Meeting the opponent: Week 6 – Western Michigan Broncos
By Evan Ertel
Looking to end a dreadful losing streak, Zach Arnett and the Mississippi State football team are set to host the Western Michigan Broncos.
Welcome, Bulldog fans, to the 2023 Mississippi State football season. Each week, I am going to attempt to come up with five insightful, ground-breaking, thought-provoking, mind-boggling, and downright original questions.
Then, I will send them, with minimal notice, to a blogger that covers whoever MSU is set to play that week so that you can get to know who will be on the opposing sidelines when kickoff comes around.
I’ll learn something, you’ll learn something, we’ll laugh together, it’ll be a great time.
Mississippi State football opponent preview, Week 6 – Western Michigan Broncos
Steve Helwick from the SB Nation blog Hustle Belt, covering the MAC, has joined me this week to talk a little about Western Michigan and the challenge at hand for Mississippi State Saturday morning.
Evan Ertel: From the outside looking in, the QB situation with Western Michigan seems peculiar at best with two guys having 50+ attempts through the first five games. What insight can you give to help Bulldogs fans get an idea of what to expect from the Broncos on Saturday?
Steve Helwick: Western Michigan’s coaching staff oversaw a fall camp quarterback battle between Jack Salopek and Treyson Bourguet. And for the second consecutive season, Jack Salopek was named the Week 1 starter. But just like last year, the Broncos switched things up when the offense began to stall, as the unit notably produced zero points in the final 59 minutes and 30 seconds of the Syracuse game (yes, they scored on a long touchdown run on the second offensive snap).
Bourguet took over starting duties against Iowa, and it was a challenging outing for the redshirt freshman in typical Iowa fashion. But Bourguet has maintained the starting quarterback role ever since, and he looks bound to maintain it after a career performance against Ball State last Saturday. He never passed for more than 200 yards before that 42-24 victory over the Cardinals, but he exploded for 328 yards and three touchdowns in an aerial performance Lance Taylor waited to see all season from his team.
Establishing consistency with Bourguet as a passer is now Western Michigan’s focus, but the Broncos can be comforted knowing he displays a respectable degree of mobility as well.