College Football Breakdown

Western Michigan on the Road Again

Line: Miami -2

The end of the regular brings MAC football to the forefront by playing Tuesday and Wednesday evenings on ESPN. The Broncos, who went toe to toe with the heavily favored Toledo Rockets, losing 66-63 last week, travel to Miami, Ohio this Wednesday to play the RedHawks who lost to Temple last week.

The Broncos, featuring the pass combo of QB Carder to WR White put up 60 points last week at Toledo. WR White is a handful for defenses to cover and already has 99 receptions on the year. Western Michigan runs to keep defenses honest but needs pass protection to operate effectively. This week they face a Miami team (14 conference sacks) that is more physical on defense and gives up on 21 points a game in conference. However, those 21 points allowed have come against offenses that rank towards the bottom in the MAC. Last week, the Redhawks lost a close one at Temple, 24-21 even though holding the Owls to only 310 yards.
On offense, Miami features a quality passing attack led by QB Zach Dysert that ranks second in the conference. Miami’s running game which averages a paultry 76 yards per game in conference gets to go against Western Michigan’s run defense which is the worst in the conference and ranks 115th in the nation.

Bottom Line: Miami games are usually low scoring relative to other MAC games because they have a physical front seven and don’t score enough themselves because of poor run blocking. That theory will be tested this week as they face a Bronco team that can score quickly and cannot stop the run. Normally I favor the better defensive team at home.

JJBeatz