KALAMAZOO, Mich. – A strong rushing attack paired with two takeaways by the defense guided Western Michigan football to a 49-10 victory over Bowling Green on Saturday inside Waldo Stadium.
On the ground, the Broncos registered 399 yards to go along with six rushing touchdowns, the second most in a game this season, and second most in a game in program history. WMU had three players with a rushing touchdown against the Falcons and have now had 25 rushing touchdowns in the last seven contests.
Senior
LeVante Bellamy led the charge, rushing for a career-high four touchdowns on 17 attempts for 178 yards. Bellamy became the first Bronco with four touchdowns in a game since
Jamauri Bogan had four against BGSU on October 13, 2018. Bellamy now has 17 scores on the ground this season, the fourth most in a single-season in program history.
Bellamy's four rushing touchdowns increased his career total to 29, putting him in sole possession of fifth in program history. The Indianapolis, Ind., native recorded his sixth 100-yard game of the season and surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the campaign.
Fellow senior
Davon Tucker ranked second on the team with a personal-best 91 rushing yards on 13 attempts with one touchdown. Tucker earned his second rushing touchdown of the season with 23 seconds left in the second quarter. Freshman
Sean Tyler picked up his fifth rushing touchdown of the season and had 85 yards on the ground on 17 attempts.
Through the air, redshirt senior
Jon Wassink was 15-of-23 for 175 yards and one touchdown. Wassink connected on a 44-yard touchdown pass to freshman
Skyy Moore early in the third quarter, marking the 46th of his career. Wassink is now in sole possession of sixth in program history.
Wassink found six different receivers on the day with Moore leading the way with five receptions for 76 yards and a score. Fellow senior tight end
Giovanni Ricci also had five receptions for 56 yards, averaging 11.2 per catch.
Defensively, the Broncos forced two turnovers with sophomore
Patrick Lupro and senior
Alex Grace each recording an interception. It was the third interception of the season for Lupro and the first of the year for Grace.
Leading the way in tackles was junior
Treshaun Hayward with 13 (10 solo), to go along with 2.0 sacks and 3.0 tackles for loss. Hayward also eclipsed the 100-tackle mark on the season midway through the second quarter. Behind Hayward was senior
Drake Spears with 10 tackles followed by junior
Ali Fayad with four, including 1.0 TFL.
With the win, Western Michigan inched one step closer to bowl eligibility, improving its overall record to 5-4 and 3-2 in conference play. WMU's next contest is set for Tuesday, November 5 inside Waldo Stadium against MAC West foe Ball State. The game will be broadcast on either ESPN2 or CBS Sports Network at 7 or 8 p.m.
After both teams traded punts to begin the game, the Falcons got on the scoreboard first midway through the quarter. BGSU embarked on a 15 play, 68-yard drive that resulted in a 31-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
The Broncos responded with 21 unanswered points, beginning with a nine-yard rushing touchdown by Bellamy early in the second quarter. It is the seventh-straight game Bellamy has registered a rushing touchdown.
Midway through the second quarter, both teams traded punts again before Lupro picked off BGSU quarterback Grant Loy for his third interception of the season. Lupro has registered an interception in three consecutive home games.
WMU capitalized on the Lupro INT six plays later with Bellamy crossing the goal line from 36 yards out to give the Broncos a 14-3 lead. Bellamy scored on a fourth-and-two and registered his third-straight game with at least two rushing touchdowns.
To end the half, the Broncos went on a seven play, 65-yard drive in 1:18 that resulted in a two-yard rushing touchdown from Tucker. It was Tucker's second rushing touchdown of the season and gave WMU a 21-3 lead heading into halftime. WMU is outscoring its opponents, 133-26 in the first half this season.
It was a furious pace for both squads to begin the second half as three TDs were scored in the first five minutes. WMU got the scoring started just two plays into the second half as Bellamy raced 75 yards for his third touchdown of the game. It was the longest run of Bellamy's career.
Bowling Green responded five plays later with a nine-yard touchdown run to cut the Bronco lead down to 28-10. Three plays later, WMU was back on the board as Wassink found Moore for a 44-yard TD toss. It was Moore's second receiving touchdown this season and propelled the Brown & Gold to a 35-10 lead.
Midway through the third quarter, Tyler became the third running back to find the end zone, scoring from 16 yards out to give WMU a 42-10 advantage. Bellamy added his fourth rushing TD late in the third to give the Broncos a 49-10 lead after three. In the third quarter alone, WMU outscored BGSU 28-7 and registered 257 total yards.
In the fourth quarter, Bowling Green totaled just three yards as the Broncos ran out the clock rushing the ball 19 times for 79 yards to secure the 49-10 victory.
#LetsRide
