Western Michigan showed success under Bill Cubit between 2005 and 2012. Cubit had three winning seasons in his first four years and two bowl appearances as well. The Broncos leveled off after that, producing no seasons with more than 7 wins and only 1 season was better than .500 (2011). The 4-8 record that Western Michigan had in 2012 was enough to see Cubit fired. P.J. Fleck came in for the 2013 season, which is discussed in more detail below.
2013 Western Michigan Broncos Season
P.J. Fleck was stepping into a difficult situation in 2013 with only 3 offensive starters returning. As such, they played as expected, which was well below the 2012 output. The 2012 team averaged 29.3 points and 439 yards per game, while the 2013 offense put out 17.2 points and 327 yards per game. The Broncos played well in the opener against Michigan State, losing only 26-13. However, they lost their next game to FCS Nicholls State and then followed that up with two more losses to Big Ten teams Northwestern and Iowa. The conference slate did not start well either, as WMU lost their opening four games with the closest loss being 18 points. The Broncos did managed to beat Massachusetts on the road and then played well in the next two losses against Eastern Michigan (35-32) and Central Michigan (27-22). WMU finished the season with a 33-14 loss against NIU on the road. The entire 2013 season schedule is below.
Offense
After only having three starters in 2013, head coach P.J. Fleck now has 9 starters back. The quarterback will definitely be better in 2014. Zach Terrell split time with Tyler Van Tubbergen last year. Terrell finished 2013 with 1,602 yards (53%), 8 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. Van Tubbergen did not fare well during the early part of the season with 930 yards (44.8%), 4 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, but he is gone for 2014. Terrell should do much better in Fleck's offense during his second year.
The running back position will be headed by Dareyon Chance, who split time last year with Brian Fields. Chance had 692 yards and 3 touchdowns with a 4.6 yards-per-carry (YPC) average. Fields had 574 yards, 6 touchdowns, and a 3.8 YPC average, but departed after 2013. Youngsters Jarvion Franklin (freshman) and Fabian Johnson (sophomore) will also see plenty of touches. After averaging only 116 rushing yards per game in 2013, this unit should see the numbers go up.
Some more good news for the Broncos is the return of top wide receiver Corey Davis. Davis was the top target, finishing 2013 with 67 catches for 941 yards and 6 touchdowns. The second leading receiver was Kendrick Roberts who also returns in 2014. By comparison, Roberts recorded 23 receptions for 354 yards and 1 touchdown. Tight end Eric Boyden had 19 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown last year. Also in the two deep are Darius Phillips, Daniel Braverman, Lucas Bezerra, and Timmy Keith. This group should do well in 2014, especially with improved quarterback play.
Four offensive linemen return in 2014 and all of them started the entire 12 games last year. James Kristof started at left guard in 2013 and is currently listed at the same position on the depth chart. The same goes for Willie Beavers at left tackle. Jon Hoffing made 12 starts at center in 2013 and will probably play at the same spot, but could see some action at right guard. Taylor Moton will be the right tackle after making 12 starts in 2013. The line now has 60 careers starts in 2014 and should see much better consistency.
Defense
The defense regressed in 2013 after giving up an average of 35.4 points and 419 yards per game. In 2014, only 5 starters return, but there are some decent additions to help the Broncos out. On the line, the Broncos lose their best lineman in Travonte Boles who recorded 60 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, and an interception. Jarrell McKinney returns after recording 44 tackles and 2.5 tackles-for-loss in 2013. Keion Adams also started 5 games and recorded 23 tackles, 1 sack, and 1.5 tackles-for-loss. Adams will be battling with Jamar Simpkins at the end spot after Simpkins finished 2013 with 21 tackles and 1 sack. The interior has Cleveland Smith (23 tackles) and David Curle (11 tackles) as the projected starters. Expect to see a lot of former Michigan Wolverines player Richard Ash on the inside as well. The front four gave up an average of 250 rushing yards a game and that number should go down with the depth and experience they have this season.
The losses are heavy in the linebacking corps as all 3 starters need to be replaced. Sophomore Austin Lewis is expected to be the weakside linebacker after starting 2 games, but still saw plenty of playing time in 2013. For the year, he recorded 39 tackles and played in 11 games. Devon Brant started 7 games as a true freshman in 2011, while recording 43 tackles. 2012 finished with 32 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. An injury to his ACL forced him to miss the entire 2013 season, but he is back for 2014. Trevor Ishmael is expected to get the strongside linebacker spot after recording 28 tackles in 2013. Freshman Robert Spillane could also see plenty of playing time. Added into the mix are junior college transfers Jakevin Jackson and Jason Sylva. This unit will struggle at times this year.
The strongest area of the defense should be the secondary. In 2013, the back four gave up only 169 yards passing per game and only allowed 54.4 percent pass completions. Leading the way will safety Justin Currie. Currie had 113 tackles, 1 sack, 6 tackles-for-loss, 3 pass breakups, and 3 interceptions. The 113 tackles led the team. Donald Celiscar will be one of the cornerbacks after recording 60 tackles, 9 pass breakups, and 3 interceptions. For that, he garnered 3rd team All-MAC honors. At the other cornerback spot will be Ronald Zamort. Zamort finished 2013 with 52 tackles and 18 pass breakups, which was a school record. Rontavious Atkins is expected to be the other starter at safety. Former Notre Dame wide receiver Justin Ferguson is also added into the unit. The defense will lean on the strength of this back four as they gel in the front seven.
Special Teams
The entire special teams unit returns intact. Kicker Andrew Haldeman was solid in 2013 after going 16 of 20 on field goal attempts with a long of 48 yards. Punter J Schroeder had 77 punts in 2014 with an average of 39.7 yards. His net was 33.9 yards, which needs to improve for the Broncos to flip the field. The returner will be Dareyon Chance on both kickoffs and punts. He averaged only 9.1 yards a return on punts and 18.7 yards on kickoffs. Donald Celiscar also returned kickoffs with an average of 21.8 yards. This unit should improve with everyone coming back.
2014 Season Outlook
P.J. Fleck should see his team do better in 2014, even if the Broncos do not see a massive jump in the win column. The offense should be much better this year, especially with an entire season of the schemes under their belts. The defense will struggle a bit, but the secondary will be strong for Western Michigan. In addition, Fleck brought in a very good recruiting class in 2014, as they were ranked #56 by Scout and #59 by Rivals. The schedule does feature some winnable games as well. The entire 2014 schedule is below.
The schedule features three non-conference road games at Purdue, Idaho, and Virginia Tech. They face FCS Murray State in Kalamazoo, which should be a win. It is safe to say that the Broncos will probably enter the conference slate at 1-3. The opening stretch of MAC games are not easy; Toledo, Ball State, Bowling Green, and Ohio will all probably result in losses, which would drop the Broncos to 1-7.
The final stretch of games could see Western Michigan get a couple of wins. The games against Miami (OH) and Eastern Michigan are both winnable while Central Michigan and Northern Illinois will probably be losses. Western Michigan may only see 3 or 4 wins, but Fleck is starting to build a solid program and the fans may not see dividends until 2015.