Football | October 09, 2018

Western Michigan (4-2, 2-0 MAC)
at Bowling Green (1-5, 0-2 MAC)
Oct. 13, 2018 • 3 PM ET
Doyt L. Perry Stadium (24,000) • Bowling Green, Ohio

TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Radio: Bronco Radio Network - 96.5 FM

COACHING FACTS
WMU Head Coach: Tim Lester (Western Michigan, 2000)
Record at Western Michigan: 10-8 (2nd Season)
Career Record: 50-31 (8th season)

BGSU Head Coach: Mike Jinks (Angelo State)
Record at BGSU: 7–23 (3rd season)
Career Record: Same

STORYLINES
• After starting the season with Power 5 losses to Syracuse and then ranked No. 21 Michigan, the Broncos have rebounded to win their last four games in a row, defeating Delaware State (68-0), Georgia State (34-15), Miami (40-39) and Eastern Michigan (27-24).

• With six games in the book, Saturday marks the beginning of the second half of the schedule. WMU is on the road for two straight, heading to rival Central Michigan next week after the BGSU contest. The Broncos close out with three of their final four games at home.

• This will be the 54th all-time meeting between WMU and Bowling Green. The Falcons lead the all-time series 32-18-3. The two teams have not faced one another since 2015, with BGSU winning 41-27 in Kalamazoo. Bowling Green went on to win the MAC Championship that season. Prior to the 2015 matchup, WMU had won four in a row in the series, dating back to 2005. WMU head coach Tim Lester faced Bowling Green three times as a player and came out with wins on all three occasions.

• Tim Lester is in his second season as head coach at WMU and is one of 22 FBS coaches leading their 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 82nd 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.

HOLLEY HONORED
Sophomore defensive tackle Ralph Holley was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week following his performance against EMU. Holley made a career-high six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and forced a key fumble in a 27-24 win over Eastern Michigan. Through the first six weeks of the season, WMU has had four different players recognized as conference players of the week - wide receivers D'Wayne Eskridge and Jayden Reed both were named both Offensive POTW and kicker Gavin Peddie earned Special Teams POTW. Additionally, quarterback Jon Wassink has twice been named MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week.

OFFENSIVELY SPEAKING
WMU has racked up over 500 yards of total offense in 4 of 6 games this year, including a season-high 621 yards vs. Syracuse. QB Jon Wassink's 439 yards passing at Miami are a conference  high this season, as are D'Wayne Eskridge's 240 yards receiving vs. Syracuse. WMU has one game with two 100-yards receivers and a 100-yard rusher (Syracuse), as well as a game with two 100-yard rushers and one 100-yard receiver (Georgia State). Freshman WR Jayden Reed has a MAC-best three 100-yard receiving games, while junior D'Wayne Eskridge has two. Junior RB LeVante Bellamy has two 100-yard rushing games, senior Jamauri Bogan has one.

STAT RANKINGS
WMU is at the top of the MAC and the national rankings in several statistical categories.
• Punt Return Yards - 315 - 1st MAC, 1stFBS
• Punt Return Average - 28.64  - 1st MAC, 2nd FBS
• Total Offense - 472.2 - 1st MAC, 28th FBS
• Passing Offense - 276.3 - 1st MAC, 28th FBS
• First Downs Offense - 128 - 2nd MAC, 9th FBS
• Sacks Allowed Per Game - 0.67 - 2nd MAC, 6th FBS
• Fumbles Recovered - 5 - 2nd MAC, 12th FBS
• Time of Possession - 31:55 - 2nd MAC, 29th FBS
• 3rd Down Conversion - Defense - .329 - 2nd MAC, 30th FBS
• Team TFL Per Game - 6.8 - 2nd MAC, 40th FBS
• Fumbles Recovered - 6 - 3rd MAC, 13th FBS
• TFL Allowed - 4.67 - 3rd MAC, 25th FBS

LeVante Bellamy
    Rushing Yards - 531 - 1st MAC, 27th FBS
    Rushing YPG - 88.5 - 1st MAC, 38th FBS
    Yards Per Carry - 6.72 - 2nd MAC, 16th FBS        
    All Purpose - 123.33, 2nd MAC, 34th FBS

Jon Wassink
    Passing Yards - 1,658 - 1st MAC, 10th FBS
    Passing YPG - 276.3 - 1st MAC, 18th FBS
    Total Offense PG - 290.5 - 1st MAC, 22nd FBS
    Quarterback Rating - 76.6 - 2nd MAC, 24th FBS
    Points Responsible For - 102 - 3rd MAC, 12th FBS
    Yards Per Pass - 8.55 - 3rd MAC, 27th FBS

Jayden Reed    
    Receiving TDs - 6 - 1st MAC, 10th FBS
    Total TDs - 7 - 1st MAC, 22nd FBS

Ali Fayad    
    Forced Fumbles PG - .50 - 1st MAC, 4th FBS

* Jayden Reed and Tyron Arnett are 2 of 4 players who have returned a punt return for a TD this season. They did it in the same game - vs. Delaware State (9/15).

SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN
• Bowling Green is coached by Mike Jinks in his third season at the helm of the program. In 2016, Jinks was hired as head coach of the Falcons following Dino Barber's departure for Syracuse. Since taking the post, Jinks has a record of 7-23. Prior to coming to Bowling Green, Jinks owned the second-best offense of 2015 as associate head coach at Texas Tech posting 7,134 offensive yards in 12 games. Jinks also coached the Red Raiders' running backs for three seasons where, under his tutelage, now Oakland Raiders running back DeAndre Washington recorded a 1,103 rushing yards season.

• The Falcons enter week seven of competition with an overall record of 1-5 and 0-2 in conference, most recently falling to Toledo 52-36. Three of the Falcons five losses have come at the expense of power five conference contenders including Oregon (58-24), Maryland (45-14), and Georgia Tech (63-17). Bowling Green is coming off a 2-10 overall record and 2-6 MAC record in 2017. In the conference preseason poll, Bowling Green was selected to finish tenth (tie with Central Michigan) of twelve teams overall. The Falcons are currently fifth in the East Division.
 
• The Falcons look to sophomore QB Jarret Doege to lead the offense for his second consecutive season after becoming the first true freshman quarterback to start a game for Bowling Green since 1986. Doege threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns against Toledo for a total 1,485 total offensive yards and 15 touchdowns in 2018. Sophomore RB Andrew Clair led the ground game against Toledo with 12 carries for 118 yards. He currently leads the team in rushing with 409 yards on 98 carries and three touchdowns. In the air, senior WR Scott Miller leads the Falcons with 34 receptions for 434 yards and four touchdowns. In the battle for the state, Miller caught three passes for 75 yards and a touchdown.  

LOOKING AHEAD
Western Michigan travels to Central Michigan on Oct. 20 for a 3 p.m. kickoff on ESPN+. WMU returns home to host Toledo on Thursday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $16 in the PNC Zone and are available at wmubroncos.com/tickets.