Broncos Ride MAC Players of the Year into Dallas
By Art Garcia
All coaches look for playmakers, and Western Michigan’s Tim Lester is no different. And when it comes to making plays, it’s been a long time since a MAC team had a duo honored like the Broncos did this season.
WMU swept the conference’s Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year awards in running back LeVante Bellamy and linebacker Treshaun Hayward, respectively. No league team has pulled off that dual feat since Marshall in 2001. Western Michigan had never done it.
Those two are part of a talent-laden squad that earned WMU a spot in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl on Dec. 30. The Broncos (7-5) are matched up against Western Kentucky (8-4) for the 11:30 a.m. kickoff at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
Lester relied heavily on Bellamy and his decision making. The Doak Walker Award semifinalist paced the country with 23 rushing touchdowns and his 1,412 yards on the ground are 10th nationally. The senior needs just 11 yards to move into fourth on the school’s all-time yardage list.
“Bellamy has a done a great job this year,” Lester said. “He’s really expanded his game as a running back. He’s running inside and outside, and he has a knack for finding the end zone. He’s a special talent.”
Hayward became the eighth WMU to capture the MAC Defensive Player of the Year honor. The junior’s 132 tackles led the team, while his 10.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks were second among Broncos. As important as his production was his leadership on and off the field.
“We have a new defensive coordinator (Lou Esposito) this season and we knew for our defense as a whole it was basically going to be like freshmen understanding a defense and the calls, and they just continue to get better and better and better, and as the season went on they got stronger and stronger,” Lester said. “Tre’s athleticism and speed really helped him play physical, but he does a great job of understanding his role.
“The game slowed down a little bit for him, but he’s a great blitzer, great in pass coverage and what was exciting for us is he had a lot of tackles, a lot of TFLs and a couple of sacks. He just continued to get more confident as the season went on.”
Bellamy and Hayward were also instrumental in WMU going 5-3 in the MAC, including three wins in the last four games and a runner-up finish in the West Division. Should the Broncos claim their eighth victory in Dallas, it would be the most for the program since 13 in 2016.
Another win would also mark the fourth time in six seasons with eight or more and improve Western Michigan’s win total by one every year under Lester after six in 2017 and seven in 2018. The First Responder Bowl is the fourth bowl game of Lester’s coaching career. As an assistant, he helped Western Michigan to the 2006 International Bowl and Syracuse to the 2013 Texas Bowl, while guiding WMU to the 2018 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl as head coach.