Five Things Learned: Delaware State Hornets at Western Michigan Broncos

The Western Michigan Broncos got back to their winning ways Saturday as they crushed the Delaware State Hornets 68-0 at home. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain this level of performance next week against the Georgia State Panthers in their last non-conference contest.

Back to balance

The Broncos got back to work on the ground Saturday as they racked up 241 yards at a 5.9 yards per carry clip. Meanwhile, Jon Wassink went off for 286 yards and two touchdowns as the offensive balance proved to be too much for the DSU defense to handle. If WMU can keep running the ball like this and pick its moments in the passing game, there will be few defenses in the MAC that can stop the Broncos.

Bellamy busting big runs

Levante Bellamy had a big day Saturday with seven rushes for 83 yards, including an 40-yard scoring scamper, and hauled in three catches for 30 yards in the air. This amount of production on such a low amount of touches is impressive against any level of competition. With the number of productive backs that Western has, Bellamy will have to make the most of his touches but he is likely to be a big-time producer in MAC play.

Quite the catch(es)

WMU’s offense was balanced in the passing game as well with five different receivers making multiple receptions, led by Giovanni Ricci’s 77 yards and two touchdowns. The Broncos were able to make the big plays with three receivers making catches of 20 yards or more. We will have to see if this Western passing attack will be sustainable against MAC defenses.

Defense did its job

You know you had a great day on defense when you allow five first downs and one third down conversion on thirteen attempts. The DSU offense couldn’t do much of anything as it rushed for only 3.0 yards per carry and attempted 11 passes. This game was big for the defense’s confidence, and we’ll see if that’ll carry over into next week.

Punt’s on point

Punt and punt return were dominant units for WMU’s special teams on Saturday as Nick Mihalic pinned the Hornets inside the 20-yard line twice while Jayden Reed and Tyron Arnett made 93- and 76-yard house calls in the return game respectively. Changing the field position will be a big deal for WMU going forward, so sustaining this kind of production on special teams will be key to their season.