Western Michigan football: Will 2020 Broncos make sixth bowl in 7 years?

Defense has enough pieces to be one of MAC’s best

Western Michigan was second in the MAC in points allowed last season and they have the playmakers to be one of the conference’s best again.

The defensive line will be manned by one of the best pass rushers in the country in Ali Fayad, who had 6.5 sacks last season, as well as 15 tackles for loss. Ralph Holley is also back after having 4.5 sacks last season and he will team up with Fayad to form a good pass rushing duo up front. Andre Carter and Braden Fiske are a couple of sophomores that will look to contribute immediately.

The linebackers will be led by Treshaun Hayward, who had 142 tackles last season, including 10.5 for loss. He will need to put up similar numbers to help keep the defense up to par with two new starters going to be beside him.

Zaire Barnes and Corvin Moment will be starting alongside Hayward and they will need to be much better in the run game, which ranked 89th in the country last season. Moment started 12 games two years ago, but had to sit out last season due to being academically ineligible

The secondary will only return two starters and that is safety A.J Thomas and Patrick Lupro. It will also welcome Pitt transfer Therran Coleman and he will help bring some talent to group of guys.

The defense has room to improve, especially since the run defense and the secondary are inexperienced, but with Hayward and Fayad, this unit should be one of the MAC’s best.