Broncos start second half in Buffalo

By Adam Bouton
Western Herald

(Robert Youngs/Western Herald) Defensive tackle Cody Cielenski bears down on Ohio quarterback Boo Jackson during the Broncos’ 41-20 win on Saturday.

The team that struggled to finish games last year is having trouble losing them this year.

After five straight victories and a 5-1 start, the Western Michigan University football team is in prime position heading into the second half of their schedule.

Following a 41-20 Homecoming win over Ohio University at Waldo Stadium, the squad now heads to the University at Buffalo this weekend to take on the Bulls. The team will search for their sixth straight victory of the season against a team they haven’t faced since 2005.

The Broncos (5-1, 3-0 Mid-American Conference) have never lost a game against Buffalo and lead the all-time series, 3-0.  This will be just the second game the Broncos have ever played in Buffalo, N.Y., with their first meeting in 2002.

Looking back at the Ohio game, Bronco head coach Bill Cubit thought his team again fought hard, especially in the second half, to earn the program’s 500 victory.

“I thought the kids’ played hard,” Cubit said. “That’s something I always look for.”

After showing great depth in the triumph last week against Ohio, the Bronco defense seems to be rallying together at the right time.

“We played nine up front [on the defensive line] and we’ve never been able to do that,” Cubit said. “It gives you a little more confidence there. We’ve been lucky [to avoid injuries].”

The Bronco defense has moved up in the MAC statistical rankings in the past few weeks, thanks to great play on all fronts. The defense now sits fourth in the MAC, allowing just 21.8 points per game and is fifth in total defense, giving up 363.3 yards per game.

They must now deal with two great MAC quarterbacks in the next two weeks, facing Buffalo’s Drew Willy and Central Michigan University’s Dan LeFevour.

The Bulls are a very different team than when Western Michigan last saw them and will most likely present a difficult challenge on the road. Cubit was in his first year the last time he faced Buffalo and says he considers the 2008 team to be very different than the 2005 squad.

“They’re not even in the same hemisphere [from] when I saw them three years ago,” Cubit said.  “They’re a good football team.”

Buffalo (2-3, 1-1 MAC) is tied atop the MAC East Division with the University of Akron and is coming off a bye week. The week before, they narrowly lost to CMU 27-25 on Sept. 27 in Mount Pleasant. Earlier in the season, the Bulls snuck by Temple University on a 35-yard hail mary pass as time expired to beat the Owls, 30-28.

Gill and the Bulls also had the tough task of facing one of the best teams in the country this season. They lost to Big 12 powerhouse and current No.3 in the nation University of Missouri, 42-21.

The Bulls have a complete set of offense weapons, led by Willy. The senior and four-year starter is third in the MAC with 259.8 passing yards per game and also has 12 touchdowns against only three interceptions so far this season. He leads an offense that is fourth in the MAC in scoring (26.8 points per game) and fifth in the MAC in total offense (380.6 yards per game).

Buffalo head coach Turner Gill believes that Willy is the unquestioned leader of the Bulls offense.

“Drew has played extremely well (this season),” Gill said.

“He has a great demeanor about himself. We’re so blessed to have him on our football team.”

Willy is good in his own right, but having skilled players around him has also helped the Buffalo offense this season. The Bulls have several veterans, including tailback James Starks and wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt.

Starks, a junior, is a player like Bronco running back Brandon West, who has the ability to go the distance every time he touches the ball. Starks is currently just ahead of West and sits in second in the MAC with 97.5 rushing yards per game. He is coming off a game against CMU where he had 94 rushing yards and a career-high 97 receiving yards to go along with two touchdowns.

Roosevelt leads a receiving group that has several playmakers. The junior leads that MAC in reception yards per game with 103.6 and has hauled in four touchdowns from Willy so far this season. Both Roosevelt and Starks sit in the top six in the MAC in all-purpose yards.

Defensively, the Bulls will look to stop Bronco junior quarterback Tim Hiller and an offensive squad that scored 30 points in the second half against Ohio.

Gill realizes how good Hiller has been this season and hopes his defense will be ready when the Broncos come into town Saturday.

“We got another outstanding quarterback that we’ll be playing against,” Gill said, hoping that their experience against Missouri’s Chase Daniel and CMU’s LeFevour will help.  “He’s going to give us another challenge on defense. They bring a pretty good package all the way around.”

Hiller and Broncos could have their hands full with a Buffalo defense that is second in rushing defense, holding opponents to 128.2 yards a game on the ground.

“Defensively, they have big, strong kids up front,” Cubit said about Buffalo’s improved defense. “We’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

The Bulls are led defensively by sophomore outside linebacker Justin Winters, who leads the team with 49 tackles. The secondary is young, with no seniors and three sophomores. However, all four starters have over 25 tackles, led by safeties Mike Newton and Davonte Shannon with 42 and 38 tackles respectively.

“Their front four is legit,” sophomore offensive guard Phill Swanson said. “They’re very well coached. They’re going to try and hit you in the mouth.”

The Broncos have consecutive tough road games, however Swanson feels as though they’ll be prepared for both games.
“We’ve got a lot of frequent flier miles this year,” Swanson said as he pointed out that the team had already been to Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Idaho. “We’re used to the routine of traveling. We just try and stay focused when we’re on the road.”
Cubit and the Bronco football team are not satisfied with the great start and realize that the second half is going to be challenging. It all starts with Buffalo.
“We’ve got to get better,” Cubit said.  “The second half is going to be hard.  There’s a lot of football to be played.”
“Season’s only halfway over,” Bronco linebacker Austin Prichard added. “We still have a long ways to go.”

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Oct 9 2008. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
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