The stakes are high for Eastern Michigan and West Michigan football

There’s no need to make big rah-rah speeches.

Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan know what’s at stake Saturday afternoon when the rivals meet in Kalamazoo for the regular-season finale. One team’s season will end and one team’s season will continue. Both teams boast 5-6 records, meaning the winner will become bowl eligible.

“It’s not a game of how to do it, because we know how to do everything,” Eastern Michigan senior defensive lineman Joey Zelinsky said. “It’s a game of desire, how bad do you want the latter?

“To me, it means the world.”

The rivals have met 59 times before, but rarely is there so much at stake.

Both teams enter the game limping to the finish line, with Eastern Michigan (2-5 Mid-American Conference) having lost four straight since its wild 38-34 win over fellow rival Central Michigan , in a game that was also on the road. Western Michigan (4-3 MAC), which not long ago controlled its own destiny in hopes of making the MAC championship game at Ford Field in Detroit, has lost three straight games.

This is one of two games this weekend between 5-6 teams, with the winner becoming bowl eligible, alongside another in-state rivalry, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

“When you play rivalry games, it’s going to be a four-quarter battle,” said Lance Taylor, second-year head coach of Western Michigan, whose Broncos were 4-8 a year ago. “It’s not going to be easy. There’s going to be hits. There’s going to be heavy punches from every team. We’re both in the same situation.

“It’s a big day for us.”

Also at stake is the Michigan MAC Trophy, which goes to the team in the state with the best head-to-head record against the other two teams. Eastern Michigan would win it outright with a win on Saturday, due to their victory over Central Michigan, while Western Michigan would keep it with a win on Saturday, as each team would be 1-1.

The Eagles won the Michigan MAC Trophy in 2022, and they missed looking at it in the showcase this season.

“We had a full trophy case for a year. It was awesome,” Eastern Michigan head coach Chris Creighton said of the Michigan MAC Trophy, one of two trophies to three teams awarded each year (with the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy). , which goes to the winner of the Army, Navy and Air Force). “Our backs are against the wall. It’s important to make sure everyone understands the issues, and that’s what they understand.”

The Eagles are attempting to make a bowl game for a sixth straight season (not counting the 2020 COVID-shortened season) and a seventh since making one in 2016. The Broncos have not played a bowl game since 2021.

There are 25 seniors who could play their final game for Western Michigan, including wide receiver Kenneth Womack, quarterback Hayden Wolff and offensive guard Addison West, who is one of seven semifinalists for the Outland Trophy, awarded to best interior lineman in the country. attack and defense. Along with junior running back Jaden Nixon, who transferred from Oklahoma State, they led what was the best offense in the MAC.

The Eagles, fairly solid on offense and defense and exceptional on special teams, have 12 seniors, including quarterback Cole Snyder, the first quarterback to start every game in a season for the Eagles since Brogan Roback in 2017 (excluding the shortened 2020 season). season), as well as Zelinsky and linebacker James Djonkam, who is coming off a game in which he recorded 22 tackles, including two for losses.

“This year, it’s just on the tip of our tongue,” said Womack, the WMU wide receiver. “Getting this game means everything to us. There’s definitely a lot on the line. It will be a point of pride.

“Who wants more? The Broncos will want more.”

The winner of Saturday’s game will learn Sunday, Dec. 8, where they’ll be heading for a bowl game, with the GameAbove Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit a possible landing spot. WMU last played there in 2021 and EMU in 2019. Eastern Michigan has made six bowls since 2016, tied with Toledo and Ohio for the most in the MAC.

Eastern Michigan and West Michigan

To start up: 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Waldo Stadium, Kalamazoo

Television/radio: ESPN+/89.1

Records: Eastern Michigan 5-6, 2-5 MAC; Western Michigan 5-6, 4-3

Double: West Michigan by 7

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