Western Michigan Broncos 2016 NCAA Football Preview
WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS
MACtion – West Division
2015 Record – 8-5
ATS – 7-6
2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank
West Division #1
Conference #1
2015 Recap
On the surface, an 8-5 record may not look that impressive, but keep in mind this team played a tough non-conference schedule with essentially unwinnable games vs Michigan St and Ohio St. They won a share of the MAC West crown but did not make the MAC Title Game as a result of a loss to Northern Illinois. The Broncos finished off the 2015 campaign in fine fashion with a win over MTSU in the Bahamas Bowl.
2016 Preview
OFFENSE
This should be a lot of fun. The Broncos have the best QB in the conference in Zach Terrell, an excellent and experienced offensive line, and a bunch of really dangerous playmakers at RB and WR. The Broncos were 2nd in the MAC last season in scoring offense, total offense and rushing offense. They were #1 in passing efficiency. Not much should change this season.
The RB unit is stacked. Jamuari Bogan had a 1000-yard season with 16 rushing TDs on his way to MAC freshman OPOY honors. And let’s not forget. Jarvion Franklin also had an incredible freshman season in 2014 rushing for 1,551 yards and 24 (!!) TDs. WOW.
JUGGERNAUT ALERT – WR Corey Davis is well on his way to becoming the Broncos’ all-time leader in receiving yards. Davis caught 90 balls last year for 1,436 yards and 12 TDs. Boom. They have an elite offense once again, and even with the departure of fellow 1000-yard WR Daniel Braverman, Davis is going to be a handful once again for MAC defenses. Remember, he finished up last season with seven straight 100-yard receiving games including 183 in the bowl game.
DEFENSE
The run defense has to be better. Plain and simple. We still have images of the late season games against Bowling Green, Northern Illinois and Toledo in which they were steamrolled by the opposing running games giving up 200+ yards on the ground in each contest. The Huskies ran for 289 yards. Oh, and the pass rush needs to improve. 18 sacks is just not good enough.
The Broncos return only five starters to the unit but do bring back their top two tacklers from 2015.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Western Michigan is yet another MAC team breaking in new kicking specialists. They will feature a new PK and a new punter this year. KR Darius Phillips did a nice job last season and returns for the Broncos in 2016.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 6.0
MEGALOCKS says:
The early out-of-conference schedule is nowhere near as daunting as last season but they still open up with a tough game at Northwestern. All the Wildcats did last year was beat Stanford in the opener at home. We are never a big believer in who has the key games at home. Just ask Toledo how that can work out. But for the record, the Broncos do get both Toledo and Northern Illinois in Kalamazoo this season.
Overall, we give the BRONCOS a 6.0 ATS Value Rating (Above Average) this season. We really like the look of this team. The problem is, so does everyone else. They are going to be a popular team in handicapping circles this season so we will have to see what kind of value presents itself. The offense is great. The defense and special teams are a question mark. HC PJ Fleck has led the Broncos to a 17-9 mark ATS (65%) the past two seasons and we have to wonder whether or not they can pull a third winning rabbit out of the hat against the point spread. Intrigued, but not convinced.
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