KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan football team rolled past Monmouth, 49-14, in front of the largest home-opening crowd (24,605) since 2017 at Stafford-Smith Field at Waldo Stadium on Saturday night.
Redshirt junior quarterback
Broc Lowry finished 14-for-20 passing for 212 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. Lowry also led the Broncos in rushing yards with 40.
Jalen Buckley had 28 yards rushing and three touchdowns, while sophomore wide receiver
Aveion Chenault had a career-high 101 yards receiving on four catches.
Baylin Brooks had two touchdown receptions, while junior
Egypt Nelson caught a touchdown pass and had 39 yards receiving.
Senior linebacker
Domanick Moon led the Broncos with a career-high 12 tackles. he also had 1.0 sacks, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Linebacker
Justyce Betts had a career-high with 11 tackles, and a forced fumble. WMU's defense forced two turnovers on the night, both via fumbles.
Western Michigan took the lead, 7-0, with 4:36 left in the 1st quarter when Lowry hit Brooks on a slant-route for the 13-yard touchdown pass, capping off an 8-play, 56 yard drive. The lead rose to 14-0 at 10:53 in the second quarter when Lowry connected with Nelson in the corner of the endzone for a 23-yard score. Buckley wrapped up the scoring in the first half with a 1-yard touchdown run with 4:47 left to play, sending WMU into the locker room with a 21-0 lead.
The Broncos got the ball to open the third quarter and need just three plays to push the lead to 28-0. Lowry opened the drive, hitting Chenault on a deep ball for 44 yards. He then scrambled for another 13 yards before Buckley ran it in from 11 yards out for the score.
The Hawks cut the lead to 28-7 after a 7-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a touchdown pass to Tra Neal from Frankie Weaver from five yards.
WMU responded with two quick scoring drives, the first being four plays for 74 yards, with Lowry connecting again with Brooks on a slant route to make it 35-7. Late in the third quarter, Buckley ran it in from the one on a 4-play, 43-yard drive, pushing ahead 42-7.
The Broncos final score came late in the fourth quarter. Redshirt sophomore quarterback
Trey Petty made his WMU debut, leading the team on a 14-play, 86-yard drive culminating with a 21-yard touchdown pass to
Ryan Brotherton. The touchdown pass was the first of Petty's career, with the reception also being the first of Brotherton's career.
MU added a touchdown with 15 seconds left to play.
Western Michigan heads back on the road to take on Rice on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
