Ending aside, Western Michigan's debut showed the 2026 Broncos are legit
While the sting of Saturday's loss might take some time to subside, the Broncos have a team that looks ready to defend its MAC crown — and perhaps more.
Ann Arbor — An ashen-looking Greer Martini trudged up the incline that is the Michigan Stadium tunnel late on Saturday night, evidently barely holding it together.
Some 30-odd yards behind WMU's defensive coordinator, the pandemonium following Michigan’s controversial, last-second 13-12 win — via a Hail Mary after a second was re-added to the clock — still played out. Various Western Michigan players travelled the tunnel with him in various states of distress. There was no shortage of expletives shouted in frustration as the shellshocked visitors slunk back to the locker room.
Standing stoically at the top of the tunnel, waiting for Martini and the rest of his players and staff, was WMU head coach Lance Taylor.
As Martini approached Taylor, he reached up to take off his hat and run his fingers through his hair. Whatever measure of composure he could muster lapsed, as the first-year defensive coordinator appeared to start to break down before sharing an embrace with Taylor, who reassured the young assistant that he’d done a good job.
And he had. All the Broncos had.
“For me, the story is how I’m proud,” Taylor said.
For all but the opening scripted drive and a heroic heave for Michigan (1-0) at the end, Western Michigan (0-1) showed up to Michigan Stadium and not just played better, but at times bullied the Wolverines. Taylor said postgame that his team had a plan and stuck to it, even knowing they might have to respond quickly after a Michigan opening drive score. Western Michigan’s offense played a brutally effective ball control game, the re-built defense marshaled by Martini for the first time stuffed the Wolverines in a locker for about 57 minutes and the special teams created the winning edge for WMU as punter Ryan Millmore consistently tilted the field and transfer kicker Dieter Kelly debuted with a 4-for-4 performance.
And while the ending was a searing, gutting moment — one that would be easy to get mired in — the Broncos also showed on Saturday that this team that won 10 games and the MAC a year ago could, potentially, be even better.
“I don't care whether you're a Western Michigan fan, a Michigan fan, or just watching it on NBC on the national television audience: That’s a really good football team that we have in that locker room,” Taylor said. “And I think that they proved tonight that we can play with anybody in the country.”
The stats back up the claim.
