KALAMAZOO, Mich. -Western Michigan football scored early and often against Akron as the Broncos rolled to a 68-19 win to close out the regular season. It is the program's 11th perfect season at home and third under head coach Bill Cubit.
Tyler Van Tubbergen earned his first career start, spelling Alex Carder, and all he did was complete 19-of-21 passes for 252 yards and six passing TDs. He ran in another, totaling 60 yards on the ground.
The WMU offense did not miss a beat in the first half, taking a 45-5 lead into the locker room, outgaining Akron 407-117 during the first 30 minutes.
Jordan White hauled in his 15th TD catch of the season to break the tie he shared with Greg Jennings for most in a season on a 22-yard scoring grab at the 11:41 mark of the first quarter. He would score again on a 40-yard pass from Van Tubbergen to give WMU a 24-5 lead at the 7:59 mark of the second quarter.
White finishes the regular season with 1,646 yards on 127 catches, ranking third and second in Mid-American Conference history, respectively. His 15 scores are tied for fifth in the MAC record book.
Robert Arnheim found the end zone with his arm, hitting Chleb Ravenell from 19 yards out on one of WMU's two one-play drives. He also hit Jordan White for a 23-yard gain. The wide receiver's 42 yards passing was seven more than the Zips had as a team passing.
Eric Monette scored his first career TD on a 36-yard strike from Van Tubbergen, stretching out for the goal line, on WMU's second one-play drive of the day. It was the first time since Nov. 12, 2005 that the Broncos had multiple one-play drives in a game and the 73rd and 74th one-play drives in program history.
Dallas Walker capped the first half scoring with a three-yard TD grab with 1:41 to go before the break, giving the Broncos their 40-point cushion, its largest of the season, to end the first half.
Also scoring their first career TDs were tight end Matt Cutler, from one yard out, and Mike Perish, on a two-yard run in the third quarter.
There were two safeties in the game as Brian Fields was stopped in the end zone after Akron downed a punt at the one-yard line and then at the 8:10 mark of the fourth quarter, the Zips snapped the ball over the punter's head out the back of the end zone.
This is the most points Western Michigan has scored in the MAC era and the most since scoring 76 against Kent State on Nov. 16, 1996.
Defensively, Drew Nowak was everywhere. The senior defensive tackle led Broncos with nine tackles and two solo sacks. He also had a career high 5.0 tackles for loss and forcing a fumble.
The Bronco defense had five take aways on Friday afternoon with true freshman Trevor Ishmael recovering a program record tying three fumbles with Keith Dixson recovering a fourth fumble and Rontavious Atkins hauling in his second interception of the season.
Paul Hazel had three pass break ups and a pair of quarterback pressures, while Mitch Zajac added a QB pressure of his own and Nowak added two more.
Western Michigan outgained Akron 577-208 on the day. Ben Armer matched a career long with his only punt of the day, going a distance of 66 yards. John Potter recorded 12 points to give him a team best 99 for the season, ranking first among kickers in a season in program history and fifth among players at any position. His consecutive PATs made streak now stands at 126 and his 15 field goals in 2011 are tied for fifth in a season in program history.
WMU finishes the regular season at 7-5 and 5-3 in the MAC, bowl eligible for the fifth time in seven seasons.
