-4 team that hasn't beat a team with a winning record either.

bottom line, even if Marshall isn't as good as the 13-1 team from last year they're still good.

But even so, you're wasting your time, argue with a fool and then there are two.

Quote:bottom line, even if Marshall isn't as good as the 13-1 team from last year they're still good.

They're not that good. There's some teams better than their record indicates, others who are worse. Marshall is of the latter. At home, they edged out Purdue. Not impressive, nothing bad. Too little to go on. Nice win to have since it's a P5 in general, but again, not much to go on. Then they went to OT to beat Kent State. Yikes. And against Ohio, all those turnovers -- wow.

Marshall I would assume would/will get better as the season rolls on, but there's no "even if" when comparing them to last year. They're WAY not as good. They're not anywhere near a power G5 team.

Well they are good and then they're not that good, or not as good as they were when they were good, I'd give them a 50% chance of winning IF they actually played this game but they're not. Wow, that's a big IF.

(10-13-2015 02:32 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  

(10-13-2015 07:18 AM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  

(10-12-2015 10:46 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  I give Ohio the slight edge in having the more impressive win. Marshall was 13-1 last year, they have a P5 win this year, and their offense is averaging 36pts a game in their 5 wins but Ohio's defense held them to just 10pts. But to the Bronco's credit their offense lit up CMU's defense more than 2 P5s and NIU did. Like I said, its a slight edge to Ohio.

This is nowhere near the same 13-1 Marshall team from last year. Not even close. Marshall being 5-1 is a product of their weak schedule.

Purdue (1-5) - home opener, worst team in the B1G
Norfolk St. (2-4, FCS)
Kent St. (2-4) - took them 2OT to beat them
Old Dominion (2-3) - at home
So. Miss (3-3) - at home

Not one team with a winning record in there.

so. they're 5-1. whats WMU's best win, CMU? a 2-4 team that hasn't beat a team with a winning record either.

bottom line, even if Marshall isn't as good as the 13-1 team from last year they're still good.

Swap schedules with us and let's see who comes out with the better record.

Point being -- and Solich essentially said it himself this week -- that your record is inflated.

(10-13-2015 03:44 PM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  

(10-13-2015 02:32 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  

(10-13-2015 07:18 AM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  

(10-12-2015 10:46 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  I give Ohio the slight edge in having the more impressive win. Marshall was 13-1 last year, they have a P5 win this year, and their offense is averaging 36pts a game in their 5 wins but Ohio's defense held them to just 10pts. But to the Bronco's credit their offense lit up CMU's defense more than 2 P5s and NIU did. Like I said, its a slight edge to Ohio.

This is nowhere near the same 13-1 Marshall team from last year. Not even close. Marshall being 5-1 is a product of their weak schedule.

Purdue (1-5) - home opener, worst team in the B1G
Norfolk St. (2-4, FCS)
Kent St. (2-4) - took them 2OT to beat them
Old Dominion (2-3) - at home
So. Miss (3-3) - at home

Not one team with a winning record in there.

so. they're 5-1. whats WMU's best win, CMU? a 2-4 team that hasn't beat a team with a winning record either.

bottom line, even if Marshall isn't as good as the 13-1 team from last year they're still good.

Swap schedules with us and let's see who comes out with the better record.

Point being -- and Solich essentially said it himself this week -- that your record is inflated.

All conjecture on your part, you make an assumption and then claim it as fact, argue like a little girl to back your assumption. Nothing new here.

Fact is, Ohio U is 5-1 and Vegas has them favored right now to win.

WMU has a potentially tough road game ahead of them. That's all that is known.

(10-13-2015 03:44 PM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  

(10-13-2015 02:32 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  

(10-13-2015 07:18 AM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  

(10-12-2015 10:46 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  I give Ohio the slight edge in having the more impressive win. Marshall was 13-1 last year, they have a P5 win this year, and their offense is averaging 36pts a game in their 5 wins but Ohio's defense held them to just 10pts. But to the Bronco's credit their offense lit up CMU's defense more than 2 P5s and NIU did. Like I said, its a slight edge to Ohio.

This is nowhere near the same 13-1 Marshall team from last year. Not even close. Marshall being 5-1 is a product of their weak schedule.

Purdue (1-5) - home opener, worst team in the B1G
Norfolk St. (2-4, FCS)
Kent St. (2-4) - took them 2OT to beat them
Old Dominion (2-3) - at home
So. Miss (3-3) - at home

Not one team with a winning record in there.

so. they're 5-1. whats WMU's best win, CMU? a 2-4 team that hasn't beat a team with a winning record either.

bottom line, even if Marshall isn't as good as the 13-1 team from last year they're still good.

Swap schedules with us and let's see who comes out with the better record.

Point being -- and Solich essentially said it himself this week -- that your record is inflated.

look at my previous post, I broke down both schedules in great detail.

Ohio's 5-1 record is extremely inflated, no?

Quote:Ohio's 5-1 record is extremely inflated, no?

I don't think it was inflated. That 1 loss to Minn was a barn-burner that could/should have gone Ohio's way.

I think Ohio isn't As good as 5-1 would suggest. :)

We play ELITE competition at Western Michigan. It serves us well too.

That was easy

(10-13-2015 04:08 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  

(10-13-2015 03:44 PM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  

(10-13-2015 02:32 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  

(10-13-2015 07:18 AM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  

(10-12-2015 10:46 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  I give Ohio the slight edge in having the more impressive win. Marshall was 13-1 last year, they have a P5 win this year, and their offense is averaging 36pts a game in their 5 wins but Ohio's defense held them to just 10pts. But to the Bronco's credit their offense lit up CMU's defense more than 2 P5s and NIU did. Like I said, its a slight edge to Ohio.

This is nowhere near the same 13-1 Marshall team from last year. Not even close. Marshall being 5-1 is a product of their weak schedule.

Purdue (1-5) - home opener, worst team in the B1G
Norfolk St. (2-4, FCS)
Kent St. (2-4) - took them 2OT to beat them
Old Dominion (2-3) - at home
So. Miss (3-3) - at home

Not one team with a winning record in there.

so. they're 5-1. whats WMU's best win, CMU? a 2-4 team that hasn't beat a team with a winning record either.

bottom line, even if Marshall isn't as good as the 13-1 team from last year they're still good.

Swap schedules with us and let's see who comes out with the better record.

Point being -- and Solich essentially said it himself this week -- that your record is inflated.

look at my previous post, I broke down both schedules in great detail.

OU fans discovered what I already knew. Take the Broncos lightly at your own peril. I suspected that Ohio's record was vaporware. Hmmm