Walking out of Waldo Stadium last Saturday following the 31-15 loss to its rival Western Michigan, Central Michigan did so in a hurry and without a word.

The Chippewas were disappointed. Coach Jim McElwain said that he knew his team needed to improve.

A matchup with Eastern Michigan awaits McElwain and company.

"I'm very disappointed," McElwain said after the loss in Kalamazoo. "Now we've got to come back next week and get ready for a home game against another in-state opponent. We have to get better."

Central fell to 2-3 and 1-1 in Mid-American Conference play with the loss despite outgaining WMU in total yards, 437-432.

The key factor in the loss was the visitors were not able to finish drives when they needed to. On three occasions, CMU failed to convert on fourth down, all of which were in WMU territory. The last one, however, was downed as the clock expired.

Turnovers were also costly as CMU had three — a fumble from running back Kobe Lewis and two interceptions from quarterback David Moore.

EMU coach Chris Creighton said that facing Central Michigan is always a challenge on both sides of the ball.

"They have a very good defense built from the inside out," Creighton said. "CMU has always been good on both lines, they continue to be that on the offense. They've got all of the pieces and they've put it together. It's going to be a huge challenge for us."

Eastern comes into town as a tough team to tangle with as the Chippewas hit the halfway point of their 12-game schedule.

The Eagles sit at 3-1 and have yet to play a league game this season. EMU's lone loss came on the road against Kentucky in Week 2, 38-17, but it secured a 34-31 victory on the road over Illinois in the following week. The Eagles' first game at Rynearson Stadium was two weeks ago against Central Connecticut State, and the game went down to the wire.

Matthew Sexton blocked a punt with just 18 seconds to go and strolled into the end zone to secure the 34-29 win.

EMU is coming into this game off a bye week.

Typically, Eastern features a quarterback and running back tandem similar to Western Michigan's Jon Wassink and LeVante Bellamy. Mike Glass III and Shaq Vann are often the players opposing teams focus on regarding the Eagles' offense.

Glass is 103-of-150 (68.6 percent), for 1120 yards, 12 touchdowns against four interceptions. He's averaging 280 yards per game through the air and can make plays on the ground, too. He averages 24.8 yards per game with his legs.

"I'm sure what we're going to do will be effective," said junior safety Alonzo McCoy. "(Defensive coordinator Robb Akey) has a lot of tricks up his sleeve."

Running back Shaq Vann has 111 yards on 33 carries but has yet to find the end zone. He also has five catches for 27 yards. The reason for the lack of numbers – an injury.

Vann will not be in the game Saturday, however, EMU's offense still combines a lethal quarterback to running back tandem, just with Glass and junior running back Willie Parker.

One other player to watch out for are wide receiver Quian Williams. He has 16 catches for 211 yards and three touchdowns and is one of Glass' biggest threats in the passing game.

Chad Ryland is the Eagles' kicker. He is 4 for 5 on field goals with a long of 52 yards. The competitiveness of this in-state rivalry could make this game go down to the wire.

Eastern's defense also can cause the Chippewas problems during the game. Vince Calhoun comes from the safety position and plays tough week in and week out. He has 41 total tackles with 27 solo and one sack.

Kobie Beltram is another facet of the defense that presents issues. He has 34 tackles (18 solo) on the year. He's forced two fumbles and recovered one.

The Michigan MAC Trophy is also on the line for EMU. Central cannot win the trophy this year due to its loss to the Broncos last week. Should the Eagles defeat CMU this week and WMU at home in two weeks, they would take the trophy to Ypsilanti for the year.

But a CMU win guarantees that the trophy would stay in Kalamazoo no matter the outcome between EMU and WMU.

This series dates back to 1902, which CMU won the inaugural matchup, 10-0, and leads the all-time matchup 60-30-6. In the last 10 years, the Chippewas are 7-3.

EMU won the last game, 17-7, at Rynearson Stadium. Meanwhile, CMU won the last game in Kelly/Shorts Stadium with a 42-30 win in 2017.

Central Michigan (2-3, 1-1) vs. Eastern Michigan (3-1)

Time: 3 p.m.

Date: Oct. 5, 2019

Stadium: Kelly/Shorts Stadium

Location: Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Odds: EMU -6

Over/Under: 53.5

TV: ESPN+ (Chris Vosters, Marcus Ray)

Radio: 98.5 WUPS (Don Chiodo, Brock Gutierrez and Adam Jaksa)