KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan football team opens the 2021 season on the road at the University of Michigan on Saturday at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN and can be heard live on the Bronco Radio Network.
|| GAME INFORMATION
- Saturday, Sept. 4 | Noon ET
- Michigan Stadium Stadium (107,601/FieldTurf), Ann Arbor, Mich.
|| BROADCAST INFORMATION
- ESPN (Bob Wischuesen, Dan Orlovsk, Kris Budden)
- Bronco Radio Network (Robin Hook & John Creek)
FOR OPENERS
- The Western Michigan football team opens its 116th season and fifth under the direction of head coach
Tim Lester on Saturday at Michigan.
- WMU is 2-2 in openers under Lester, including a 53-18 victory at Toledo a season ago on Nov. 4.
BRONCOS AT THE BIG HOUSE
- Michigan and Western Michigan will meet for the eighth time on Saturday, with the Wolverines having won all seven previous meetings.
- Michigan took the most recent meeting, 49-3, in 2018.
- All seven contests have taken place in Ann Arbor.
- The closest game was the first, a 17-13 Michigan win in 1917.
BRONCOS TAKE ON POWER FIVE
- Western Michigan has secured 13 all-time victories over current members of the Power 5 conferences.
- The Broncos are 13-68-1 versus those programs, with eight of the 13 wins coming against Big Ten teams.
- WMU's most recent Power 5 wins came in 2016. The Broncos defeated Northwestern and Illinois en route to a perfect regular season, MAC Championship and berth in the Cotton Bowl.
- Head coach
Tim Lester has yet to defeat a Power 5 program at WMU, suffering setbacks to Michigan State (2019 & 2017), Syracuse (2019 & 2018), Michigan (2018) and Southern Cal (2017).
- Lester did secure one of WMU's Power 5 victories as a quarterback for the Broncos, leading his team to a 27-24 win at Vanderbilt in 1998. Lester was 17-for-29 passing for 218 yards and a TD.
PHIL STEELE BIG ON BRONCOS
- Phil Steele selected 15 Western Michigan players to his preseason All-MAC team, most in the league.
- Steele's 15 picks made Western one of six programs with double-figure selections, with all six teams topping that list representing the MAC West.
WATCH LIST CENTRAL WESTERN
- Western Michigan was well represented on multiple award watch lists entering the 2021 season.
- Among other awards, the Broncos earned representation on the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards, given to the best offensive and defensive players in the nation.
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Kaleb Eleby: Maxwell (Player), Manning (Quarterback);
Ralph Holley: Bednarik (Defensive Player), Nagurski (Outstanding Defensive Player);
Mike Caliendo: Outland (Outstanding Interior Lineman), Wuerffel (Community Service), Allstate Good Works Team;
Nick Mihalic: Ray Guy (Punter);
A.J. Thomas: Senior Bowl;
Jaylen Hall: Senior Bowl;
Ali Fayad: Senior Bowl
PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
- Western Michigan received four votes to win the MAC West and three to win the Rocket Mortgage MAC Championship in the media poll announced by the league on July 20.
- The Broncos were picked to finish third in the West with 103 total points, just behind Ball State (114 points) and Toledo (104 points).
- Kent State was voted to win the East.
- Ball State (seven), Toledo (five), Kent State (four), WMU (three), Buffalo (two) and Miami (one) each received a vote to win the championship game.
Click here for full notes (PDF)
