Central Michigan University Athletics

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – For three quarters, Central Michigan's offense met the challenge: Beat us through the air.

In the final 15 minutes, everything changed. And it spelled doom for the Chippewas in their 24-21 loss at rival Western Michigan on Saturday.

CMU led, 21-14, after scoring a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.

But the final 15 minutes belonged to the Broncos, who turned up the heat on defense and put the Chippewas on their heels.

The Broncos went 48 yards in 10 plays and got a field goal to cut CMU's lead to 21-17. Though they still trailed, the Broncos seized momentum with that scoring drive. On the drive, the Chippewas committed two critical penalties: a holding on third-and-6, giving the Broncos a first down; and a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct flag that gave the Broncos a first down at their own 49.

Then things got even worse for the Chippewas, who went three-and-out on their next possession and punted. The Broncos took over at their own 30, and promptly went 70 yards in 11 plays for the game-winning touchdown with 2:08 to play.

The TD pass came on fourth-and-5 from the CMU 7-yard line, and it came after the Broncos had called a timeout. Quarterback Broc Lowry rolled to his right and found Tailique Williams streaking across the back of the end zone, one step ahead of linebacker Joe Kwiatkowski.

When the dust settled, the Broncos had run 25 plays for 118 yards in the fourth quarter, while the Chippewas ran five for 40 yards – with just one first down -- over the same span. A major contributor to CMU's demise was 35 yards in penalties.

"A lot of emotions going on, but you know, it's football," said Kwiatkowski, a senior captain who has regularly stepped up as a team spokesman throughout the season. "It's a winner-take-all outcome. You know, a lot to learn from it. You've got to keep your pride up and I'm going to just keep the guys going."

QB Debut

Quarterback Marcus Beamon made his CMU debut, subbing for injured Angel Flores.

Beamon's first pass as a Chippewa went for a 33-yard touchdown to Tyson Davis on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving CMU a 21-14 lead. The play came on third-and-10.

Beamon, a junior who transferred to CMU from Butte (Calif.) College, carried nine times for 20 yards.

Beamon took the role that had normally been filled by Flores, who sat out the second half of last week's 38-13 win over Massachusetts with an injury.

Flores is the Chippewas' leading rusher with 519 yards on the season (5.0 yards per carry).

"The reality is we've got to be able to execute the things we call, and our kids did a pretty good job of that," Drinkall said. "For you to continue to have success late in the year, you've got to be healthy and you've got to have some depth."

Drinkall said that the plan throughout the year was to play Beamon at some point later in the season; injuries to Flores and to Jadyn Glasser expedited that plan.

"That was kind of the plan, to keep Marcus on the shelf and get him ready to go the whole year," Drinkall said. "He did a tremendous job today, especially under the circumstances against a very, very good defense in a hostile environment."

Run Game Stalls

The Chippewas entered the game second in the MAC with 201.6 rushing yards per game.

They finished with 55 – their second lowest total of the year – against a Bronco defense that came in ranked second in the league against the run.

"They're an aggressive group," Drinkall said. "I mean, those guys were flying downhill to the ball, and I think their plan was … force us to throw it to beat (them)."

Quarterbacks Joe Labas and Beamon combined to complete nine of 12 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns.

Labas was intercepted in the fourth quarter, ending the Chippewas' final possession. It was just the second interception of the season by a CMU opponent. The last came at Michigan on Sept. 13, a six-game stretch.

Trends

The Chippewas lost for the first time this season after leading at halftime. They were up, 14-7, against the Broncos at the break. They are now 5-1 on the year when leading at the break.

Crowd

The game was played before 29,299 at WMU's Waldo Stadium. It was the largest crowd in the stadium since a Western-Michigan State game in 2015.

Where They Stand

CMU is 3-2 in MAC play with three games remaining. The Chippewas will most certainly have to win those final three games – against Buffalo, Kent State and Toledo – to have any hope of making the MAC Championship Game, which is Dec. 6 at Ford Field in Detroit.

The top two teams in the standings will play in that title game.

As it stands, the Chippewas are fifth in the 13-team league.

Miami (Ohio) is first at 4-0, followed by Buffalo and Western Michigan, both of which are 4-1, and Ohio, which is 3-1. Even if the Chippewas win their remaining three games, their chances of making it to the championship game hinge on teams above them in the standings losing.

CMU plays host to Buffalo on Nov. 12. The Bulls won at Bowling Green, 28-3, on Saturday. Their lone MAC loss came at Akron, 24-16, on Oct. 25.

Bowl Eligibility

The Chippewas, 5-4 overall, need one more win to become bowl eligible. Their last bowl appearance came in 2021, when they defeated Washington State, 24-21, in the Sun Bowl.

Emotions

Saturday's game marked the first for Drinkall in the CMU-WMU rivalry. He said after the game that, despite the loss, he saw plenty of encouraging signs.

"In an environment like this and battle back and forth in a rivalry and emotional game like this, pretty impressive to watch those guys," he said.

"I can't tell you how proud I am of these guys. I love this team so much and it is so fun to watch them play football. Like that environment we were in, like at the very end, you're talking to kids on the sideline and you're like, Where else would you rather be? Even though it didn't go our way.

"I like the fact that our guys want to be in these situations and thrive, just continuously want to compete. It's really, really cool and inspiring to be around these guys."

The Trophy, the Series

The Chippewas had to leave the Victory Cannon Trophy in Kalamazoo after holding it for the calendar year following last season's 16-14 win in Mount Pleasant.

With a win over Eastern Michigan in the season finale, the Broncos can claim the Michigan MAC Trophy for the third consecutive year. The trophy goes to the team with the best record against its in-state MAC brethren. If all three teams finish 1-1 against each other, the team that last won the trophy retains it.

The Broncos went 2-0 against CMU and EMU in 2023 and in 2024, all three teams finished 1-1 in the series. CMU last won the trophy in 2021.

Western's win was its sixth in the last eight meetings with the Chippewas and the Broncos lead the all-time series, 54-40-2. The Broncos are 29-17-1 against CMU in games played in Kalamazoo.

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