Brian Manzullo

People in Mount Pleasant and Kalamazoo simply know it as “the big game.”

It is the one time each year when Central Michigan and Western Michigan battle on turf; when maroon and gold clashes with black and gold; when students, alumni and fans gather to talk trash, drink beer and profusely root their teams toward victory.

To each football player, this game feels unlike any other. The blood pumps faster. The screams get louder. The glory of winning amplifies and the heartbreak of losing intensifies.

For everybody, these experiences are what Central/Western is all about.

“This is what I relish,” said senior left tackle Andrew Hartline. “I love playing these guys … there’s so much passion on both sides of the ball. And the games are always just phenomenal. My greatest memories are from Western games.”

But this game is no longer just a rivalry.

For the second time in three seasons, CMU and WMU enter their noon Saturday showdown as serious Mid-American Conference championship contenders. They have combined to beat seven MAC teams this season, losing to none. The West Division championship was decided through this game in each of the last two seasons.

And despite Central/Western’s location on the schedule – both teams have combined to play just one other MAC West school to date – it still could determine which team goes to the MAC Championship Game this season.

“It’s almost an afterthought of the implications in the conference because of what this rivalry is between Central and Western Michigan,” said senior quarterback Brian Brunner. “If we want to keep going in the MAC West, this is going to be a big one. If we lose, it puts us behind the eight-ball.”

THE hiller-simmons

connection

Like it did last year, Western’s offense starts with quarterback Tim Hiller. But CMU will not see the same Hiller it saw last year.

The junior is having a breakout season, leading the MAC with 2,046 passing yards and 23 touchdown passes compared to five interceptions. He directs the second-best scoring offense in the conference at 32.4 points per game, behind only Ball State.

“It’s a maturity thing,” Hiller said of his improvements. “There’s one thing you continue to work on each year and each year, there’s something you try to get better at. … You just continue to see things better and better.”

His favorite target, senior wide receiver Jamarko Simmons, also is a familiar face. Simmons was ejected early in last season’s 34-31 Central win in Kalamazoo for kicking CMU linebacker Red Keith while he was on the ground.

Now in his last season, Simmons is looking to prove himself again, leading the MAC with 584 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

“He’s a spark plug on their offense,” said CMU coach Butch Jones. “He does it all, from blocking to catching – the leadership he provides is something special.”

Despite the gaudy offense numbers, CMU’s defense also made improvements since last year’s Central/Western game.

The Chippewas (4-2, 3-0 MAC) held each of their last three opponents – Purdue, Buffalo and Temple – to less than 350 yards of total offense after doing it just twice all of last season. They also began creating turnovers last week, intercepting three passes against Temple.

“If we can make (Western) one-dimensional, that’d be great,” said sophomore linebacker Nick Bellore. “But (Hiller’s) been doing real well.”

THE DEFENSE

WMU (6-1, 4-0 MAC) enters Saturday’s game with several defensive leaders.

Junior Justin Braska has three sacks and a forced fumble, while senior safety Louis Delmas leads the team with 56 tackles and four interceptions, including one last week in Western’s 34-28 overtime win against Buffalo.

The defense, as a whole, surrenders just 19.2 points and 328.2 yards per game against conference opponents.

“It’s as good of a defense as I’ve seen in the MAC in a long time,” Jones said.

But what stands out about this unit, according to junior quarterback Dan LeFevour, is the experience.

The Broncos returned 11 starters from last year’s team. Each of their four starting defensive backs – Delmas, safety C.J. Wilson and corners Londen Fryar and E.J. Biggers – are seniors.

“They’ve played together for a long time,” LeFevour said. “That’s what makes them so good. That forms a special kind of chemistry, and it’s going to pose a challenge.”

But LeFevour, who is coming off a right ankle injury against Temple, has had success of his own against WMU. He is 2-0 against the Broncos, including a thrilling 34-31 win last season that broke a six-game losing streak for CMU at Waldo Stadium.

“Until somebody unseats him, he’s still the best player in the league,” said WMU coach Bill Cubit. “He takes the team on his shoulders. He’s a guy that they’re going to rely on because he can beat you with his arm and his legs.”

‘BIG FOR EVERYBODY’

After last year’s thriller in Kalamazoo and the implications of this year’s game, many are expecting an extraordinary atmosphere at Kelly/Shorts Stadium on Saturday.

“I can’t imagine that there’d be a better environment that I’ll have seen at Kelly/Shorts or that this stadium will see in the next 10 years,” Brunner said.

The athletics department is expecting a near-capacity crowd of 30,000 for the first time since CMU hosted WMU in 2006. Central won that game 31-7 to clinch the MAC West title.

“It’s big for alumni, it’s big for the players, it’s big for everybody,” Cubit said. “It’s bigger because of what’s at stake right now.”

Those stakes possibly include the MAC West championship, with three teams currently at 3-0 or better in the conference.

But for Western, it’s also to avoid its first three-game losing streak in the rivalry since 1989-91. For the Broncos, it’s avenging their first loss to the Chippewas at Waldo Stadium since 1993.

“They remember last year’s game,” LeFevour said. “That definitely sticks in their minds and I’m sure they’re reminded of that the whole week. We have to compete and stay mentally focused because they’ll give us their best shot.”

bmanzullo@cm-life.com

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