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

Losses over:
4-4 @ MSU
3-6 @ Syracuse
6-3 @ Toledo
4-5 @ EMU

Next up:
4-5 @OU
3-6 @NIU

I know, I know -- I'm harsh on us playing on the road. Butt, we're winless, 0-4 on the road.

Or shall I say 0-2 on the road in the MAC. As far chances of going 2-0, I would say these are better. But about equal going 1-1, given circumstances. EMU wanted to make up for a loss prior to us, and they got it. OU is in the same boat... and NIU can still play tough despite them being a step down. Better record than EMU in the MAC, and @NIU is never an easy chore.

And to be fair to NIU, their tough OOC schedule, was more destined to be 1-3 instead of classic 2-2 by normally competitive teams. So it'd be like having two 4-5 teams we're facing on the road.

Or more like facing EMU 2x in a row. :)

Motivation shouldn't be a problem. All of the TVs in the football facilities should simply run loop of last year's game, beginning with Lester's comments about it being Ohio's year and ending with Lester talking about being proud of his team after being down 45-0 at half.

We may or may not win the game, but if a shot at redemption for one of the most embarrassing performances in Bronco football history isn't enough to get us up for next week's game, then shame on us.

Statistically, Ohio and WMU are eerily similar. I think our offense and defense are slightly better, but it is at their field. I think the Colonel is right about motivation, this team should be mad about last year. The big difference is our defense can get to the QB and generate turnovers, while Ohio's defense can't. If we can give Jon plenty of time, frustrate Rourke, and not turn the ball over, we win.

If Lester pulls this off.... biggest win of his career? I still think this years win over CMU or maybe GSU are his best so far

(11-07-2019 09:47 AM)Fthechips Wrote:  If Lester pulls this off.... biggest win of his career? I still think this years win over CMU or maybe GSU are his best so far

Miami is turning out to be a big win at home this season.

I think Tim just won the biggest game of his career. His reward is a bigger game.

This team still has everything right in front of it, MAC west, MACC, bowl game. Just keep winning baby, I would be ecstatic with a win over Ohio.

(11-06-2019 11:38 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Wins over:
5-4 (4-1) Miami
6-4 CMU
6-2 Georgia St

Next up:
4-5 OU
3-6 NIU

On a side note, Monmouth (7-2) is ranked #20 in FCS.

(11-07-2019 09:50 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  I think Tim just won the biggest game of his career. His reward is a bigger game.

And if he beats Ohio an even bigger game.

If he beats NIU then hopefully he gets an even bigger game.

(11-07-2019 10:15 AM)Bronc33 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 09:50 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  I think Tim just won the biggest game of his career. His reward is a bigger game.

And if he beats Ohio an even bigger game.

If he beats NIU then hopefully he gets an even bigger game.

Lets just hope Tim doesn't think "this is Ohio's year" again...

Ohio is in a tough place now. They just lost to their rival at home for the first time since 2005. They've been bumped out of 1st place in the East. They only get 6 days before they have to turn around and face WMU.

WMU on the other hand has all the momentum after a big win over Ball State to take over 1st place in the West.

I know we haven't been good on the road, but you have to figure that psychologically WMU should be in a much better place than Ohio.

Ohio's defense is going to have a tough time stopping Bellamy. They've been giving up 6.4 yards per play, 2nd worst in the MAC, and 5.4 yards per rush, which is dead last in the MAC. Their D also only has 15 sacks and 2 interceptions on the year.

It seems most of our big run gains came either on third and long, or on QB runs; both of which I liked. But on early downs we got stuffed a lot for no, or very little gains. I still think we should be throwing more on first, and continuing to run on third and long downs. Hopefully Wassink gets in a comfort zone with the keepers. He is a good enough athlete to run when it presents itself. I absolutely hate playing against QB's who will run the ball, and I'm sure our opponents feel the same.

The other thing I wish we would do now and then is allow our punter to keep it and run if/when he sees a clearly open lane to a first down. I'm not sure how good an athlete he is, but there are a lot of those situations when you could have it for the asking, and I wish we would.

As for Ohio, I dont think anything can be assumed. They embarrassed us last year, and we were at home. I still have very little confidence in our D. BSU was getting like twelve yards a play in the second half, mostly on runs; even though we knew they were going to run it. Honestly, I was concerned they might still run it, even with only a minute left in the game; and I bet they wish we did. We got to their QB at the end, but I'll bet most of you were as concerned as I was that BSU would score and win it, even with the limited time, because our D was so lousy. Ohio has a good QB who can throw and run, and playing at home is a big advantage in the MAC. This will be another nail-biter. If we start the game well I hope Lester finally decided to run up as many first half points as possible, and never goes into cautious mode.

(11-07-2019 02:42 PM)ColinApocalypse Wrote:  Ohio is in a tough place now. They just lost to their rival at home for the first time since 2005. They've been bumped out of 1st place in the East. They only get 6 days before they have to turn around and face WMU.

WMU on the other hand has all the momentum after a big win over Ball State to take over 1st place in the West.

I know we haven't been good on the road, but you have to figure that psychologically WMU should be in a much better place than Ohio.

Ohio's defense is going to have a tough time stopping Bellamy. They've been giving up 6.4 yards per play, 2nd worst in the MAC, and 5.4 yards per rush, which is dead last in the MAC. Their D also only has 15 sacks and 2 interceptions on the year.

I agree with you that playing on 6 days rest is a huge disadvantage for Ohio, even if they are playing at home. I would be ticked off at the schedule maker if I was Ohio.

Last year we were down our starting QB and the game itself was a comedy of errors. WMU turned the ball over 6 times! It was an anomaly. And we weren't alone in getting embarrassed by them. Ohio won 4 of their last 5 in 2018: 49-14 vs. Bowling Green, 52-14 vs. Ball State, 59-14 @ WMU, 52-17 vs. Buffalo, 49-28 vs. Akron. They then went on to destroy a very good SDSU team in a bowl game, 27-0.

This year they've struggled to find playmakers on offense (outside of Rourke) and their defense has given up a minimum 20 points all season.

Contain Rourke and WMU wins it going away.

(11-07-2019 03:37 PM)brovol Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 02:42 PM)ColinApocalypse Wrote:  Ohio is in a tough place now. They just lost to their rival at home for the first time since 2005. They've been bumped out of 1st place in the East. They only get 6 days before they have to turn around and face WMU.

WMU on the other hand has all the momentum after a big win over Ball State to take over 1st place in the West.

I know we haven't been good on the road, but you have to figure that psychologically WMU should be in a much better place than Ohio.

Ohio's defense is going to have a tough time stopping Bellamy. They've been giving up 6.4 yards per play, 2nd worst in the MAC, and 5.4 yards per rush, which is dead last in the MAC. Their D also only has 15 sacks and 2 interceptions on the year.

I agree with you that playing on 6 days rest is a huge disadvantage for Ohio, even if they are playing at home. I would be ticked off at the schedule maker if I was Ohio.

I believe WMU has had to do this in recent years as well. Sometimes you just get screwed by the schedule.

Yeah, that Ohio game last year was a complete anomaly, other than they let their nerves get the best of them more than once that season. We've seen this team struggle to adapt in a few games, but they've never looked nervous. Having Wassink healthy does help, so guys don't think they each have to do it themselves.

Kicking game-Special Teams...

(11-07-2019 10:15 AM)Bronc33 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 09:50 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  I think Tim just won the biggest game of his career. His reward is a bigger game.

And if he beats Ohio an even bigger game.

If he beats NIU then hopefully he gets an even bigger game.

No hopefully about it. We win out and we win the division and have the tiebreaker over Central correct? Should be MACC birth.

(11-07-2019 03:38 PM)ColinApocalypse Wrote:  Last year we were down our starting QB and the game itself was a comedy of errors. WMU turned the ball over 6 times! It was an anomaly. And we weren't alone in getting embarrassed by them. Ohio won 4 of their last 5 in 2018: 49-14 vs. Bowling Green, 52-14 vs. Ball State, 59-14 @ WMU, 52-17 vs. Buffalo, 49-28 vs. Akron. They then went on to destroy a very good SDSU team in a bowl game, 27-0.

This year they've struggled to find playmakers on offense (outside of Rourke) and their defense has given up a minimum 20 points all season.

Contain Rourke and WMU wins it going away.

We had back to back to back anomalys with Toledo, Ohio, and then Ball St last year, giving up 51, 59 and then 42 points respectively in a three week stretch of midweek games. I'm not saying Ohio wasnt better last year than they are this season, but I believe our level of play then had a lot more to do with us than it did the teams we played. I think that is equally as true this year. Our defense has had a few high moments this season, but I think we are still no better than "bad" on that side of the ball, and for a high percentage of the time is no better than "horrendous". I conceed we are probably, overall, a bit better than last year, but the bar was so low that its hard to count that as a positive.

I'm not saying we will lose next Tuesday. I'm just saying you never know with us; or with the rest of the MAC for that matter. CMU is still in legitimate contention to with the MAC, and they were terrible last year, and are playing the QB shuffle. We really need to take advantage of the MAC having its weakest season in forever, as it will never be easier to win the league than it is right now.

(11-07-2019 04:17 PM)ElFanatico Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 10:15 AM)Bronc33 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 09:50 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  I think Tim just won the biggest game of his career. His reward is a bigger game.

And if he beats Ohio an even bigger game.

If he beats NIU then hopefully he gets an even bigger game.

No hopefully about it. We win out and we win the division and have the tiebreaker over Central correct? Should be MACC birth.

We don't control our own destiny. Toledo owns a tiebreaker over us. CMU plays them yet. I think there are still a lot of crazy scenarios out there.