Western Michigan football just crashed the Mid-American Conference party in the loudest way possible, flipping preseason expectations on their head and walking out of Detroit as MAC champions.
On Saturday at Ford Field, Lance Taylor’s Broncos beat Miami (Ohio) 23–13 to claim the 2025 MAC title, capping one of the league’s most surprising turnarounds of the year.
From Picked Seventh to MAC Kings
Back in July, MAC coaches didn’t exactly see this coming.
In the preseason coaches’ poll, Western Michigan was picked
7th in the conference, well behind favorites Toledo, Miami and Ohio.
Instead, by the time the dust settled on the regular season:
- Western Michigan finished
8–4 overall and 7–1 in the MAC, the best conference mark in the league.
- The Broncos took the
MAC regular-season title, locking up first place with a
31–21 win over Eastern Michigan in the finale.
- That victory not only secured the division but also punched their ticket to Detroit and the conference championship game.
For a program that was 6–6 just a year earlier and still rebuilding under Taylor, this run wasn’t supposed to arrive this fast.
How Western Michigan Turned the Season Around
The Broncos’ 2025 story almost died in September.
They started
0–3, dropping nonconference games at Michigan State (23–6), at No. 9 Illinois (38–0) and a gut-punch
30–33 overtime loss to North Texas at home.
Then everything flipped once MAC play began:
- They opened league play by
upsetting Toledo 14–13 in Kalamazoo.
- A blowout of FCS No. 6 Rhode Island (47–14) steadied the offense.
- The defense dominated Ball State in a
42–0 shutout.
- A road win at UMass (21–3) kept momentum rolling.
Their one MAC stumble came on October 25 in Oxford, where they
lost 26–17 at Miami (Ohio).
That result would set the stage for a high-stakes rematch in Detroit.
Western Michigan then ripped off a defining stretch:
-
Beat rival Central Michigan 24–21 in Kalamazoo to keep control of the Michigan MAC Trophy.
-
Edged Ohio 17–13 in a tight, physical game in Waldo Stadium to stay atop the standings.
- Won at Northern Illinois 35–19, then closed the regular season with that
31–21 victory at Eastern Michigan, scoring 28 points off four turnovers.
By the time they walked into Ford Field, this team wasn’t a Cinderella — it was the MAC’s most battle-tested roster.
The MAC Championship: Revenge Served in Detroit
In the title game, Western Michigan finally got its shot at payback.
The Broncos faced
Miami (Ohio) again, this time on a neutral field, and walked away with a
23–13 win and the MAC Championship trophy.
The Detroit Free Press captured the scene as
players and coaches swarmed the field, celebrating around coach Lance Taylor after the final whistle.
It was Western Michigan’s first MAC title since the 2016 dream season, when P.J. Fleck’s Broncos went undefeated in the regular season and reached the Cotton Bowl.
This time, the formula was different: less flash, more grit.
- The defense held Miami to just
13 points.
- The offense did enough, continuing the identity it had built all year as a physical, run-first group.
Official stat details from the title game are still being compiled, but the storyline is clear:
the team that started 0–3 finished as MAC champion and 9–4 overall (8–4 before the game, plus the championship win).
The Broc Lowry Effect: A Dual-Threat Breakout
If there’s a face of this Western Michigan surge, it’s
quarterback Broc Lowry.
Lowry didn’t put up massive passing stats, but he became one of the MAC’s most dangerous
dual-threat quarterbacks:
- He finished the regular season with
1,572 passing yards, 7 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
- On the ground, he was a force:
174 rushes for 875 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns.
In the regular-season finale at Eastern Michigan, Lowry again led the way while the Broncos
turned four EMU turnovers into 28 points in a 31–21 win that sealed the division and a MAC title game berth.
The offense didn’t need to be explosive through the air when Lowry and the run game controlled the tempo — and the defense took the ball away.
Defense, Turnovers and the EMU Win That Changed Everything
The win at Eastern Michigan on November 25 was basically the dress rehearsal for Detroit.
Western Michigan:
- Forced
four turnovers.
- Turned those into
28 points, including big contributions from skill players like Tailique Williams, who also saw touches in the ground game in that stretch.
- Pulled away with 17 second-quarter points and never fully relinquished control.
That performance showed exactly how this team wins:
-
Opportunistic defense-
Efficient, physical offense built around the run
- Just enough passing from Lowry to keep defenses honest
It also wrapped up a
7–1 conference record — best in the MAC.
How 2025 Fits in Western Michigan’s Bigger Story
For long-time Bronco fans, this season echoes one very specific memory:
2016.
That year, Western Michigan went
13–1, won the MAC, and reached the Cotton Bowl, finishing in the top 15 of the AP and Coaches polls.
The program’s path since then has been bumpy:
- Post-2016 under P.J. Fleck’s departure, the Broncos settled into a run of
solid but unspectacular seasons under Tim Lester, including a Quick Lane Bowl win over Nevada in 2021.
- In 2022, the team slipped to
5–7, and Lester was fired.
- Enter
Lance Taylor, who went
6–6 in 2024, sneaking into bowl eligibility and retaining the Michigan MAC Trophy.
The 2025 MAC title, in Taylor’s
third year, signals something more than just a hot season. It looks like
a reset of the program’s ceiling — back to competing for conference championships.
What’s Next: Bowl Game and Rising Expectations
As MAC champion, Western Michigan is now headed to a bowl game, with the opponent and destination still to be finalized as the postseason picture sorts itself out.
A few big takeaways going forward:
-
Lance Taylor’s stock is rising: A coach picked to finish near the bottom of the MAC just won the league in Year 3. Power Five programs will notice.
-
The Broncos’ identity is clear: Tough defense, turnover creation, and a dual-threat quarterback who can control games on the ground.
-
Recruiting momentum: A surprise title run, plus playing (and winning) in an NFL stadium on ESPN, is the kind of exposure that can shift recruiting battles in the Midwest.
If 2016 was the proof that Western Michigan
could reach national relevance, 2025 is the reminder that
Kalamazoo is still a place where MAC titles are very much on the table.
Sources
1. Western Michigan football celebrates 2025 MAC championship game title
2. Kent State Wins OT Thriller Over Akron, Western Michigan Tops ...
3. Western Michigan Broncos News - College Football - FOX Sports
4. Football
5. Western Michigan Broncos News, Scores and Stats 2025-26
6. Game summaries
7. 2025 Western Michigan Broncos Football Schedule and Scores
8. 2025 MAC Football Kickoff: Western Michigan Broncos
9. Teams
10. 2024 Western Michigan Broncos football team - Wikipedia
