Info: It’s year 2 with Coach Williams at the helm. You could say year 1 went pretty well. He started off his first collegiate season on a 9 game win streak. That’s no easy task with any team let alone with Western Michigan. WMU is, sorry I meant WAS looked at as one of the bottom 15 teams in the nation. Not anymore since their 9 game win streak that consisted of their first MAC Championship in 11 years and a big bowl win to top it all off. This year they get 4 very key pieces back to try for back to back MAC Champions.

Defense – C+ : Key piece number 1 would be their 2 All-NCAA defensive studs. Shane Henley was the lead sack leader with 13.5 sacks which was also good for 3rd in the entire nation. He will be a senior this year. Joe Austin is the second key. He’s had a storied career so far at WMU. He was a Freshman All-American after being redshirted. His sophomore season was even better. He led the entire nation in INT’s with 9. Austin was a big key in keeping the Bronco’s defense together with Henley disrupting the quarterback.

Offense – B : On the offensive side they get back Senior QB Lee Holiday. Holiday had his best year yet so far. He led the nation in completions and yards passed. He was in the top 3 in TD/INT ratio with 32/5. He was helped by All-Mac RB Dave Myers. Myers led the nation in TD runs with 20. Holiday has also Eric Montgomery for a target who won an Freshman All-American award at wide out.

Projection: 11-3 (MAC Champions, Bowl Loss) : Experts predict yet another stellar year from WMU and Joesph Williams. We’ve heard projections from 10-4 to a perfect 13-1. Over 90% of the experts think that they will win MAC-West easily. The big test will be 3 road games in a row. First up would be against a rebuilding Oregon State. They’re not to be overlooked because of they’re at home. Next would be against Colorado. CU went 3-9 last year and don’t look to do much better. The last game would be the last team to beat WMU last year, UConn. UConn was beat WMU last year and following the loss Western hired Williams and fired Cubit. It turned out to be a great move so far. After those 3 hard games the next test will be in the MAC Championship game. Many predict a rematch of last year’s thriller against OHIO. Depending on those 4 games WMU could have their best season yet.