The 2018 campaign for the Western Michigan Broncos will begin at Waldo Stadium and for the first time under head coach Tim Lester's tenure, they open at home.

The Broncos will see an unfamiliar face as they host the Syracuse Orange for the first time in school history. It's the first part of a home-and-home series between the two schools, with the trip to New York taking place next season.

It will be familiar for Lester. He will see a football team that he coached their quarterbacks from 2013 to 2015, with an added offensive coordinator role the final two years. He's also familiar with Syracuse's senior quarterback, Eric Dungey, who was just a freshman when Lester was there. Lester talks about his early time with Syracuse as he previews the season opener.

There are even more connections with Syracuse, as Western defensive lineman Steven Clark transferred two years ago. Cornerback Juwan Dowels joined the Broncos after last season as a graduate transfer. There are also assistant coaches on both sides that have either Western or Syracuse ties.

The Broncos will open the season with four straight non-conference in preparation of their Mid-American Conference schedule, where Western is projected to finish third in the West Division.

For the Orange, head coach Dino Babers is familiar with Western, but as an opposing coach. Before Syracuse, he was the head coach of Bowling Green for two seasons. While leading the Falcons, the Broncos won 26-14 in 2014 in Ohio before BG returned the favor in 2015, 41-27 at Waldo.

For extra insight from the Orange camp, here's a preview for this week.

Tickets for Friday night's contest are still available. Kickoff at Waldo Stadium is at 6pm. If you can't make it to the game, be sure to catch it on CBS Sports Network.

For the complete low down on Friday night's game, here are the notes from Western Michigan University Athletics.

WMU-Syracuse Game Notes Aug 30 2018

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