The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Just visiting to learn more about your team ahead of the game. I'm guessing Coach Taylor wants to spread things out on offense given his Louisville pedigree. True? It also appears that you've lost some talent on the defensive side of the ball.

We're all trying to figure out exactly what we have in this year's Hawkeyes. There's a vocal segment of the fan base that simply repeats what the national media says; Brian Ferentz and the offense stink. What I see is continued high-level play on defense and special teams and an offense that is performing better than last year (hard not to) while still not putting up big points. Getting the road win at Iowa State was significant. We brought in portal players in key positions (less 10) and that's paying off. Cade McNamara is a big upgrade at QB even with a quad strain. WR and TE transfers are performing well, and the OL has protected McNamara the first two games. I look for Iowa to try to establish the run against WMU, and for WMU to stack the box to try and stop it.

Would love to hear your thoughts. Good luck this weekend and I hope that some of you will be coming to Iowa City Saturday.

‘Spread things out’……I didn’t see the Syracuse game, but our game vs the FCS was ‘running up the middle’. Our passing game is non-existent.

This is our weakest team since PJ Fleck’s first year. We played you guys then & I’m expecting a similar score.

This game won't tell you anything about the team you have.

Unless we overachieve and the Hawkeyes underachieve don't expect much of a game. Our new coach is having to really rebuild the program for a variety of reasons, and we don't have a legit D1 quarterback to run the offense.

I see this year’s Bronco team as similar to last year…minus 9 of 11 starters on defense. Still no answer at QB it appears, some bright spots at RB and TE, no game breakers at WR, OL average at best. I think there could be some talent on defense and this team can improve but it will be a long season. Basically, I’m just looking for improvement over the course of the season and building a solid foundation for the future for Taylor’s long-term program (to the extent that’s possible in this portal day and age).

As for this weekend…no big expectations on this end.

Brian Ferentz will need to put up 31 points+ on us.

(09-13-2023 01:46 PM)MajorHoople Wrote:  Brian Ferentz will need to put up 31 points+ on us.

This represents the thoughts of the vocal part of the fan base mentioned above. Truth is, Kirk has more control over the offensive throttle than Brian does, and Kirk doesn’t give a damn about the 25-pt thing Gary Barta put in place. We could have kicked a 40-yd field goal to get to 27 against Utah St but we took a knee. Our interim and probable permanent AD could simply draw up a new contract no matter what happens with average pts per game. Meanwhile, poke all the fun at Brian. The national media and many Hawkeye fans sure are.

Hawkeyes are about to be 1-3 against the broncos

Quote:I look for Iowa to try to establish the run against WMU, and for WMU to stack the box to try and stop it.

We blitz like crazy. So we'll set things up to stop the run -- we've been pretty good at it, even though we suck as a team. Thing is -- it'll open things up for Cade to pass very well, to get him into a groove for the year in his passing game.

That said, we still have our previous DC who's good. It's just that we have a new stage on D, so early in the season, you'll get your big plays. Although Iowa is pretty mundane on O, this is their chance to open things up.

On offense, we definitely have the potential to not be as bad as we were last week (99 penalty yards doesn't help). We had same (slightly more) TOP as Syracuse, although they could score quick. However, you guys are a D-based team, so even if we play more to our potential, the results won't be better.

To avoid upset potential, in case WMU somehow plays rock-solid, is lucky, and plays how you'd expect them to be at the end of the year with this new face:
- Don't turn the ball over more than twice
- Don't be off-key as if this was a "gimme-win" (even though it should be; if this was WMU of 2 years ago, then you'd be doomed with that mentality)
- Be willing to mix things up and not turn your conservative play-it-safe schemes into uber-play-it-safe mode
- Rush the QB

Great info, thank you. Iowa will stay in its base D as it always does. That usually makes it tough on teams that depend on the run. The way to mess with our defense is to spread us out and take the open underneath stuff that we’ll give you. The WMU teams that beat Iowas did this well, as have Purdue and Northwestern at their best.

Utah State blitzed a ton and disguised it well (new DC that Parker couldn’t scout much). It was effective in stopping the run but our OL has pass blocked well both games. We’ve been close on several deep shots but have only connected on one v USU. TEs have been catching most of Cade’s passes.

Here’s a good article by Adam Rittenberg on the Brian Ferentz drama.

ESPN

hawkimatt,

Thank you for visiting and posting. If you come back and browse around right before or on gameday, you're likely to see a game thread (and other related threads) on the "The Dan Burgardt Memorial Bronco Football Forum". This area is typically for Other Sports (soccer, baseball, etc.) and off-topic stuff.

Great info, thank you. Iowa will stay in its base D as it always does. That usually mess it tough on teams that depend on the run. The way to mess with our defense is to spread us out and take the open underneath stuff that we’ll give you. The WMU teams that beat Iowas did this well, as have Purdue and Northwestern at their best.

Utah State blitzed a ton and disguised it well (new DC that Parker couldn’t scout much). It was effective in stopping the run but our OL has pass blocked well both games. We’ve been close on several deep ahots but have only connected on one v USU. TEs have been catching most of Cade’s passes.

Here’s a good article by Adam Rittenberg on the Brian Ferentz drama.

ESPN

Nice to see you here, hawkimatt. I've read your posts on Go Iowa Awesome. Thanks for stopping by with some great info.

This football matchup always make things difficult for me, since I'm an Iowa alumn but also a lifelong WMU fan. All I can do is hope that both teams play well, entertain the fans, and come out of the game injury-free. I'm guessing that the Hawkeye defense will be the difference maker in this one.

Hoping there will be at least a small Bronco contingent at Kinnick on Saturday. Game day in Iowa City is always such fun! Wish I could be there.

GO BRONCOS! GO HAWKS!