On Wednesday, the Mid Atlantic Conference will take center stage as the Western Michigan Broncos host the Central Michigan Chippewas. The Broncos are hoping to keep pace with the top teams in the MAC-West division by winning this week over Central Michigan. The Chippewas are hoping to get above .500 in the MAC and on the season. Kickoff inside Waldo Stadium is at 8pm ET.
The Western Michigan Broncos have won 6 out of the last 7 games against Central Michigan, including 3 straight.
The Chippewas (4-4, 2-2 MAC) have lost 3 out of their last 5 games, but are coming off a huge victory over Ball State 56-9. Central Michigan is 2-2 in the MAC and is on the cusp of being bowl eligible. A win over Western Michigan would be huge for their season. Can the Chippewas pull off the upset?
Western Michigan (5-3, 3-1 MAC) is coming off a hard fought victory over Eastern Michigan. The Broncos needed to go into overtime before they could win the game 20-17. WMU rebounded nicely after a surprising loss to Akron two weeks ago. This week, the Broncos can move to 4-1 in the MAC conference and keep pace with Toledo and NIU in their division.
The spread opened at -6 for the Broncos, but it has gone up to -7 points.
Western Michigan is 3-1 at home and 3-1 in the MAC. The Broncos are led by their high scoring offense that averages 36.8 ppg. In conference play, the Broncos are averaging just under 40 points per game and they’re led by an explosive running attack that averages 235 rushing yards per game. Jarvion Franklin leads the Broncos with 642 rushing yards and 7 rushing touchdowns, but there are two more running backs that add to this devastating trio of rushers.
Central Michigan gives up 192 rushing yards per game and they will definitely be tested this week. In fact, this is the key matchup for the game. Will CMU be able to contain the WMU run game or will the Broncos run wild on the Chippewas? I believe it will be the latter.
Western Michigan’s 3 losses have come to 2 ranked teams (USC and Michigan State) and then MAC East division leader Akron. All 3 games were very competitive, but WMU just couldn’t pull out the wins. This week, they have an average MAC team as an opponent and I expect WMU to roll over the Chippewas.
Both defenses give up 27 ppg, but WMU has played far better competition than CMU. Additionally, CMU only averages 25.8 ppg, which is 11 ppg less than WMU who did that against tougher competition. Both defenses give up right around 386 total yards per game, but WMU tends to be weaker against the pass. This is the one area that CMU has a chance to put up some points and yards as they do average 254.4 yards per game through the air. Quarterback Shane Morris has nearly 2,000 passing yards on the season and 16 touchdowns. However, he does have 11 interceptions which will hurt him this week against an aggressive WMU secondary.
Central Michigan is 5-13 ATS in their last 18 games, 3-6 ATS in their last 9 road games and 2-4 ATS when playing WMU. The Broncos are 10-1 SU in home games.
I expect the WMU rushing attack to win this game. They will dominate the early downs, making passing situations more manageable for Jon Wassink who is only averaging 181 passing yards on the season. But, he does a great job at managing the games as he only has 4 interceptions compared to 14 passing touchdowns. I expect him to get at least one passing TD this week, but it will be Franklin and the running crew that will win this game for the Broncos.
Defensively, I expect both teams to struggle at times. But, it’s hard to go against WMU at home when they have won 10 out of their last 11 home games. Additionally, they have owned this series over the last 7 years and I expect that to continue this week. Look for WMU to win 31-21.