Central Michigan–Eastern Michigan Football Rivalry
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The Central Michigan–Eastern Michigan football rivalry is an annual
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
game between
Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a Public university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...
(CMU) and
Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...
(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 collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...
(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 2024, CMU has won 19 games to 13 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 college town and city located on the Huron River in Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's popu ...
. 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'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...
'' 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. 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. At the time, the ''
Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...
'' 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, ...
, 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 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, 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), the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League (UFL), the Mid-Americ ...
in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
. 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 created the Michigan MAC Trophy awarded annually to the team with the best head-to-head record among Michigan's three
Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...
programs – Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Western Michigan University. 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 was fired. During pregame warmups, Central's coach Butch Jones 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 professional 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 sec ...
' 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 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


See also

*
List of NCAA college football rivalry games This is a list of List of sports rivalries, rivalry games in college football. The list also shows any trophy awarded to the winner of the rivalry between the teams. NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision ...
*
List of most-played college football series in NCAA Division I This is a list of the most-played college football College rivalry, series in NCAA Division I. The The Rivalry (Lafayette–Lehigh), Lafayette–Lehigh rivalry, known as "The Rivalry," is the most-played in Division I at 159 games. Lehigh and Lafa ...
* Michigan MAC Trophy


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Central Michigan-Eastern Michigan football rivalry College football rivalries in the United States Central Michigan Chippewas football Eastern Michigan Eagles football 1902 establishments in Michigan