KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) _ Tim Lester threw five touchdown passes and Western Michigan overcame a mistake-prone first half by scoring 17 unanswered second-half points en route to a 46-28 win over Youngstown State on Saturday night.

Lester, who passed for 405 yards in a loss to Florida a week earlier, completed 21 of 40 passes for 316 yards before a crowd of 35,874 _ a Mid-American Conference record.

The Broncos (1-1) trailed 21-17 in the closing seconds of the first half when Lester connected with Corey Alston on a 42-yard touchdown. Alston found a seam between five Youngstown defenders to complete the desperation play, giving the Broncos a 24-21 halftime lead.

Western Michigan had three turnovers in the first half, with Lester intercepted twice, leading to 21 points by the Penguins (1-1).

But the Broncos took control in the second half. Brad Selent kicked a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Lester then opened the fourth quarter with a 4-yard TD pass to Joshua Bush, who also had a 26-yard scoring catch in the first half.

Lester also threw scoring strikes of 12 and 4 yards to Steve Neal and Micah Zuhl.

Western Michigan sophomore Rashad McDade put the game out of reach late with a 99-yard kickoff return.

Robert Sanford rushed for 129 yards on 23 carries as the Broncos ran up 465 yards total offense.

Youngstown State scored on a 2-yard run by Jared Zwick and on a 7-yard quarterback keeper by Jeff Ryan, who was 24-of-37 for 253 yards with one interception. Ryan also connected with Elliott Giles on a 33-yard touchdown pass.

The Penguins amassed 387 yards total offense but two missed field goals and the had three second-half turnovers.

Giles had nine catches for 144 yards for the Penguins and Adrian Brown rushed for 54 yards on 13 carries.