Football | September 20, 2017

WESTERN MICHIGAN (1-2, 0-0 MAC)
vs. WAGNER (1-2, 0-1 NEC)
Sept. 23, 2017 • Waldo Stadium (30,200) • Kalamazoo, Mich.
7 PM ET • ESPN3 • 96.5 FM


ESPN3 TALENT:
Dustin Fox - Play-by-Play
Jim Barbar - Analyst

COACHING FACTS
WMU Head Coach: Tim Lester (Western Michigan, 2000)
Record at WMU: 1-2 (1st Season)
Overall record: 41-25 (7th season)

Head Coach: Jason Houghtaling
Record at Idaho: 8-17 (3rd Season)
Overall record: Same

NICE TO MEET YOU
Western Michigan and Wagner will be meeting for the first time ever on Saturday. WMU head coach Tim Lester however faced Wagner in 2013 when he was the quarterbacks coach at Syracuse. The Orange defeated Wagner, 54-0.

BRONCOS DEFEAT IDAHO FOR LESTER'S FIRST WIN AT WMU
The Broncos (1-2) are coming off a 37-28 victory over Idaho this past Saturday, Tim Lester's first win as a head coach at his alma mater. RSo. QB Jon Wassink had a career night with 212 yards passing and three total touchdowns. Wassink went 21-for-31 through the air with one TD and ran for 38 yards and two TDs. WMU forced three turnovers and scored 13 points off of them to help flip the game in the second half. Sophomore WR D'Wayne Eskridge caught Wassink's first career passing TD (15 yds.) and RSo. RB LeVante Bellamy had a 19-yd. rushing TD. WMU trailed 28-19 heading into the fourth quarter, but out-scored the Vandals 18-0 in the final period of play, behind Wassink's two rushing TDs (22 yds, 1 yd.), a two-point conversion by Giovanni Ricci and a 29-yd. field goal by Josh Grant.

DEFENSE COMES UP BIG
WMU's defense came up big against Idaho, shutting out the Vandals in the fourth quarter. RSo. Obbie Jackson had an interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter that helped spark the WMU rally. On Idaho's second drive of the fourth, freshman DL Ali Fayad recorded a 7-yard sack on third down and on Idaho's third drive senior LB Asantay Brown forced a fumble that Stefan Claiborne recovered. RSo. DL Antonio Balabani also forced a fumble in the game. Senior LB Robert Spillane had a team-high 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks (16 yds. TFL).

LESTER LEADING THE CHARGE
WMU's Tim Lester is in his first season as head coach at his alma mater. Lester was an All-MAC quarterback for the Broncos, playing from 1996-99. He was the 1996 MAC Freshman of the Year and led WMU to the 1999 MAC Championship game. Lester threw for 11,299 yards and 87 career TDs. This will be his 67th game as a head coach, also coaching at the Division II and III levels. Lester was an assistant coach at Western Michigan from 2005-06 and most recently was the QB coach at Purdue during the 2016 season.

FINAL TUNE-UP
Saturday will be the final non-conference game for the Broncos. WMU begins Mid-American Conference play at home against Ball State on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 7 PM. The Broncos head to Buffalo for their first road MAC matchup on Oct. 7.

I'LL TAKE THAT
Western Michigan has at least one interception in each of the first three games this season - four total, made by three different players (Darius Phillips - 2, Sam Beal - 1, and Obbie Jackson - 1). The Broncos have also forced four fumbles this season, recovering three.

MR. VERSATILITY
Senior KR/CB Darius Phillips has 13 career TDs - scored five different ways. He has five TDs off kickoff returns, four off of interceptions, one punt return, one off of a fumble return and two receiving from his freshman year as a wide receiver. Phillips' 11 non-offensive TDs is the most by a player in the FBS since 2004.

SCOUTING WAGNER
• Wagner is off to a 1-2 start this season. The Seahawks defeated Saint Anselm in their home season-opener on Aug. 31, 37-7. Wagner fell at Saint Francis 31-6 on Sept. 9 and then lost on a field goal with no time left on the clock this past Saturday at Columbia, 17-14. Wagner's defense is allowing an average of 298 yards of total offense a game.

• Wagner is under the direction of head coach Jason Houghtaling, in his third season. He previously served as offensive coordinator during Wagner's 2012 and 2014 Northeast Conference (NEC) title runs. In 2016 as the head coach, he led Wagner to a 6-5 record and a 4-2 Northeast Conference (NEC) mark.

• Seahawk junior quarterback Luke Massei made his first collegiate start this past week, in place of the redshirt-junior Alex Thomson, who was injured in the first half of last week's game at Saint Francis U. In the face of a consistent Columbia pass rush, Massei went 13-of-19 through the air for 120 yards. Massei has 241 yards passing over three games this season, no TDs and had been picked off twice.

• Wagner has used three different running backs who have totaled 469 yards this season. Ryan Fulse is the team's leading rusher with 266 yards and 3 TDs. Eleven different players have caught a pass this season, D'Erren Wilson leads the receiving corps with 15 catches for 182 yards and 1 TD.