Saturday, September 06, 2008
Western Michigan (1-1, 1-0) vs. Northern Illinois (0-2, 0-1)
Waldo Stadium ? Kalamazoo, Michigan ? CommUniverCity Night
WMU Game Notes
PRE-GAME
? In the past ten seasons, Western Michigan is 9-1 in home openers. Last year's 37-27 home-opening loss was the first of its kind since 1997.
? Wednesday, September 3, Robin Hook, the voice of Western Michigan athletics, celebrated his 52nd birthday.
? WMU Captains - E.J. Biggers, Branden Ledbetter, Jamelle Murray
? Attendance ? 26,262
1st QUARTER
? True freshman cornerback Josh Price recorded his first career tackle on the opening kickoff of the game.
? For the second time this season, Western Michigan's opponent scores first as NIU's Me'co Brown rushes from 26-yards out, his first career touchdown.
? Brandon West's 26-yard kickoff return moves him into second place all-time in kick off return yards at WMU. West passes Elan Banks with 1,676 career return yards.
? The Broncos converted on fourth down and inches late in the quarter, upping their fourth down conversion rate to 60% (3-for-5) this season.
? WMU's Jamarko Simmons scored his first touchdown of the season on a 26-yard strike from Tim Hiller with 3:02 left in the quarter.
? Freshman kicker John Potter recorded his first career touchback at the 3:02 mark.
? With his fourth reception of the game, Simmons is now tied for third place in career receptions at WMU with 163. The reception also sets a season high as his previous best was three, against Nebraska.
2ND QUARTER
? At the 13:54 mark in the quarter, Hiller throws his second touchdown pass of the night, this time to West for seven-yards. The score was West's first receiving touchdown of the season.
? WMU's 14-7 lead is the first time the Broncos have had a lead this season.
? Senior Greg Marshall recorded his first sack of the season and pitted the Huskies in a third and goal from the 19-yard line. NIU could not covert on third down and a bobbled snap on fourth down dismissed a field goal attempt by Mike Salerno.
? Simmons' 20-yard reception with 30 seconds left in the half moves him into sole possession of third place in career receptions at WMU. Simmons passes former Bronco great Kendrick Mosley with his 164th career reception.
3RD QUARTER
? West's 19-yard run is the team's longest rush this season. Last week against Nebraska, the Broncos didn't have any runs of ten yards or longer.
? Zach Davidson recorded his first sack of the season mid-way through the quarter.
? West's 27-yard run is a season best and puts him over the 100 yard mark. It is the sixth time in his career he has surpassed the century mark
? Simmons moves into 7th place all-time on career receiving yards list, with 1,866 yards.
? Safety Louis Delmas recorded his 10th career interception, his second in as many games. He is the active leader at WMU.
? Davidson's third sack of the game is a career best. His previous best was 2.5 in the International Bowl against Cincinnati (1/6/07).
? Western Michigan's defense has caused a turnover in 38 of its last 39 games. It did not force a turnover last season against Ball State (10/20/07).
4TH QUARTER
? Brandon West moves into 5th place in career all-purpose yards at WMU with 257 yards tonight giving him 3,871 all-time.
? Simmons' eighth reception of the night puts him over the 100 yard mark, the seventh time he's accomplished that feat in his career.
? Hiller's rushing touchdown at the 10:05 mark is the fourth of his career, giving the Broncos the lead, 22-19.
? The Broncos converted on their first two-point conversion this year when Hiller completed a two-yard pass to Juan Nunez.
? Delmas recovers the third fumble of his career at the 8:40 mark, and his first since October, 8, 2005 against Ball State.
? West sets career high in rushing with 175 yards. His previous best came last season against Ball State (10/20/07), with 171 yards.
? Hiller moves into a tie for second place all-time at WMU with his 45th career touchdown pass, this time a one-yard strike to linebacker Austin Pritchard. The touchdown reception is the first of Pritchard's career.
NIU POST GAME NOTES
***Northern Illinois tailback Me'co Brown scored his first career touchdown on a 26-yard run on the Huskies' first possession of the game. The run was the longest of the season to date for NIU.
***NIU opened the game with a flea-flicker on the first offensive play of the game that resulted in a 45-yard completion to Matt Simon for his longest pass play of the season to date. Simon extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 19 on the play.
***The last time Northern Illinois scored on its first possession of the game was in the second-to-last game of the 2007 season versus Navy.
***Senior receiver Marcus Perez saw his first action of the season and capitalized with six catches for 77 yards, including a couple of acrobatic grabs. That's Perez's best performance since a six catch, 91 yard performance against Buffalo on September 16, 2006.
***Brown totaled 105 all-purpose yards on the day.
***Dan Nicholson threw the first interception of the year by a Huskie quarterback, and the first interception by an NIU signal caller in 49 throws this year.
***Northern Illinois forced a pair of fumbles in the game. The Huskies have forced three fumbles on the season after recovering just eight fumbles total a year ago.
***Dan Nicholson recorded a career-long 24-yard rush in the third quarter.
***NIU senior wide receiver Greg Turner's 16-yard touchdown reception was his third career score.
***Freshman receiver Nathan Palmer grabbed four receptions for 78 yards. Palmer now has seven catches and 248 yards on the season for an average of 35.4 yards-per-catch.
***Dan Nicholson passed for 239 yards in relief of injured starter Chandler Harnish. Those 239 yards were the most by Nicholson since a 275-yard performance against Kent State on November 10, 2007.
***Freshman quarterback DeMarcus Grady saw his first collegiate action and rushed for 43 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown scamper.
***NIU racked up 439 yards of total offense on the evening, its best output since a 510-yard performance against Kent State on November 10, 2007.
***The Huskies have scored in each of their last seven quarters played.
***NIU has completed a touchdown pass in each of its last six games, dating back to October 27, 2007 against Toledo.
***Senior defensive end Larry English totaled four solo tackles, including one tackle for loss. English now has 43 career TFL's, tying him for third in school-history with Doug Bartlett.
