Football | October 28, 2019

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan senior running back LeVante Bellamy earned Mid-American Conference West Division Offensive Player of the Week honors and junior linebacker Treshaun Hayward picked up MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week accolades following the Broncos' 49-10 win against Bowling Green this past Saturday, announced the league office Monday.

The selections mark the fifth and sixth for Western Michigan this season as the pair join Jon Wassink (Offensive/September 2), Keith Mixon Jr. (Special Teams/September 2), Drake Spears (Defensive/October 14) and Hayward (Defensive/September 16). The MAC selection was the first of Bellamy's career and the second of Hayward's career.

Bellamy turned in a standout performance on Senior Day, rushing for a career-high four touchdowns and 178 yards. He rushed for nine-yard, 36-yard, 75-yard and 18-yard touchdowns, giving him 17 rushing scores this year, the most in a season in his career and the most in the country in 2019. Bellamy has scored at least one touchdown in seven consecutive games and registered two or more TDs in five contests, including each of the last three.

Bellamy, a 5-9, 190-pound Indianapolis, Ind., native, has 958 rushing yards in the last seven weeks. He is up to 15 100-yard games for his career and six this season. Bellamy's 178 yards are the second most in a game in his career, trailing only 213 against Ball State on November 13, 2018. Helping Bellamy reach his yardage total was a career-long 75-yard rush in the third quarter. It was Bellamy's second run of 70 or more yards this season, and the longest by a Bronco since Jamauri Bogan's 76-yard burst against Ball State on November 5, 2015.

Hayward anchored the Bronco defense with 13 tackles as WMU limited Bowling Green to just 10 points. The 13 tackles marked his seventh double-digit tackle outing of the year, making him just the third Bronco since 2000 to have seven or more games with 10 or more tackles in the same campaign, joining Austin Pritchard (7/2009) and Johnnie Simon (7/2011).

A 6-1, 225-pound product of Ypsilanti, Mich., Hayward upped his season total to 106 tackles, becoming the first Bronco with 100+ tackles in a season since Robert Spillane booked 111 in 2016. Hayward finished with 3.0 tackles for lost yardage and has at least 1.5 TFL in five of the last seven games.

The MAC's other weekly honors included Ohio's Nathan Rourke (East Offensive Player of the Week), Buffalo's Joey Banks (East Defensive Player of the Week), Miami's Sam Sloman (East Special Teams Player of the Week) and Toledo's Ronnie Jones (West Defensive Player of the Week).

The Broncos return to action Tuesday, November 5 at 8 p.m. against Ball State. The game will be televised by ESPN2. Western Michigan's second annual Indoor Tailgate will begin at 5 p.m. that day and feature a BBQ buffet, music, tailgate games, two drink tickets per person and more.

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