Western Michigan’s Brandon West set the FBS record for career all-purpose yards Saturday in his team’s 35-14 road win over Eastern Michigan University.
West, a tailback and return specialist, has 7,626 yards. His total passed the 7,573 of DeAngelo Williams – the former Memphis tailback turned Carolina Panther.
The record came just days after West’s younger half-brother, 21-year-old Christopher Kimp, was killed. The Florida-Times Union (Jacksonville) reported Kimp was shot in the head while in his car during the early hours of Nov. 8 in Brunswick, Ga.
West went to Georgia for the wake Friday, but he missed the funeral Saturday to play the game. He had 25 carries for 140 yards and a touchdown and 43 return yards. Additionally, he became the third player in school history to have back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.
“I came back for a reason,” he said. “This is my team. I look at these players, young men as brothers, too. I came back for them.”
Said WMU quarterback Tim Hiller: “It shows his commitment and dedication. This was an unbelievably hard week for him. I think none of us can fully understand what he went through.
“But he’s part of our family, you know, we’re a family as a team. To have the courage to go down there and then come back and play as well as he did today, speaks volumes about his character.”
Gillett gets all snaps
When quarterback Andy Schmitt went down with a season-ending knee injury on Sept. 19, coach Ron English opted to go with a two-quarterback system.
At his own discretion, English would deploy either Kyle McMahon or Alex Gillett on a given play. On Saturday, however, Gillett made his first-career start and played the entire game.
He finished 15-for-26 passing for 186 yards, with three interceptions and one touchdown. The freshman had 26 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown but lost two fumbles.
Defensive doings
The defense was able to consistently pressure Hiller, but he still threw for four touchdowns. Brandon Downs and Devon Davis were the best at trying to slow the high-potent offense, though.
Downs, a senior captain, had seven tackles, 1 ½ sacks and a forced fumble. Davis, a freshman, did his best to mimic the veteran, totaling four tackles, 1 ½ sacks and a forced fumble. Andre Hatchett and Marcus English each made 14 tackles.
Stone’s numbers down
Before the season, Jacory Stone was on the watch list for Biletnikoff award for the nation’s top receiver.
He caught 88 passes for 943 yards and three touchdowns last season but has gone cold since. With two games to play, he has 30 receptions for 332 yards and a touchdown. He didn’t register a catch Saturday.
