Two teams coming off bowl appearances will meet Saturday when Western Michigan visits Northwestern. Head coach P.J. Fleck’s Broncos may have missed out on the MAC championship game while coming up short in a MAC West four-way tie-breaker, Western Michigan regrouped to claim the program’s first bowl win (Popeye’s Bahamas Bowl, 45-31 over Middle Tennessee). .
. . . Northwestern went 10-3 overall and 6-2 versus Big Ten foes last year. However, the Wildcats’ bowl game turned sour with a 45-6 setback against Tennessee in the 2015 Outback Bowl. Still, Northwestern finished the campaign ranked No. 23 in the country.
Pat Fitzgerald’s crew returns 12 starters (six on each side of the ball) this time around. Quarterback Clayton Thorson completed 50.8 percent of his freshman passes. The 150 completions produced 1,522 yards and seven touchdowns. He also threw nine interceptions and was sacked 22 times.
Senior Austin Carr was second in receiving yardage with 302 yards off 16 catches, while Justin Jackson produced 1,418 yards and 5 TDs off 312 rushing attempts.
Linebacker Anthony Walker paced the defense with 120 tackles, including 20 tfl. Defensive back Matthew Harris owned 48 tackles and 4 interceptions.
Zach Terrell is one of the MAC’s top passers, completing 262 of 391 for 3,510 yards and 29 touchdowns. One of his top targets returns in Corey Davis (90 catches, 1,436 yards, 12 TDs.
Fleck enjoys a good play-action pass option, and RB Jamauri Bogan is part of a “committee” that gives WMU plenty of punch with the ground game. Bogan registered 1,051 yards and scored 16 TDs in 2015.
Safety Asante Brown owned 103 tackles last year, while DB Darius Phillips picked off six passes. DE Keion Adams had 9.0 tfl and 4.5 sacks among his 40 stops.
Pat Fitzgerald’s crew returns 12 starters (six on each side of the ball) this time around. Quarterback Clayton Thorson completed 50.8 percent of his freshman passes. The 150 completions produced 1,522 yards and seven touchdowns. He also threw nine interceptions and was sacked 22 times.
Senior Austin Carr was second in receiving yardage with 302 yards off 16 catches, while Justin Jackson produced 1,418 yards and 5 TDs off 312 rushing attempts.
Linebacker Anthony Walker paced the defense with 120 tackles, including 20 tfl. Defensive back Matthew Harris owned 48 tackles and 4 interceptions.
Zach Terrell is one of the MAC’s top passers, completing 262 of 391 for 3,510 yards and 29 touchdowns. One of his top targets returns in Corey Davis (90 catches, 1,436 yards, 12 TDs.
Fleck enjoys a good play-action pass option, and RB Jamauri Bogan is part of a “committee” that gives WMU plenty of punch with the ground game. Bogan registered 1,051 yards and scored 16 TDs in 2015.
Safety Asante Brown owned 103 tackles last year, while DB Darius Phillips picked off six passes. DE Keion Adams had 9.0 tfl and 4.5 sacks among his 40 stops.
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