Western Michigan Broncos: CFN College Football Preview 2021
College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Western Michigan football season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Western Michigan Football Schedule
– Western Michigan Broncos Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2020 Record: 4-2 overall, 4-2 in MAC
Head Coach: Tim Lester, 5th year, 24-20
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 97
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 103
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 42
Western Michigan Broncos College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– The offense was a blast and it’ll be every bit as strong again. It finished 16th in the nation overall averaged 480 yards per game and was ninth in scoring as it pumped out 42 points an outing. The ground attack was solid and the downfield passing game was the best in college football, but …
– Top target D’Wayne Eskridge is now a Seattle Seahawk. He averaged over 23 yards per game with eight scores, but 6-4, 185-pound all-star Jaylen Hall returns after averaging 27 yards a pop with seven scores. 5-9 speedster Skyy Moore was second on the team with 25 catches and averaged 16 yards per catch.
The receiving corps has its veteran bomber to keep things going. Kaleb Eleby was terrific in his first year at the helm hitting 65% of his passes with 18 touchdowns and two picks, and he can run a bit, too. No. 2 Nick Kargman is also back.
– The offensive front that was among the best in the nation in pass protection loses Jaylon Moore to the San Francisco 49ers, but it gets back four starters around all-star left guard Mike Caliendo.
The receivers are the stars, but the Broncos have the backs, too. 223-pound junior La’Darius Jefferson ran for a team-high 624 yards and five scores, and 5-9 scooter Sean Tayler added well over six yards per carry. Fellow speedster Jaxson Kincaide is back for his super-senior season after averaging over seven yards per carry and finishing third on the team with 218 yards.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Western Michigan Football Schedule
NEXT: Western Michigan Broncos College Football Preview 2021: Defense
Western Michigan Broncos College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– The Western Michigan defense wasn’t up to the offensive side’s production, but it was a whole lot of fun. It couldn’t take the ball aways, and it had mega-issues coming up with stops in the red zone, but it got into the backfield a whole lot.
The Broncos led the MAC – and was fifth in the nation – in tackles for loss, averaging 8.5 per game to go along with over three sacks per outing. Ten starters are expected to be back starting with …
– The defensive line combination of Ralph Holley and Ali Fayad is fantastic. The 6-2, 255-pound Fayad has led the team in sacks in each of the last three years – coming up with four last year – and the 285-pound Holley is a great interior pass rusher on the nose. Holley tied for the team lead with nine tackles for loss, and …
– Playmaking hybrid safety/linebacker AJ Thomas is back after coming up with nine tackles for loss and finishing second with 46 stops. He’ll work in a variety of ways, all-star Bricen Garner is a big play tackler at one safety spot, and the veteran corners are okay, but have to come up with more picks.
250-pound Corvin Moment is a big hitter in the middle of the linebacking corps – should be an all-star this time around as one of the team’s top tacklers – but leading tackler Treshaun Hayward is off to the transfer portal.
– What You Need To Know: Offense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Western Michigan Football Schedule
NEXT: Western Michigan Broncos College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Western Michigan Broncos College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Best Western Michigan Broncos Offensive Player
QB Kaleb Eleby, Soph.
He stepped in and was solid in relief with four touchdown passes and three scoring runs in 2018, didn’t play in 2019, and he took over in 2020 with a brilliant season to establish himself as one of the MAC’s elite quarterbacks.
He hit 65% of his passes for 1,715 yards and 18 touchdowns with two picks, and he ran for 38 yards and four scores. He’s a tough 6-1 and 215 pounds with a live deep arm – averaging over 11 yards per throw – and he’s got the guys around him to be even better.
2. WR Skyy Moore, Soph.
3. OG Mike Caliendo, Sr.
4. RB La’Darius Jefferson, Jr.
5. WR Jaylen Hall, Jr.
Related
Western Michigan Football Schedule 2021
Best Western Michigan Broncos Defensive Player
DE Ali Fayad, Sr.
The 6-2, 265-pound top pass rusher led the Broncos in sacks in each of the last three seasons, coming up with 19.5 for his career with 35.5 tackles for loss and 120 stops.
There are more than enough all-star playmakers for the Bronco defense to be in the mix for the top spot, but Fayad is the tone-setter on the outside. He was out for two games, but he still came up with a sack in every appearance last year.
2. DT Ralph Holley, Sr.
3. S AJ Thomas, Sr.
4. S Bricen Garner, Sr.
5. LB Corvin Moment, Jr.
Top Incoming Western Michigan Broncos Transfer
DT Hozey Haji-Badri, Sr.
The Broncos don’t have a whole lot of transfer and new help coming in, but they’re getting a 275-pound option for the interior. The former East Carolina Pirate only made 15 tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss in his nine games of work, but he’ll be a part of the rotation.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Western Michigan Football Schedule
NEXT: Western Michigan Broncos College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Western Michigan Broncos College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Western Michigan Broncos Biggest Key: Offense
To nitpick, it would be nice to be a bit more consistent on third down conversions. The two Bronco losses came even though the offense seemed like it converted on every big chance – 14-of-25 on third downs against Eastern Michigan and Ball State – but there were issues in two of the four games.
The Northern Illinois game should’ve been a layup, but WMU only converted on one of the nine third down tries and came up with just 2-of-10 against Toledo.
The offense was at 50% or over in the other four games.
Again, nitpicking, but the offense is so strong, so explosive, and so balanced that just about everything else is in place.
Western Michigan Broncos Biggest Key: Defense
Where are the takeaways? The Western Michigan defense needs to be a whole lot better in the red zone – it only came away once without allowing points and gave up touchdowns almost 70% of the time – but coming up with a few turnovers would be a huge plus.
Three. That’s what the Broncos produced. One fumble recovery and one interception in the opener against Akron, one interception the following week against Toledo, and that was it for the season.
It’s not like the program doesn’t know how to do this – it came up with 22 in 2019 and 20 or more in each of the previous four years – but now the big plays and key stops have to come.
Western Michigan Broncos Key Player To A Successful Season
PK Thiago Kapps, Sr.
Or Gavin Peddle. The placekicking has to be stronger overall considering how many close games the team was in and should be again.
The two kickers combined to hit 5-of-9 field goals, Kapps missed three extra points, and Peddle made all eight of his tries.
There was a missed 43-yarder in the loss to Eastern Michigan, a misfire on a 29-yard try in the 30-27 loss to Ball State, and this year with this team, a key miss might be the difference between a MAC Championship and just a very, very good season.
Western Michigan Broncos Key Game To The 2021 Season
at Toledo, Oct. 23
It was one of the wildest, wackiest, and most fun games of last year – a 41-38 Western Michigan win off a fake spike play for a touchdown – and this time around it should be an even bigger deal in the MAC Championship race.
Ball State might be the defending champion, and avenging last year’s 30-27 loss at home in early October matters, but Toledo should be the MAC West’s big star and the biggest barrier to getting to Detroit.
– Western Michigan Broncos Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2020 Western Michigan Broncos Fun Stats
– Average yards per catch: WMU 17.2 – Opponents 11.5
– Fumbles: WMU 10 (lost 4) – Opponents 8 (lost 1)
– Sacks: WMU 19 for 111 yards – Opponents 7 for 46 yards
NEXT: Western Michigan Broncos College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Western Michigan Broncos College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Really? The fantastic 2016 13-1 season under PJ Fleck was Western Michigan’s only MAC Championship since 1988 and only the second outright title since 1929?
The program has been solid ever since Fleck pulled it out of the nosedive of a 1-11 2013 campaign, but along with the championship issue, the 2015 Bahamas Bowl over Middle Tennessee has been the lone victory in ten attempts.
Western Michigan has become a master of doing just about everything but winning the biggest games on its slate. This year might just change that.
The 2020 offense was fantastic, and now it gets almost everyone back.
The defense struggled to to keep teams from scoring, but it has the parts and the talent to be a whole lot better with ten starters expected to return.
And now it’s up to head coach Tim Lester to do something big with all of this.
Set The Western Michigan Broncos Regular Season Win Total At … 8
Western Michigan is 24-20 since he took over with no losing seasons and two bowl appearances – both losses – and it would’ve been a third had the team wanted to go last year.
But there’s too much talent, too much experience, and too many good things in place for this year’s team to not get back over that MAC Championship hump.
Missing Bowling Green is a bad break, but not playing Ohio and Miami University from the East is a plus. The tough dates against Ball State, Kent State and Central Michigan are at home, but going on the road to deal with Toledo and Buffalo might be make-or-break moments.
Western Michigan needs to be better than worrying about a road trip to Amherst, New York.
The program has been good enough to build to this point, and now it’s all there to come up with a terrific year. It might not be 2016-special, but winning a MAC title would be good enough.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– Western Michigan Football Schedule
