KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan football team opens Mid-American Conference play on Saturday at Buffalo at 12 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The Broncos are off to a 3-1 start, and coming off a 23-3 victory at home against San Jose State last Saturday to close non-conference action.
 
|| GAME INFORMATION

• Saturday, Oct. 2 | 12 p.m. ET
• UB Stadium (30,270/Field Turf), Buffalo, N.Y.

 
|| BROADCAST INFORMATION

• CBS Sports Network (Jason Knapp, Ross Tucker)
• Bronco Radio Network 106.5 FM (Robin Hook & John Creek)

 
BRONCOS vs. BULLS

• The Broncos are 7-2 all-time against Buffalo. The last matchup was the legendary NCAA record-tying seven-overtime game at UB in which WMU came away with a 71-68 victory.
  • 1999 – W, 45-17 (home)
  • 2002 – W, 31-17 (away)
  • 2005 – W, 31-21 (home)
  • 2008 – W, 34-28 OT (away)
  • 2009 – W, 34-31 OT (home)
  • 2012 – L, 29-24 (away)
  • 2013 – L, 33-0 (home)
  • 2016 – W, 38-0 (home)
  • 2017 – W, 71-68 7OT (away)

 
MAC OPENERS

• The Broncos are 4-0 in MAC openers under head coach Tim Lester, and have outscored opponents by a total of 184-70.
  • 2017 – vs. Ball State (W, 55-3)
  • 2018 – at Miami (W, 40-39)
  • 2019 – vs. Central Michigan (W, 31-15)
  • 2020 – at Akron (W, 58-13)

 
SCOUTING BUFFALO (2-2, 0-0 MAC EAST)

• The reigning MAC East Champions enter Saturday with a 2-2 record. The Bulls won their season opener 69-7 against Wagner, before falling 28-3 at Nebraska and 28-25 at home against No. 16 Coastal Carolina. Last Saturday, Buffalo led 35-7, but had to hang on for a 35-34 victory at Old Dominion.
• The Bulls offense features the top receiver in the MAC so far this season. Quian Williams leads the conference with 24 catches for 346 yards. Meanwhile, the Broncos' Corey Crooms ranks second in the league with 20 catches for 334 yards.
• Buffalo is one of only two teams in the country to not allow a sack this season, and quarterback Kyle Vantrease has only been sacked twice in the last 18 games.
• While two of Western Michigan's top defensive advantages this season have been getting to the quarterback and making third down stops, Buffalo's offense has been effective in both of those areas. In addition to the previously mentioned pass protection, the Bulls lead the MAC and rank 15th nationally in third down conversions at 53 percent (35-for-66).

 
STIFILING DEFENSE

• Western Michigan's defense leads the MAC in defensive yards allowed per game at 301.75. Against Illinois State, the Broncos tied a school record with just 57 yards of total offense allowed. In last week's 23-3 victory over San Jose State, WMU gave up just 119 yards of offense.

 
MAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Senior defensive lineman Ali Fayad played a crucial part of a defensive effort against SJSU last week. He piled up two sacks, three tackles for a loss, five total tackles, and three QB hurries. He also forced a fumble that led to a WMU score in the 2nd quarter. He was named the MAC West Defensive Player of the Week.

 
3RD DOWN HEROES

• Western Michigan has been stellar on 3rd down defense. In WMU's three wins the season, opponents have combined to go 4-for-34 on third downs, converting at just a 11.8 percent rate.
• On the season, opponents are 12-for-47 on third downs, 25.5 percent.

 
SACKS ON SACKS

• The defensive line is on fire. The Broncos racked up eight sacks against San Jose State last week, the most in a game since the team had eight against Central Michigan in 2016, and the second most since they registered nine against Ball State in 2006. Nine different players have recorded half a sack or more this year. Fayad leads the way with 4.5 on the season, and Ralph Holley is right behind him with 3.5 sacks. The Broncos lead the MAC in sacks per game (4.0).

 
ON OUR TERMS

• Western Michigan has done a great job of controlling the pace of the game, and is second in the country (behind only Army West Point) in average time of possession (36:47).

 
CONTROLLED AIR ATTACK

• Quarterback Kaleb Eleby leads the MAC in passing yards per game (225.5), touchdowns (7) and efficiency (143.7). His receivers Corey Crooms and Skyy Moore are both Top-8 in the MAC in both receptions and receiving yards.