Just three and a half minutes into Wednesday's rivalry showdown Western Michigan was behind, 14-0.
It wasn't the start the Broncos had envisioned, but they regrouped and beat Central Michigan 52-44 on Wednesday.
"When you have an explosive team all you need is a little momentum," 4th year WMU head coach Tim Lester said. "You look at last week, once we got it, we were able to keep it and hold it and when you have an explosive team that is one of the benefits is you are never out of it."
The league leader in explosion in senior receiver D'Wayne Eskridge who averaged 53 yards per reception on four grabs which included scoring catches of 33, 72 and 85 yards.
"Me and Kaleb have a great connection," Eskridge said. "He trusts me and I trust him so I felt like once it came down to getting what they give us we are going to take advantage of that every time."
Sophomore quarterback Kaleb Eleby accounted for six touchdowns, five through the air and helped improve the nations number one scoring offense to over 50 points per game this season.
"He's hungry, wants to get better and we will continue to work with him and I just like his leadership abilities," Lester said. "He's so great in the huddle, talking to people, laughing, joking, keeping everybody calm, challenging people."
For the Chippewas it was a tough loss.
Kalil Pimpleton was one of CMU's few bright spots running for 108 yards and three touchdowns.
After the game, KP used some wisdom gained from his days playing for Shane Farfield at Muskegon.
"One thing that my high school coach harped on a lot is the 24-hour rule whether you won or lost," Pimpleton said. "That game is the past and you got another game you got another week to play and that is a blessing. I would say 24-hour rule, get in the film room, get the stuff corrected and we got Eastern Michigan next week."
The Chips will head to Ypsilanti the day after Thanksgiving
Western now sits alone in first place in the MAC West with wins over contenders Toledo and CMU.
"Obviously we are in a good position but the next two teams we play beat us last year," Lester said. "Northern beat us and Eastern beat us so in the MAC West we have got to be ready but it definitely put us in a great position moving forward."
WMU plays Saturday at noon for the first time this season on November 28th at home against Northern Illinois.
