The 1987 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
1987 NCAA Division I-A football season
The 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Miami winning its second national championship of the 1980s in an Orange Bowl game featuring a rare No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between the top ranked Oklahoma Sooners and the Hurricanes.
Miami's ...
. In their first season under head coach
Al Molde
Al Molde (born November 15, 1943) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at University of Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls College (1971–1972), the University of Minnesota Morris ( ...
, the Broncos compiled a 5–6 record (4–4 against MAC opponents), finished in fifth place in the MAC, and were outscored by their opponents, 240 to 218. 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 ...
in
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 Dave Kruse with 1,592 passing yards, Robert Davis with 477 rushing yards, and Jamie Hence with 858 receiving yards.
On December 17, 1986, Molde was named as Western's new head football coach. He had been head football coach at
Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...
from 1983 to 1986 and led that team to an 11–2 record in 1986.
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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