In the first week of October, it can be premature to say that the division title is squarely on the line but, with all due respect to Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois, Western Michigan’s short trip to Toledo on Saturday afternoon is critical.
Both came off impressive wins last Saturday. Toledo’s late interception produced a heart stopping 28-21 win over BYU. WMU rolled over CMU in its Victory Cannon rivalry, holding the Chippewas off the scoreboard for the first 47 minutes. While the Las Vegas experts have pegged the expected total points at a whopping 72 in Saturday’s clash, their surprising defensive efforts last Saturday indicate that 72 might be a tad high.
Our Senior MAC Reporter, Chris Roeder, offers his analysis of last Saturday’s rivalry game in Kalamazoo:
In-conference, in-state rivalry games are usually reserved for October and November in the college football landscape. Saturday’s 90th meeting between Western Michigan and Central Michigan was the 27th time that the rivals have met in September. Certainly both programs prefer to meet on a Saturday prior to the late season mid-week, made-for-TV MAC schedule commences. Prior to the season, this match up looked to be lopsided. Many assumed that Jim McElwain’s first season will surely be a rebuilding effort after the Chippewa’s finished 2018 at 1-11. The CMU faithful have been praying for a quarterback since the graduation of Cooper Rush in 2016. In 2018, CMU had 5 different quarterbacks taking snaps, none of which appeared to be a solution. This year the Chips lost their starting quarterback Quinten Dormady (Transfer from Houston/Tennessee) to injury in a lopsided 61-0 blowout at Wisconsin. In contrast Western Michigan entered the season with a 3-year starter, senior quarterback Jon Wassink, in command of the offense. Western Michigan’s balanced attack has thrived when Wassink has been healthy, being able to both pass and run the ball effectively. With that being said, CMU played Miami (FL) tough in week 3 only losing to 17-12 on the road with David Moore (JUCO Transfer) playing quarterback. Maybe the McElwain rebuild was moving along quicker than expected.
The quarterback play had an impact right from the start of the game. CMU quickly racked up 3 first downs on its first possession of the game moving the ball to midfield. Then David Moore threw a pass over the middle of the field which was tipped and intercepted by Patrick Lupro (Miss. St. Transfer). WMU wouldn’t waste any time by scoring a touchdown on an easy 4-play drive. CMU would respond nicely on the next drive by moving the ball all the way to the WMU 9 yard line where the drive stalled. CMU was facing a 4th & 3 and McElwain elected to go for it instead of kicking the field goal. On 4th down the Chips elected to run a misdirection direct snap to running back Kobe Lewis which was stopped for no gain. Two possessions, two turnovers for the Chippewas. This would be a theme for the rest of the game with CMU turning the ball over 5 times (2 Interceptions, 2 on Downs, 1 Fumble). The Bronco offense played well enough to ensure a victory by building a 24-0 lead by the end of the 3rd quarter using a balanced attack (244 yards passing and 188 yards rushing) with the final score being 31-15. One of the most bizarre stats from this game was the number of offside penalties that CMU defense was charged for: 7!! This surely assisted the WMU offense, and one has to wonder if this is a FBS record. I can’t imagine the coaching staff’s search for sufficiently strong language after committing a 7th offside penalty.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for either the Broncos or the Chippewas. Western Michigan heads to the Glass Bowl for a crucial MAC West tilt with Preseason favorite Toledo. CMU travels to Eastern Michan fresh off a 3-1 start to the season with a win over Illinois. Both teams will have to play my diciplined football to come away with a victory in week 5.
Pictures from the Game: https://www.croederphotography.com/s