Broncos head out to take on the thundering herd

football
September 25, 2024

DATE | September 28, 2024
TIME | 3:30 p.m. ET
LOCATION | Huntington, WV
VENUE | Joan C. Edwards Stadium (30,475)
Television | ESPN+
RADIO | Bronco Radio Network
LIVE STATS | WMUSTATS.com

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan hits the road to complete non-conference play in Marshall on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The game can be streamed live on ESPN+ and heard live on the Bronco Media Network.

SERIES
Saturday marks the 35th all-time meeting between the Broncos and the Thundering Herd; the last time the two teams met was in 2004. Western Michigan leads the all-time series at 22-12-0 but is just 1-6 since Marshall moved up to the Division I level in 1997.

WE ARE…. Take a look at Marshall
The Thundering Herd opened the season with a 45-3 home win over Stony Brook, but have since lost two straight games on the road to Virginia Tech and No. 3 Ohio State.

– A WMU connection: Marshall is led by fourth-year head coach Charles Huff. Huff spent the 2013 season as WMU's running backs coach under PJ Fleck. Huff then joined James Franklin's staff when Franklin took the helm at Penn State in 2014.

– LEADER OF THE NATION: Defensive lineman Mike Green leads the nation with 4.5 sacks, an average of 1.5 per game.

– A DIFFICULT COUPLE: Marshall's top receivers are Elijah Metcalf and Christian Fitzpatrick. Metcalf, a transfer from Middle Tennessee State, has a team-best 15 catches for 140 yards and three touchdowns. Fitzpatrick, a transfer from Michigan State, has 10 catches for 197 yards and two touchdowns. One reason they were difficult to deal with? Your size. Metcalf is 1.70 meters tall and Fitzpatrick is 1.90 meters tall.

– QB SHUFFLE: Marshall has used three quarterbacks so far this season, with North Texas transfer Stone Earle getting the bulk of the playing time. Earle has 360 yards passing with four touchdowns and just one interception. He's also a threat when it comes to running, having rushed for 109 yards so far. Braylon Braxton threw for 153 yards and two touchdowns, and sophomore Cole Pennington (son of Marshall legend Chad Pennington) threw for 57 yards and a touchdown through the air.

BETHUNE COLLAPSE
– TWICE IS BEAUTIFUL: Western Michigan running backs Jaden Nixon And Zahir Abdus Salaam Both surpassed 100 yards on the ground for the first time in their careers. It was the first time a Broncos pair reached 100 in a game since WMU's victory over Nevada in the Quicklane Bowl on December 27, 2021. In this game, both Sean Tyler and Jaxson Kincaide scored over 100 each.

– FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME: Nixon, tight end Chris Toodle and wide receivers Bugs Mortimer all recorded their first touchdowns of their Bronco careers. Run back Jamal Hailey also had his first college touchdown.

– THANK YOU FANS: Attendance for the Bethune-Cookman game was 23,476, the highest since a game against Eastern Michigan on October 6, 2018.

– OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: Western Michigan totaled 677 offensive yards in the win, the most since a win over Georgia State in 2019 (694) and the third-most in program history. The 59 points were also the most since 64 points

NEAR THE TOP OF THE MAC
After rushing for 268 all-purpose yards in the win over Bethune-Cookman, junior running back Jaden Nixon has moved to second in the MAC in all-purpose yards, now averaging 119.67 per game. His performance also placed him 33rd nationally.