By Jim Naveau
Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck coached at Western Michigan. So did Jack Harbaugh, father of Jim and John Harbaugh.
So did Elliot Uzelac, whose job as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator went up in flames when star running back Robert Smith sat out the 1991 season because of a conflict with Uzelac.
And so did Tim Lester, who took over for Brian Ferentz as Iowa’s offensive coordinator this season.
Fleck was the Broncos’ head coach in the greatest season in school history when they went 13-1, got an invitation to the Cotton Bowl and came within a touchdown of Wisconsin in that game in the 2016 season.
As a stepping stone, Western Michigan has been pretty strong. As a competitor in games against Big Ten teams, the Mid-American Conference team from Kalamazoo, Mich., has struggled.
Going into Saturday night’s game against Ohio State, the Broncos have a 6-47 record against Big Ten teams.
Western Michigan has beaten Illinois twice, Iowa twice, and Northwestern and Wisconsin once each. It has never beaten in-state Big Ten teams Michigan State (0-12) and Michigan (0-8).
Ohio State and Western Michigan have played only one time before, a 38-12 win by the Buckeyes in 2015.
Western Michigan should be a little more competitive than Akron was in OSU’s 52-6 win in its opener last Saturday.
The Broncos’ four wins last season were twice as many as the Zips had. It had the lead early in the fourth quarter against Wisconsin last week before losing 28-14 and the Badgers’ longest offensive play went for only 17 yards.
Western Michigan quarterback Hayden Wolff is in his second season as a starter. Its best running back, Jalen Buckley, gained 1,003 yards last season and its starting center Jacob Gideon was first-team All-MAC last season.
The Broncos were missing one of their top offensive players last week when wide receiver Kenneth Womack, who led the MAC with 76 catches last season, was held out because of a broken hand.
Similar to last week, the question is not if OSU will win, but how big the margin of victory will be.
The prediction: Ohio State 45, Western Michigan 7.
