Monmouth football faces Western Michigan after clock controversy | preview

Welcome to the center of the college football universe, Monmouth University

The biggest story of week one was undoubtedly the controversial finish that robbed Western Michigan of a potential all-time upset of Michigan. Up 12-7, the Broncos swatted away an out-of-bounds Hail Mary pass as time expired across game clocks in the stadium – except for one in the replay booth, unseen by the public.

After the Big Ten crew reviewed the final play, one second was added and a second heave to the end zone was caught by JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard touchdown that gave Michigan the 13-12 win.

The controversy continues to linger after the Mid-American Conference reversed course on its initial statement accepting the result and sought an appeal to the NCAA FBS oversight committee – just as quickly, the NCAA said it wouldn't act, citing its official football rules and saying “when the referee declares that the game is ended, the score is final.”

While that story continues to unfold, next up for Western Michigan is a home matchup with Monmouth on Saturday night. The Hawks hope to add to the chaos in Kalamazoo with their own upset effort.

"I think it's a great opportunity," Monmouth head coach Jeff Gallo said. "We had the game on at my house on Saturday night and I was excited. This is a good opportunity for us to go and show what we can be, and I think that our guys will embrace that opportunity. And it's football. It's who shows up and plays their best. So it's exciting and it creates a great opportunity for our team. I think we have the best opportunity in college football this weekend."

That opportunity is also a double-edged sword given the considerable challenge WMU presents, but it's one that Monmouth is well-prepared for after the past two seasons. The Hawks got their first ever win over an FBS opponent in 2024, beating Florida International in a 45-42 thriller that spoiled the homecoming at Pitbull Stadium. Then last year, they went toe-to-toe with Charlotte and narrowly lost 42-35.

The difficulty goes up a level with Western Michigan. FIU finished 4-8 in Conference USA in 2024 and the win over Monmouth was Charlotte's only victory last year. WMU is the reigning MAC champion coming off a 10-4 season and returned a dynamic backfield duo at quarterback and running back. The defense that stifled Michigan is an added bonus for the formidable Broncos.

The hard task of beating a quality FBS opponent cannot be minimized, but Monmouth has become a program with the talent to potentially compete and the added experience of multiple players with high-level experience on the roster. Edge rushers Jahide Lesaine (Syracuse) and Donovan Dyson (UMass) are two recent additions with that knowledge. The linebackers also have that type of pedigree with Ryan Russo (Rutgers) and Spencer Kishbaugh (Coastal Carolina).

"That adds to all the hype, that's just better for us," Kishbaugh said. "Better for us to be motivated to go there and put on a show and show what we could do against a tough Western Michigan team."

Where to watch

Game: Monmouth at Western Michigan

Date and Time: Saturday Sept. 12, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Waldo Stadium – Kalamazoo, Michigan

Watch: ESPN+

There's no denying that a competitive showing would stun the country, given that Monmouth scraped by against new CAA member Sacred Heart in a 31-24 victory in the home opener that was the Hawks' first conference game of the season. It was also the first win as a head coach for Gallo and memorably marked the dedication of the newly renamed Kevin Callahan Field.

Regardless of the ups and downs against the Pioneers, he result counts the same in the win column for Monmouth. The upcoming opponent is a testament to the fact that even the useful contextual data can only mean so much in the weekly chaos of college football. With a win under their belt, the Hawks are ready to test their limits against the toughest opponent of the young 2026 season.

"I like being able to coach hard off of a win and show what the improvement is," Gallo said. "Winning is winning. Whether you're the assistant coach or head coach, everyone puts so much time in this thing where you just want guys to love winning, hate losing, and work to win every week. It's our team's first win. It's not about me, it's about our team and our team's first win to build off. But I think with a win, when you can coach the guys and find ways to build off of it, show them room for improvement. That's where the key is."

There's no better motivation for improvement than the opportunity to turn in a big performance as the focus of the entire country is unexpectedly honed in on Western Michigan.

"It's just an awesome opportunity for us to play in front of 30,000 people. It's going to be sold out, it's a whiteout game," Kishbaugh said. "The energy—this is why you play college football. For environments like this. And to experience that together with your brothers, that's gonna be a cool thing."

WMU's offense revs up after modest opener

First, a caveat acknowledgement that this analysis will be pretty generously optimistic for Monmouth. But make no mistake, Western Michigan is in a stratosphere of talent that borders on being Power 4 level. For perspective, the Broncos are the reigning MAC champs and were picked to win the conference again by the league's coaches in the preseason. UMass, which just beat Rutgers, was picked to finish last.

The WMU offense is built around the team's dangerous backfield duo of redshirt senior running back Jalen Buckley (1,003 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in 2025) and redshirt junior quarterback Broc Lowry (963 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns) in the running game. Fortunately, the Hawks got a tune-up of this look schematically against Sacred Heart, but the difficulty has been raised significantly.

It starts with the running game for the Broncos, but they also have a capable and efficient passing game with Lowry. He passed for 1,803 yards and nine touchdowns with three interceptions last year, and he has two proven targets to throw to in redshirt junior Baylin Brooks (372 receiving yards) and sophomore Aveion Chenault (277 receiving yards and two touchdowns), the latter of whom had 53 receiving yards against Michigan.

Every member of the Monmouth defense will be tested, but the key inflection group is likely to be the secondary against those receivers. The Hawks will most likely have to load the box considerably to try counter the powerhouse WMU rushing attack, and that's going to leave the defensive backs exposed in one-on-one coverage. There was a fair amount of success against Sacred Heart overall, but the lapses loom large. For the Hawks to have a shot, Chris Palmer, Jaeden Jones, Donovan Fey and Omar Ibrahim are just a few of the names that will have to step up.

As far as the front seven, the defensive tackles will arguably be tested the most. Edge defenders Mo Keshen, Jake Davis, Jahide Lesaine and Donovan Dyson mostly fared well against the option read look of Sacred Heart, and the group has the talent to potentially do the same even against an impressive team like WMU. The interior defensive line needs more answers after several costly scrambles up the middle. Improvement in that area will also fall on the linebackers to contain Lowry, but Kishbaugh and Russo have the athleticism to contain. And if Charlie Sasso can add a forced fumble like he did against Tennessee Tech, those types of plays will be key to having a chance at the upset.

But again, the challenge can't be minimized. The Western Michigan offensive line is led by Chad Schuster (6-6 and 305 pounds) and Hunter Whitenack (6-6 and 340), two Power 4 transfers.

Hawk offense faces tall task against WMU defense

Given the talent and experience on the Western Michigan offense, that would have been the presumptive harder challenge for Monmouth going into the season. But after what the Broncos showed against Michigan, the defense looks like the most imposing obstacle.

Other than the erroneous 47-yard Hail Mary, the Broncos held Michigan to 123 passing yards with just 44 of those coming to receivers not named JJ Buchanan. No individual for the Wolverines had more than 50 yards rushing, and much of the 106 total rushing yards came on scrambles by quarterback Bryce Underwood.

The outlook isn't great for the Hawks, especially considering that the traits of this Western Michigan defense are reminiscent of Tennessee Tech but at a much higher level. Cornerbacks Jarvarious Sims and Josh Franklin are both lockdown players on the perimeter, reflected in the containment of Michigan's weapons. And edge rusher Scoop Gardner is a standout transfer from Long Island who flashed his ability with a half-sack and three tackles against the Wolverines.

The good news is Monmouth's promising trend of tight end depth could be very useful in this matchup. Greg Genross and Burke Mickelson had big catches in the win over Sacred Heart, and if Marcus Middleton is able to return that he will be a huge boost to the group. Deploying multiple tight ends could also help augment the running game against a larger and more athletic Western Michigan front seven.

One other key concept will be finding ways to create a free release for Gavin Nelson against the tenacious WMU corners. It would be interesting to see Monmouth use obfuscating looks like placing him in the backfield in place of running backs Elijah Jennings or Kenny Smith, who are also capable receivers that offer interchangeability.

Prediction: Western Michigan 34, Monmouth 14

Anything is possible, but it wouldn't be prudent to envision anything other than a lopsided victory for Western Michigan.

This is actually a pretty generous, but plausible, outcome for Monmouth. The Broncos are a run-heavy offense that keeps the clock running, and the Hawks are a bend-but-don't-break defense that is generally pretty good at limiting explosive plays. This equates to six scoring drives, but on two of those Monmouth is able to limit the damage to field goals.

It's harder to predict the Monmouth offense turning the corner given the individual matchups. The Hawks get an early score with a well-scripted drive that can attack the limited vulnerabilities of Western Michigan, and a late score against the WMU reserves. It would also be quite the moral victory to outscore Michigan.

On the other hand, it's hard to imagine an angrier team in college football than Western Michigan. If they come focused and ready to let loose their frustration with the sympathy of the entire country behind them, then that will only add to the challenge of an upset for Monmouth.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth football faces Western Michigan after clock controversy | preview