The Central Michigan–Eastern Michigan football rivalry is an annual

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

game between

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

(CMU) and

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

(EMU). The football series between the two universities dates back to 1902 and is the oldest rivalry in the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

(MAC), having begun five years before the Central Michigan–Western Michigan rivalry and six years before the Miami–Ohio rivalry. With 100 games having been played, it is also the most frequently-played series between MAC schools. Michigan State Normal, as EMU was then known, dominated the series in the first 25 meetings, compiling a record of 14–8–3 from 1902 to 1936. The tide then shifted to CMU which compiled a 37–5–3 from 1937 to 1992. From 1993 to 2022, CMU has won 18 games to 12 for EMU.

History

Early years: 1902–1939

The first game in the rivalry series was played on November 1, 1902, at

Ypsilanti, Michigan Ypsilanti (), commonly shortened to Ypsi, is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 20,648. The city is bounded to the north by Superior Township and on the west, south, and ...

. Central Michigan, under coach Charles Tambling, won the game by a 10–0 score. Eastern Michigan, then known as the Michigan State Normal School, achieved its first victory in the series on November 16, 1907. The Ypsilanti team won the game by a score of 38–0. The game was played starting at 9:30 a.m. to allow both teams to attend the Michigan–Michigan Agricultural football game in Ann Arbor. On October 20, 1917, Michigan State Normal defeated Central by a score of 63 to 0 – the largest margin of victory by either school in the rivalry's long history. The ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'' reported: "Mt. Pleasant failed to make a first down and gained only about 15 yards in the entire game, their team being light and lacking experience." From 1925 to 1930, Michigan State Normal compiled a 40–4–2 record under head coach

Elton Rynearson Elton James Rynearson Sr. (April 7, 1893 – February 8, 1967) was an American athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator. He was affiliated with Eastern Michigan University (known as Michigan State Normal College prior to 1956) for most ...

. Rynearson's teams won five consecutive games against Central during this period, outscoring Central by a total of 119 to 0. Michigan State Normal dominated the series in the first 25 meetings, compiling a record of 14–8–3 from 1902 to 1936.

Middle years: 1937–1992

From 1937 to 1992, the tide shifted heavily in Central Michigan's favor. During that period, Central compiled 37–5–3 record against Eastern Michigan. In November 1963, the teams terminated the rivalry due to Eastern Michigan's affiliation with the

Presidents' Athletic Conference The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 11 current member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, nine are located in Western Pennsylvania. T ...

. At the time, the ''

'' called it an "honored . . . rivalry" and "one of Michigan's all-time great collegiate football series." Central Michigan won the 1963 game by a 55–20, leading the UPI to report: "A rivalry that began in 1902 ended somewhat inauspiciously . . ." After the longest break in the rivalry's history, lasting from 1964 to 1971, the teams met in October 1972 at the new Perry Shorts Stadium in Mount Pleasant. The 1972 match was also the 50th gridiron game between the two schools. Eastern defeated Central, 28–3, as Houston Booth threw three touchdown passes and George Duranko had a 100-yard interception return. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, Central Michigan won the NCAA Division II championship and defeated Eastern by a score of 28–13. In

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, Central Michigan won the

Mid-America Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

championship, compiled an undefeated record, and defeated Eastern by a 37–14 score.

Modern era: 1993–present

From 1993 to 2017, the rivalry again became competitive. During that time, Central Michigan won 15 games to 10 for Eastern Michigan. Central Michigan coach Brian Kelly noted in 2005: "I think the rivalry's when two teams are very competitive. It wasn't much of a rivalry because I think Central had beaten Eastern for a number of years. Now Eastern obviously holds the upper hand . . . It creates a real rivalry situation . . . " In 1995,

Charlie Batch Charles D'Donte Batch (born December 5, 1974) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft and played 15 seasons in th ...

, who went on to play in the NFL from 1998 to 2012, ran for three touchdowns and passed for 385 yards to lead Eastern Michigan to a 34-24 victory over Central Michigan. In 1996, Central Michigan came back from a 27-10 deficit in the second half to win by a 41-36 score. CMU receiver set a school record with 14 receptions for 241 yards. In 1997, Charlie Batch, playing in his final year of college football, threw three touchdown passes and ran for the winning touchdown as Eastern Michigan defeated Central Michigan, 31-24. In 2002, Central Michigan's Robbie Mixon broke the MAC single-game record with 377 rushing yards in a 47-21 victory over Eastern Michigan. In 2004, the teams played at

Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), as well as the annual Quick Lane Bowl college football bowl game, state champ ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. In the highest scoring game in the rivalry's history, Eastern Michigan defeated Brian Kelly's Central team by a 61–58 score in five-hour, quadruple overtime game. In 2005, the

Michigan Sports Hall of Fame The Michigan Sports Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame to honor Michigan sports athletes, coaches and contributors. It was organized in 1954 by Michigan Lieutenant Governor Philip Hart, Michigan State University athletic director Biggie Munn, presid ...

created the

Michigan MAC Trophy The Michigan MAC Trophy is given to the Mid-American Conference (MAC) university from Michigan – Central Michigan University (CMU), Eastern Michigan University (EMU) and Western Michigan University (WMU) – which has the best head-to-head rec ...

awarded annually to the team with the best head-to-head record among Michigan's three

programs – Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

. Since its inception, Central Michigan has won the Michigan MAC Trophy five times, and Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan have each won it four times. Days before the 2008 game, Eastern Michigan's head coach

Jeff Genyk Jeff Genyk ( ; born August 22, 1960) is an American football coach and former player. He most recently served as the special teams coordinator for Northwestern. Genyk served as the head football coach at Eastern Michigan University from 2004 to 2 ...

was fired. During pregame warmups, Central's coach

Butch Jones Lyle Allen "Butch" Jones Jr. (born January 17, 1968) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach at Arkansas State University. Jones previously served as a special assistant to the head coach and offensive analyst at the Univ ...

approached one of the Eastern coaches to say "'I know you guys are out of a job and I'm not going to help you' with a few expletives thrown in there." Jones' comments inspired the Eastern players who scored 42 points in the first half and won the game by a 56–52 score. Eastern's quarterback Andy Schmitt also broke

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is the NFL leader in ...

' NCAA Division I-A record with 58 pass completions in the game. Genyk credited his team's performance to "the emotion of the rivalry." In 2011, Ryan Radcliff led Central to two touchdowns and a two-point conversion in the last five-and-a-half minutes to tie the score at 28–28. Eastern Michigan then scored a touchdown with 37 seconds remaining to secure the win. After the game, Eastern coach

Ron English Ron English (born June 6, 1959) is an American contemporary artist who explores brand imagery, street art, and advertising. Career English has produced images on the street, in museums, in movies, books and television. He coined the term POPa ...

said: "The one thing about rivalry games is you have to be able to win them in the end. There are tremendous highs and tremendous lows, but what happens is both sides usually keep playing because it means so much to everybody."

Game results

References