CMU’s first rivalry win at home since November 2010 also snaps a five-game losing streak.
5, 138 days— and no longer counting.
The Central Michigan Chippewas (4-7, 2-5 MAC), who had lost the last five games prior to Tuesday night, who had lost the last two Victory Cannon rivalry games against the Western Michigan Broncos (5-6, 4-2 MAC), and who had not won against Western at home since November 5, 2010, held the trophy aloft in triumph at the end of a hard-fought 16-14 victory at Kelly/Short Stadium under the weeknight lights— with the whole country watching.
The first half of the contest was defined by defense, with 12 punts, eight tipped passes, and nine three-and-outs between both teams over the first two quarters. It was Central who would enter with the 13-0 lead at the halftime break however, thanks to a BJ Harris six-yard rushing touchdown (set up by a 55-yard shot play from Jadyn Glasser to Solomon Davis) and two Tristan Mattson field goals.
If the first two quarters weren’t already filled with intrigue, the third quarter presented a smorgasbord of strange.
Central possessed the ball to start the second half after scoring to end the first half, looking to extend a two-score lead with points, but an underthrown Jadyn Glasser pass in the direction of Solomon Davis would get intercepted by all-MAC caliber safety Tate Hollack, who returned the pick for a 78-yard score to put Western on the board for the first time with 10:20 to go in the third quarter at 13-7 in favor of CMU, squandering a seven-play, 38-yard drive lasting nearly five minutes.
The Chippewas would get the ball back on the ensuing kickoff, and immediately lose seven yards on a first-down sack of Glasser by Western Michigan defensive lineman Corey Walker. Glasser would get six yards back on second down, then find BJ Harris open past the sticks near midfield for a 12-yard reception to continue the drive. Marion Lukes seemed to break the game open with a 35-yard rush to get to the WMU 16-yard line on the very next play, but a holding call brought the play back.
From there, CMU would run the ball on 11 of the next 12 plays, occupying the entire third quarter before setting up a Tristan Mattson field goal from 30 yards out at the start of the fourth quarter to put the Chips up 16-7 with 14:56 remaining.
Between their last possession of the first half ending with 1:03 to go in the second quarter and Central’s three-consecutive possessions, Western had to wait over an hour and three minutes in real time to re-take the field.
They didn’t look rusty at all, firing back at CMU’s history-making drives with Jalen Buckley capping off a 15-play, 67-yard salvo lasting over seven minutes and 35 seconds of game clock on a one-yard touchdown run to bring the tally within two points at 16-14 with 7:15 remaining.
The teams would trade three-and-outs, with CMU taking the ball back on a third punt with 3:38 remaining. WMU started to utilize timeouts to preserve clock on a third-and-five opportunity with 2:55 remaining, but BJ Harris would convert on a four-yard run and Marion Lukes would seal the game two plays later on an eight-yard run to allow CMU to run the clock down to zeroes.
The stars of the day for the Central offense were their three senior backs, who combined for 185 yards and a touchdown. Marion Lukes (15 carries, 93 yards) and BJ Harris (15 carries, 41 yards, touchdown) split the load, with Myles Bailey contributing 11 carries for 51 yards.
Jadyn Glasser collected his first win as a collegiate quarterback in his third start for the Chippewas, finishing 8-of-17 passing for 140 yards and an interception, and had several key passing plays to extend drives, including two 20+ yard plays to BJ Harris (two catches, 46 yards total) out of the backfield and a 55-yard toss to Solomon Davis (three catches, 73 yards total.)
On defense, it was a field day for the Chippewas, who collected six tackles-for-loss, two sacks, two quarterback hits and two pass break-ups against Western, while holding the Broncos to just seven points and 184 total yards on offense.
Da’Raun McKinney once again had a highlight night, leading the team with seven tackles (six solo) and two pass break-ups— including one in the endzone. Jason Williams led the team with two sacks and two tackles-for-loss, with Jonah Pace (two TFLs), Ke’shon Parker (solo sack) and Jaden Davis (two QB hurries) also contributing to the cause.
The Broncos struggled offensively, mustering just 184 total yards on the day. Hayden Wolff finished the night 13-of-23 for 126 yards, with Jaden Nixon picking up 50 yards on 12 carries. Jalen Buckley (six carries, 11 yards) scored the team’s lone touchdown.
Kenneth Womack led the team in yards (47) and receptions (four) on the evening.
The Broncos did have a lot of success defensively, keeping CMU to 16 points despite averaging 32.6 points allowed per game coming into Tuesday, while forcing six punts and scoring on a pick-six.
Donald Willis led all tacklers with 12 total stops, while Tate Hallock had eight tackles and the team’s pick-six. Corey Walker had a substantial day on the line, with seven tackles, including three tackles-for-loss, two sacks, a pass break-up and two quarterback hits. Overall, WMU had eight quarterback hurries to go on top of five tackles-for-loss and two sacks.
CMU now looks forward to a road trip to DeKalb, Illinois to wind down the season as they take on the Northern Illinois Huskies fresh off their elimination from the MAC title race.
WMU, losers of their last three outings, now faces an elimination scenario against another in-state rival in Eastern Michigan, as both teams must win in order to play in a postseason bowl game. Their tilt will also serve as the Michigan MAC Trophy’s final leg, with the winner claiming the additional prize.
Both games are set for Saturday, November 30th, with to-be-determined networks and times.