KALAMAZOO, MI – It’s hard to call the third game in a coach’s tenure a must-win contest, but in many ways that’s what Western Michigan coach Tim Lester was facing in the Broncos home opener Saturday against Idaho.
With a stable of recruits among the 25,732 spectators, it was important for the first-year coach to send a message that WMU football isn’t a one-hit wonder following 2016’s 13-1 campaign.
Opening the season with losses to fourth-ranked USC and Michigan State didn’t completely halt momentum from January’s Cotton Bowl appearance, but they exposed areas of concern on the Broncos’ talented-yet-inexperienced roster.