The 1972 Western Michigan Broncos football team represented

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

in the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

(MAC) during the

1972 NCAA University Division football season The 1972 NCAA University Division football season saw the USC Trojans, coached by John McKay, go undefeated and win the national championship as the unanimous choice of the 50 AP panelists. Eighth-ranked in the preseason, the Trojans were narrow ...

. In their ninth season under head coach

Bill Doolittle Francis William Doolittle (August 10, 1923 – April 10, 2014) was an American football player and coach. Doolittle attended high school in Mansfield, Ohio, where he was selected as an all-state quarterback in his senior year. He enrolled at Ohio ...

, the Broncos compiled a 7–3–1 record (2–2–1 against MAC opponents), finished in third place in the MAC, and outscored their opponents, 229 to 201. The team played its home games at

Waldo Stadium Waldo Stadium is a stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is primarily used for football, and has been the home of Western Michigan University Broncos football in rudimentary form since 1914, and as a complete stadium since 1939. It currently has ...

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

. The team's statistical leaders included Steve Doolittle with 518 passing yards, Larry Cates with 660 rushing yards, and Bob Gavinski with 290 receiving yards. Defensive tackle Bernard Thomas and tight end Keith Pretty were the team captains. Linebacker Dominic Riggio received the team's most outstanding player award.

Schedule

References

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...

Western Michigan Broncos football seasons

Western Michigan Broncos football The Western Michigan Broncos football program represents Western Michigan University in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I and the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Western Michigan has competed in football since 1906, when they played th ...

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