Before leaving for Minnesota, former Broncos coach P.J. Fleck had excelled in loading Western Michigan’s roster with a wealth of talented “rowers” for his “Row the Boat” mantra. The cupboard, in fact, was anything but empty when former Broncos QB Tim Lester took over as head coach.
Western’s wealth of talent, however, took some significant hits - early and often -- in 2017. The “21 season-ending injuries was not expected, (but) we learned a lot. We grew closer,” Lester said.
The most . . .
Here’s more on the Broncos . . .
WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS (6-6, 4-4 MAC IN 2017)
OFFENSE
⚑ Junior quarterback Jon Wassink returns to run the offense after missing the last third of 2017 with a broken collar bone.
From what he has seen Lester believes his quarterback is ready for another big leap if he can avoid serious injury.
“If they can handle it, I like to give (my quarterbacks) the keys,” Lester said. “We started him (Wassink) off really slow on purpose (and) we just kept building (last year). About Week 3 or 4, we took the reins off and started saying, ‘Let’s be aggressive.’”
Lester noted Wassink had been among the MAC’s most productive quarterbacks before his season ended with an injury. “We’re happy with his progress, and then he . . . he had a great spring.”
⚑ Another late-season casualty was running back Jamauri Bogan (5-7, 190), who averaged 5.3 ypc in 2017. He and LeVante Bellamy will be called upon even more after the departure of stalwart Jarvius Franklin, who led the team with 11 touchdowns and and 1,228 yards (second best in MAC).
⚑ Not only does Lester feel good about his running back options, he also likes an experienced line that returns two all-MAC players (center John Keenoy and guard Luke Juriga).
⚑ If WMU hopes to maintain its balance, it will need production from the receiving corps. D’Wayne Eskridge and Keishawn Watson will be joined by Michigan grad transfer Drake Harris.
⚑ Defensively, Western is replacing its linebacking corps, although the newcomers show potential with their speed. There are also questions along the line and in a secondary that lost two stars.
⚑ Junior strong safety Justin Tranquill is a welcome return to the secondary. He fell to injury in Week Two last season.
⚑ Redshirt junior defensive end Antonio Balabari was a force on the edge in 2017, registering four sacks, 7.5 TFL and a forced fumble.
⚑ The Broncos finished ninth in scoring defense last year, yielding 29.0 ppg. They were third in rushing defense, but eighth in pass defense.
⚑ WMU hopes to continue its fortunes in turnover margin after finishing +8, second only to Akron (+10). Only three other MAC teams owned a positive margin, and they were all at +1.
MISC.
⚑ The loss of Phillips could certainly take some sting out of Western’s return game, so finding a replacement is a work in progress.
⚑ Josh Grand hit 16 of 23 field goal attempts in 2017.
⚑ Syracuse visits Kalamazoo in the Broncos season opener Aug. 31. Western then visits Michigan, before finishing the non-conference schedule by hosting Delaware State and visiting Georgia State before opening MAC play at Miami. The Broncos close their season at home against Northern Illinois in what could be a huge matchup.