Week 10: Michigan MAC Rivalry Goes to Detroit

For the first time since 2004, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan will face each other in Ford Field.

Motor City MACtion is what they’re calling it.

Before the season began, this midweek MAC game in Detroit was hoped to be a big event to open up the month of November.

CMU was looked at as a dark horse-type team, and coaches picked them as their #5 team in the preseason poll – right where they finished last year with then-rookie head coach Matt Drinkall. EMU was tabbed for seventh, behind Buffalo.

Now, EMU (4-5, 3-2 MAC) is currently sixth in the league, but that comes after a couple of losses to Toledo and Ohio knocked it way off the early first-place ladder. CMU (3-5, 1-3 MAC), with three MAC losses, is tied with UMass for 10th.

While EMU’s defense was hot from the get-go, the offense was slow to show signs of life. EMU had moments of improvement through its running backs, but the unit didn’t build off the 38-point performance it had at UMass at the beginning of the month.

Injuries have certainly played a part in the season EMU’s had, but that’s not to say EMU didn’t have a shot against the league’s top team last week. Even with quarterback Brogan McCaughey, a Yale transfer who was third on the depth chart at the start of the year, making his first start with the team in Noah Kim’s absence, took the game down to the wire.

No offensive scores through the first three quarters, McCaughey led the offense to a 98-yard touchdown drive for a short-lived 20-17 lead. That lead immediately vanished with a full-field kick return for a touchdown by DJ Jones-Hamilton, the league’s top returner (33.7 return avg., 2 TD).

McCaughey, again, led EMU 49 yards downfield to get to Ohio’s 4-yard line. Credit to the Bobcats defense for getting the best of EMU’s offense on the final four-play series as time expired, and ghost credit, I suppose, EMU’s offense for almost getting the job done.

Another close one in the books. Another reason to look back and say “boy, they were right there, too.” In the Creighton era, EMU is 31-37 in one-score games (1-2 this year; 3-3 last year).

With five MAC losses in nine combined league games between the two teams, this isn’t exactly the poster midweek game everybody was hoping to see at this point in the schedule.

Still, mathematically, EMU isn’t quite out of the MAC race. Some dominoes would have to fall in its favor (Western Michigan’s 20-10 win over Bowling Green today doesn’t exactly help the cause), and EMU’s going to have to be perfect in this final stretch of the schedule. After the Motor City MACtion game, EMU heads to Kalamazoo after a 12-day break, then finishes the season at home with Kent State (victims of Sacramento State’s first win in its FBS era). If EMU can muster up victories over CMU and WMU, it’d be the program’s first Michigan MAC trophy claim since 2022, and second of the Creighton era.

CMU had an impressive turnaround season last year (4 wins in 2024 to 7 in 2025), but now it’s having a different type of turnaround season (currently: 3 wins).

But, like EMU, CMU isn’t without some close calls.

Two weeks ago, CMU lost 21-14 at home to WMU, but that came with a failed Hail Mary pass at the end of the game, after CMU recovered an onside kick in the final minute. Last week, CMU lost by one at home to Miami in another late-game thriller.

How’s this one going to go?

Will this one see some late-game lead exchanges like both teams have played through recently?

Heck, who’s going to suit up for this one?

CMU’s gone through a quarterback change after Angel Flores, currently the MAC’s #2 total rusher, is reportedly done for the year. Defensive end Xavier White, the Chippewas’ leading tackler up to last week, tore his ACL against Miami and is done for the season. Before the season, wide receiver Tommy McIntosh was wiped from action with an injury of his own.

And Langston Lewis, the team’s best target, is suspended from the team following his arrest for an Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) charge. With 24 receptions for 379 yards (2 TD), he’s the only Chippewa player to have at least 100 receiving yards this year.

Last week against Miami, Lewis had a career day: 10 catches, 163 yards, and a touchdown.

EMU didn’t exactly start the year totally healthy (especially at offensive line), and the roster is certainly more bruised-up now in November than it was in late August to begin the year.

The injury bug made its way through the offensive line to the wide receivers (Nick Devereaux missed 4 games, returned last game), linebackers (Barry Manning for season, Zach Mowchan limited), and defensive backs, nibbled at the running backs some (Braydon Bennett: 7 snaps played last week), and forced EMU to make a change at quarterback last week.

Could Kim come back to action against CMU? Or will it put the offense in the hands of McCaughey again?

If Kim’s a no-go, Creighton was pleased with McCaughey’s performance as a first-time starter with the team (27-39 passing, 197 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), and hopefully, in a twisted way, there can be confidence built for how the final sequence almost went in EMU’s favor, despite not scoring any touchdowns in its first 10 times with the football against Ohio’s defense (2 field goals, 1 interception, 7 punts).

The defense, again, hasn’t been the reason for EMU’s struggles this season.

Though, trying to figure out what CMU might throw EMU’s way might be a mystery. But things might just be as much a mystery to CMU’s own selves as it is to EMU’s D.

CMU already made a major shift in not running the ball as much last week, especially with quarterback Jadyn Glasser, immediately after Flores’ injury news, and now it’s going to have to reconsider some things about its passing attack with the Lewis news.

One note on the defense that I want to leave you with: How about the past couple of weeks Bryce Eliuk has had on defense? In the fourth quarter against Toledo, the homegrown linebacker punched out a fumble from one of the Rocket running backs to put the team’s offense out on the field in scoring territory.

That was enough to earn the #0 jersey honors for the Ohio game, but then he did it again.

On special teams this time, Eliuk punched another fumble against Ohio returnman DJ James-Hamilton, and got EMU’s offense back on the field on the 32-yard line (Quincy Byas recovery).

EMU’s offense, though, didn’t get in the end zone and only scored with a Rudy Kessinger field goal (31 yards).

Eliuk has gotten more playing time with Mowchan’s limited availability (33 tackles, 11 solo, 2.5 TFL), and has added to the team’s takeaway totals the past couple of games (11 total). The way the season has worn on both of these teams, whoever wins is going to have to do so with its depth. EMU’s defense got off to a strong start with a tight rotation of starters against Sac State, and now the depth of its defense is keeping most of its MAC games (minus the Toledo debacle) within arm’s reach.