KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan football team fell in its home-opener to No. 23 Pittsburgh, 34-13, in front of 22,850 fans at Waldo Stadium on Saturday night.
The crowd at Waldo Stadium was the largest for a home-opener since the 2017 season against Idaho.
WMU's offense was held to 180 yards on the day, with Jack Salopek going 6-for-18 for 99 yards and three interceptions. La'Darius Jefferson rushed for 35 yards on seven carries, while Anthony Sambucci had one reception for 44 yards and threw a 31-yard touchdown to A.J. Abbott.
Senior linebacker Corvin Moment led the Broncos with a game-high 13 tackles, with Andre Carter posting a career-best 11. Junior linebacker Ryan Selig had eight tackles, two for loss and one sack. WMU forced one turnover on special teams.
Pitt opened the game with an 11-play drive that resulted in a career-long 48-yard field goal by Ben Sauls.
After the team's traded possession, Salopek was picked off by Marquis Williams at the WMU 22-yard line and returned it for a touchdown.
The Broncos were held to a three-and-out on the next drive but on the punt by Nick Mihalic, Dorian Jackson was pushed in the back into the punt returner Jaylon Branden. The ball bounced off of Branden and Boone Bonnema jumped on the ball, giving it back to Western Michigan at the Pitt 36. The Broncos moved it down to the 15 and freshman Palmer Domschke drilled a kick from 32-yards out to cut the lead to 10-3.
The Panthers opened the second quarter with a 23-yard field goal to push ahead 13-3, but WMU responded with a nine-play 52-yard drive with Domschke connecting from 40 yards out this time. Jefferson and Mareyhon Hrabowski combined for 36 rushing yards on the drive, bringing Western Michigan within seven.
Salopek threw an interception on the first drive of the third quarter, with Pittsburgh taking over at its own 28. The Bronco defense responded by forcing a three-and-out to get the ball back at their own 48. WMU ran the ball on the first eight plays to get down to the 25 and Salopek connected with Corey Crooms to get down to the seven, but the redshirt freshman quarterback was intercepted for a third time, this time in the endzone.
The Panthers responded with an 80-yard drive on seven plays to score their first offensive touchdown of the game, a four-yard run by Israel Abanikanda, to push ahead 20-6.
On the next drive Salopek started with a 44-yard pass to Sambucci to move the Broncos down to the Pitt 31. After a run for no yards, Salopek lateraled the ball to Sambucci and he rifled it down the field to an open Abbott for his first career touchdown pass. The reception was also the first career score for Abbott.
Pittsburgh then went 74 yards in 12 plays, eating up 7:07 on the clock for another scoring drive. This time it was Nick Yarnell connecting with Konata Mumpfield from six-yards out for the score. Pitt added another scoring drive before the finish to make it 34-13.
Western Michigan heads out west to take on San Jose State on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network and on the Bronco Radio Network. WMU returns home on Saturday, Oct. 1 for its annual CommUniverCity Night against New Hampshire at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.
