Waldo Stadium – Kalamazoo, Michigan
ESPNU
By EVAN MEYER
THE SERIES: Saturday’s game is the 57th lifetime meeting between the two schools with the Broncos holding a 33-20-1 advantage. WMU has won seven of the last 10 meetings in the series, including the latest (November 8, 2017, 48-20). The game will be the 29th meeting in Kalamazoo, with WMU holding a 18-9-1 edge. The Broncos have won eight of the last nine in Waldo Stadium.
Here's more on the two teams . . .
WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS (4-2, 1-1):
>> Last Saturday, the Broncos saw their four-game winning streak come to an end at home to the Ball State Cardinals 45-20. The Broncos opened a 14-7 lead after the first quarter, but the game was tied 17-17 at halftime. When the Broncos took a 20-17 edge midway through the third quarter, it was their last lead of the contest. BSU scored 28 unanswered points to take control.
>> Junior RB La’Darius Jefferson led rushers with 65 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown. Senior QB Kaleb Eleby completed 19-of-33 passes for 257 yards. Sophomore WR Skyy Moore owned seven catches for 81 yards.
>> The WMU defense had a sack, two forced fumbles, four tackles for losses, and five pass breakups. Senior safety AJ Thomas led the charge with nine tackles (all of them solo).
>> The Broncos opened 2021 with a loss at Michigan before rattling off four consecutive victories (FCS Illinois State, at Pittsburgh, San Jose State, and the MAC opener at Buffalo). The winning skein ended with last Saturday’s setback to the Ball State.
>> Head Coach Tim Lester is in his fifth season as head coach, succeeding P.J. Fleck, who left for Minnesota after a Broncos 2016 season that saw them go 13-1. Lester is 28-22 with the Broncos (19-13 in MAC play). He is1-0 against Kent State, and this is his first game against Sean Lewis.
Lester came back to Kalamazoo from Syracuse. He did have head coaching experience at Division III Elmhurst College (Illinois) and at Division II Saint Joseph’s (Indiana).
>> Lester is one of 17 FBS coaches to lead their Alma Mater (two others are in the MAC -- Mike Neu-Ball State and Thomas Hammock-Northern Illinois).
>> Through six games of 2021, the Broncos are averaging 25.5 points and 402.3 yards of total offense. They have gone over 300 total yards in all six games so far this season.
>> Jefferson leads the Bronco rushers with 435 yards on 106 carries with eight touchdowns (second in the conference).
>> Eleby has completed 61.2 percent of his passes (115-of-188) for 1,438 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions (both coming last Saturday against BSU).
>> Before the two interceptions against the Ball State, WMU was one of five schools that had not thrown an interception in 2021 (Army, Liberty, Ole Miss, and Baylor were the others).
>> Moore leads the receivers with 41 catches for 494 yards (tops in the MAC) and three scores.
>> The WMU defense at the halfway point has allowed 25.5 points and 312.3 yards (leading the conference) with 18 sacks also number one.
>> DB Corwin Moment leads the defenders with 33 total tackles (24 solo).
>> DE Ali Fayed leads with 6.5 tackles for losses (35 yards) and 4.5 sacks (32 yards).
KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES (3-3, 2-0):
>> The Golden Flashes evened their overall record at 3-3 and improved to 2-0 in MAC play Saturday night with a 48-38 win over the Buffalo Bulls at Dix Stadium. The win was KSU’s eighth in its last nine MAC games, dating back to 2019, and their seventh straight overall at home.
>> On a day that saw 86 points, and 1,182 yards of total offense, the Flashes opened a 28-7 lead midway through the second quarter. UB withstood the early onslaught and went to work chipping away at its deficit to tie the game 31-31 late in the third quarter. KSU regained the lead on a 42-yard Andrew Glass field goal before the Bulls took their first and only lead of the night 38-34 at the end of the third period.
>> The Flashes took the lead for good on the next possession with a six-play 75-yard drive capped by a five-yard touchdown from QB Dustin Crum to WR Dante Cephas. The pair put the game out of reach late in the fourth quarter with a 40-yard scoring hookup to make the final margin 10-points.
>> The Flashes offense had 633 total yards (second best on the season), including nine plays of over 20-yards.
>> RB Marquez Cooper led the ground game with 112 yards on 21 carries -- part of a running attack that produced 226 yards. It was the fourth time this season KSU has rushed for over 200 yards.
>> Both Crum and Cephas had career games with the senior quarterback connecting on 22-of-36 passes for 407 yards and three touchdowns. The freshman wideout had 13 receptions for 186 yards and three scores.
>> The defense had some big plays with two sacks, seven pass breakups, and a pair of interceptions (have picked off at least one pass in five of the six games in 2021).
>> LB Mandela Lawrence-Burke (seven solo) and LB AJ Musolino (three solo) each had 13 total tackles
>> At the half way point of this 2021 season, the Flashes are averaging 38 points and 464.2 yards of total offense (tops in the MAC).
>> The KSU running game is also first in the conference at 239.5 yards per contest. Cooper leads the attack with 479 yards on 95 carries good for second in the conference. In addition, he has had three 100-yard rushing games this season (four in his career) including his 112 yards against UB.
>> Crum has completed 59 percent of his passes (96-of-163) for 1,303 yards with six touchdowns and just the two interceptions he threw in the season opener at Texas A&M. Add to that, he leads the conference in total offense with 353 yards per game.
>> Cephas leads the receivers with 36 catches for 484 yards and four scores -- second best in the MAC.
>> The offensive line has allowed 12 sacks (but just one over the last two games).
>> The Golden Flashes defense has allowed 29.3 points and 448.3 yards through six games. They have registered 19 sacks and 10 interceptions.
>> DB Dean Clark leads defenders with 44 total tackles (30 solo). Musolino has the most tackles for losses (6.5 for 25 yards) and is tied for the top spot in sacks with two.
>> DB Elvis Hines (second in passes defended with nine), and Montre Miller are tied for first with three interceptions.
>> Saturday is the Flashes first of three games against the Western Division. In their lone tilt against the West in 2020, they defeated Eastern Michigan at home 27-23.
>> This is Head Coach Sean Lewis’ first game against Western Michigan and against Tim Lester.