The 2008 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 2008 NCAA football season. The team was coached by

Bill Cubit William John Cubit (; born October 14, 1953) is an American football coach and former player. Cubit was the head football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, first on an interim basis in the 2015 season and then promoted t ...

and played their homes game in

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 Metropoli ...

. Western Michigan was 9–4 overall and 6–2 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 t ...

after defeating conference opponents

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by t ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan and Toledo,

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

member

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to most of t ...

member

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

and

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

team . Western Michigan lost to

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, rival

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...

and

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

. Western Michigan played in the

2008 Texas Bowl The 2008 Texas Bowl was the third edition of the college football bowl game, and was played at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The game was played at 7:00 PM US CST on Tuesday, December 30, 2008. The game, telecast on NFL Network, featured t ...

, where they fell to

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

on December 30, 2008. Over the course of the 2008 season, the Broncos received votes in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and br ...

and the

USA Today Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

, culminating with a top 30 ranking and 9–2 record in week 13. The Broncos no longer received votes after dropping their final two games.

2007 summary

The Broncos finished the 2007 season 5–7 overall and 3–4 in the

(MAC). The highlight of the season was the 28–19 victory over the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

, a team that finished 5th in the

Pre-season

WMU was picked to finish third in the West Division, according to the MAC News Media Association. The Broncos also earned two first place votes and one vote to win the MAC Championship Game. Rival

was picked to win the West Division.

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

was selected to win the East Division.

Watch lists

* Louis Delmas, FS –

East–West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: * East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *''East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

* Londen Fryar, CB –

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986. It is voted on by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017, the award became sponsored by Payco ...

* Branden Ledbetter, TE – John Mackey Award * Jamarko Simmons, WR –

Recruiting class

The 2008 recruiting class was ranked #1 in the MAC and #65 overall by Rivals.

Schedule

Game summaries

Nebraska

Nebraska jumped out to a 17–0 lead in the second quarter that Western Michigan could not recover from. WMU quarterback

Tim Hiller Tim Hiller (born December 13, 1986) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Western Michigan. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2010. After his playing days, Hiller worked as h ...

was 30 of 49 for 342 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Branden Ledbetter caught nine balls for 123 yards and a touchdown. The Broncos were held to eight rushing yards for the game. Recap

Boxscore

WMU pregame notes
/span>

Northern Illinois

In the Mid-American Conference opening game for both teams, WMU overcame a 19–14 fourth quarter NIU lead with two

touchdown passes in the span of three minutes and six seconds. Hiller completed 21 of 30 passes for 186 yards and three

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s for the game and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

Brandon West carried the ball 25 times for 175 yards. NIU was playing without its

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

starting

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

Chandler Harnish who left the game in the first quarter due to an injury. NIU outgained WMU 439 to 384 in total yards and had possession of the ball for 34:20 opposed to WMU's 25:40 time of possession. Recap

Boxscore

WMU pregame notes
/span>

Idaho

After Idaho scored early in the third quarter to tie the game at 14–14, WMU outscored the Vandals 37–14 to cruise to a 51–28 win over the

member. WMU quarterback

completed 23 of 31 passes for 241 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Jamarko Simmons caught six passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Despite outgaining WMU 455 yards to 416 yards, Idaho could not stop WMU from scoring 23 points in 4:32 during the third quarter to put the game away. Recap

Boxscore

WMU pregame notes
/span>

Tennessee Tech

Led by

's five touchdown passes, Western Michigan defeated

opponent Tennessee Tech 41–7. The Broncos outgained Tennessee Tech 633 yards to 251 and gained 30 first downs compared to 13. Hiller completed 27 of 31 passes for 333 yards and

Brandon West carried the ball for 133 yards and a touchdown on 14 rushes. Wide receiver Jamarko Simmons led all receivers with 10 catches for 115 yards and a touchdown. Recap

Boxscore

WMU pregame notes
/span>

Temple

Recap

Boxscore

WMU pregame notes
/span>

Ohio

Recap

Boxscore

WMU pregame notes
/span>

Buffalo

Recap

Boxscore

WMU pregame notes
/span>

Central Michigan

Recap

Boxscore

WMU pregame notes
/span>

Eastern Michigan

Recap

Boxscore

WMU pregame notes
/span>

Illinois

Recap

Boxscore

WMU pregame notes
/span>

Toledo

Recap

Boxscore

WMU pregame notes
/span>

Ball State

Recap

Boxscore
, WMU pregame notes

Rice

Recap

Boxscore
, WMU pregame notes

Awards

Mid-American Conference Player of the Week

* Offense **

, QB (2) – week 3 (23–31, 74.2%, 241 yards, four touchdowns), week 7 (42–63, 345 yards, four touchdowns, school record for pass completions and attempts) ** Jamarko Simmons, WR – week 11 (11 catches, 174 yards, touchdown) * Defense ** E. J. Biggers, CB – week 10 (Nine tackles, one tackle for a loss, interception, pass break up) ** Louis Delmas, FS (2) – week 2 (10 tackles, interception, fumble recovery), week 11 (12 tackles) ** Boston McCornell, LB – week 5 (10 tackles (six solo tackles), forced fumble, fumble recovery) * Special teams ** John Potter, PK – week 11 (three field goals (31, 22, 45 yards), two point after touchdowns) ** Brandon West, RB/ KR – week 6 (239 all-purpose yards, three touchdowns (one rushing, two receiving)) ** Aaron Winchester, RB/ KR – week 12 (71 kick return yards, 111 rushing yards, 22 receiving yards, 204 all-purpose yards)

Mid-American Conference Scholar Athlete of the Week

, QB – week 2, week 3

John Mackey National Tight End of the Week

* Branden Ledbetter, TE – week 7 (six receptions, 40 yards, touchdown)

All-MAC Team

Western Michigan had 12 All-MAC selections. * First team ** Louis Delmas, FS ** Austin Pritchard, LB ** Jamarko Simmons, WR * Second team ** E. J. Biggers, CB ** Zach Davidson, DL ** Londen Fryar, CB ** Branden Ledbetter, TE * Third team **

, QB ** Boston McCornell, LB ** Juan Nunez, WR ** Phillip Sawnson, OL ** Brandon West, RB

Coaching staff

– Head Coach * Steve Morrison – Defensive Coordinator * Tim Daoust – Defensive Secondary *

Mike Grant Michael Grant (November 27, 1873 – August 20, 1955) was a Canadian ice hockey player. He played nine seasons of senior amateur hockey between 1894 and 1902 for the Montreal Victorias and Montreal Shamrocks. Grant was a member of the Victori ...

– Wide Receivers * Rick Kravitz – Safeties * Peter McCarthy – Defensive Line * Jake Moreland – Tight Ends * A. J. Ricker – Offensive Assistant * Mike Sabock – Running Backs, Special Teams * Bob Stanley – Offensive Line *

Tim Knox Timothy Aidan John Knox, (born 9 August 1962) is a British art historian and museum director. Since March 2018, he has been Director of the Royal Collection, the private art collection of the British Royal Family. The Royal Collection, held in ...

– Director of Football Operations * Ryan Cubit – Offensive Graduate Assistant * Matt Ludeman – Defensive Graduate Assistant

References

External links

Team and individual statistics
{{Western Michigan Broncos football navbox Western Michigan 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 t ...