'Earned this opportunity to go to Detroit': Western Michigan rolls EMU, clinches MAC title berth

Ypsilanti — Western Michigan beat two opponents to secure a MAC championship game bid on Tuesday night.

The first, Eastern Michigan, got dispatched via five takeaways by the WMU defense — the Eagles entered the evening with nine turnovers this season — that led to four touchdowns on offense as the Broncos played some textbook complementary football to overcome an early deficit. WMU finished with 278 rushing yards at 5.7 yards per carry.

The second, human nature, didn't line up across the line of scrimmage from the Broncos. It showed up over the course of the last two weeks as Western Michigan had a simple path to a MAC title berth: Beat Northern Illinois and beat EMU. It threatened to creep into meeting rooms, the practice field, and the backs of minds for the Broncos' players and coaches.

"These last two games were probably the most two difficult games of the season," quarterback Broc Lowry said. "It's just fighting human nature, fighting complacency. That's been the message all week, the past two weeks and, you know, we did the job and now we just gotta go win the MAC championship."

Western Michigan (8-4, 7-1 MAC) capped off its best regular season since at least 2021 and likely since its last trip to the conference title game when the Broncos went undefeated in 2016. And WMU secured this spot on Tuesday much like it had played the entire season: Slow out of the gate, only to become a runaway train as things progressed. WMU trailed Eastern Michigan (4-7, 2-6) after one quarter but rattled off 31 unanswered points aided by five takeaways from what’s become a stalwart defense in an eventual 31-21 win. 

It’s the Broncos’ first bid to the MAC title game since 2016, when the Broncos won a 13th game after going undefeated in the regular season. Western Michigan has three MAC titles in program history: 1966, 1988 and 2016. 

It’s a fourth trip to the conference championship game — which the MAC began playing in 1997 — for the Broncos. 

And it’s a culmination of the work that Lance Taylor and Co. have done in Kalamazoo in three seasons, going from 5-7 to 6-7 and now 8-4 with two more postseason games to play: The MAC title game and a bowl. The win Tuesday also means Western Michigan wins the Michigan MAC Trophy, having defeated both Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan in the same year. 

"They've earned this opportunity to go to Detroit," Taylor said. "What a great opportunity for this football team after starting the season 0-3, to continue to believe, to continue to buy in, working and committing to each other."

It wasn’t apparent early on Tuesday that Western Michigan would take the win and secure its conference title bid.

After each team punted on its opening series, Eastern Michigan started a drive pinned deep in its own territory. Then a wheel route connection from quarterback Noah Kim to Dontae McMillan out of the backfield sprang for 50 yards and set up EMU across midfield. 

A defensive holding penalty on a 4th and 1 flea flicker kept the series alive for McMillan to take a screen pass 21 yards for EMU’s lone first half score.

McMillan finished with two touchdowns and went for more than 100 yards rushing and receiving, just the second FBS player to do so this season and the first EMU player on record to have done so.

And the Eagles appeared set to take a 14-0 lead when the unit that has defined Western Michigan’s season, the defense, came through. 

"Noah Kim's one of my best friends," WMU super senior safety Tate Hallock said. "I was at Michigan State with him, hell of a player. Him and the running back, I mean, they diced us up a little bit, so we just had to do our job and we did that. So it was amazing."

Kim tried connecting on a short crosser to his left and WMU defensive back Joshua Franklin stuck a hand in to contest the pass. It’s unclear if he caused the tip or it just ricocheted off Harold Mack’s fingers, but the tipped ball went to the arms of Western Michigan safety Joey Pope inside the 10 yard line. 

And after spending most of the first quarter inching forward then punting, the Western Michigan offense clicked into drive and chunked down the field, mostly on the ground. A 36-yard end around run by Tailique Williams tied the game with 7:13 until halftime, as the wideout benefitted from a key block downfield by running back Jalen Buckley. 

Kim coughed it up again as Eastern Michigan drove back into the red zone, and John Peters recovered for Western Michigan as the Eagles quarterback fumbled this time on a zone read keeper. And the Broncos again made quick work marching down the field. 

Lowry capped this scoring drive with a 33 yard touchdown run that put him in the WMU record books. Lowry is now the first WMU QB in at least 100 years to rush for 13 or more touchdowns in a season. 

And for the Eagles, who had been perfect on scoring in the red zone prior to Tuesday night, watched a 7-0 lead evaporate as a result of two red zone turnovers. 

"All night creating those havoc plays," Taylor said. "And then off of those five turnovers, our offense scored on four of them. So you wanna talk about complimentary football? I mean, listen, our defense played really well. So did our offense. We had 200 and something yards rushing. We had time of possession, won the time of possession. We didn't turn the ball over. Special teams was huge."

The takeaway-score rhythm persisted into the second half, as Western Michigan turned two more Kim turnovers into 14 more points, as Lowry added a second rushing touchdown and Buckley got one himself.

After trailing 7-0 to end the first quarter, Western Michigan entered the fourth quarter leading, 31-7.

The Broncos locked up a bid to the conference title game after a remarkable turnaround from an 0-3 start. In the first three weeks, the Broncos lost a pair of road games to Big Ten teams and lost a heartbreaker to North Texas in overtime sandwiched between. The offense generally struggled with quarterback uncertainty.

All through it, though, Taylor and athletic director Dan Bartholomae never wavered in believing the Broncos could end up atop the MAC.

"He continued to believe, never doubted, never flinched," Taylor said of his boss. "He's kinda like our football team. He's gritty himself. But thankful for him, his leadership. And the opportunity for me and my family to be here. I told him, 'We're not done yet. We've got bigger goals.' We both said that we wanted to come here and win championships, not just go to the championship game."

Still, season teetering early could've toppled when Toledo visited Waldo Stadium in Week 4, and the Broncos made a choice to start Lowry at quarterback for the first time. And it’s proven to be a fateful decision. 

Lowry led a fourth quarter comeback against the Rockets and Western Michigan won, 14-13, going ahead on a bold two-point conversion call in the final minute of regulation. Lowry scored the go-ahead two pointer as he has so often this season: With his legs. 

And behind Lowry and his rushing prowess and growing passing ability, the Broncos reeled off four wins in a row and three in conference before their lone stumble of the conference slate, at Miami (OH). The Broncos led that game for much of the first and second halves before letting a lead slip late in a game where Taylor felt Western Michigan started to get outside its identity. 

But from that loss, Western Michigan ripped off four-consecutive wins in November to end the year, starting to put together some complete, championship-level performances on the way. 

"You know, after we got to MAC play, I felt like — that's when I really saw it, confirmed what we thought in terms of we would have a chance at this league, to be one of the better teams," Taylor said.

The Broncos came back from down two scores in the second half for a girding, 24-21, rivalry win over Central Michigan on Nov. 1. 

A Tuesday win over Ohio allowed the Broncos to flex their defensive muscle as the group smothered a potent Bobcats attack at all three levels.

“I've been here for the last three years and, you know, the first two years we couldn't finish,” Hallock said that night. “We couldn't finish. And this year that's all we've done is finish. Toledo and this game, just finishing that fourth quarter and getting the job done is — it's amazing to watch.”

And after mashing Northern Illinois for nearly 400 rushing yards in a 35-19 win last week, Taylor said the offensive line might have played with the best edge and tenacity it had all year. 

Then on Tuesday night at Rynearson Stadium, with their goals and dreams 60 minutes away, Western Michigan might’ve once more started slow, but ultimately did what they’ve done most of this year: Finish on top.