2026 MAC Football Week 1 Game Preview: Western Michigan Broncos at Michigan Wolverines

Setting the scene

There are easier ways to celebrate a championship than driving two hours east and walking into the largest stadium in college football.

But Western Michigan is not coming to Ann Arbor simply to admire the architecture.

The defending Mid-American Conference champions open the 2026 season against No. 16 Michigan on Saturday night, bringing with them a league title, a dangerous dual-threat quarterback and enough returning offensive production to make the Wolverines pay attention.

Western Michigan finished 10-4 last season, winning 10 of its final 11 games after an 0-3 start. The Broncos captured their first MAC championship since 2016 and closed the season with a 41-6 win over Kennesaw State in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.

That finish earned Western Michigan the top spot in the MAC preseason coaches poll, narrowly ahead of Miami Ohio. The Broncos received nine first-place votes and 138 total points, a clear indication that last season’s breakthrough is expected to be more than a one-year celebration.

Michigan, meanwhile, is beginning something new.

Kyle Whittingham will coach his first game in maize and blue after 21 seasons at Utah, bringing a 177-88 career record and a reputation for building teams that are physical, disciplined and particularly unpleasant to play against.

His first opponent arrives already fluent in all three.

Game notes

• Time and date: Saturday, September 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET
• Network: NBC / Peacock
• Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Spread: Michigan (-27.5)
• Over/under: 49.5
• All-time series: Michigan leads, 8-0
• Last meeting: Michigan 47, Western Michigan 14 — September 4, 2021
• Current series streak: Michigan, 8 (1917-2021)

Western Michigan Broncos outlook

The betting line may suggest a traditional Big Ten warm-up game, but Western Michigan is considerably more accomplished than the average September visitor.

The Broncos return 35 offensive touchdowns from last season, the most in the MAC and 85.4 percent of their total scoring production. That percentage ranks among the best in the country.

Most of it comes from the backfield.

Quarterback Broc Lowry returns after being named the 2025 MAC Offensive Player of the Year. Once Lowry took over as the starter last season, Western Michigan went 10-1. He finished with 1,803 passing yards, 963 rushing yards, and 23 total touchdowns, including 14 on the ground.

Lowry was named to the Maxwell, Walter Camp, and Davey O’Brien Award watch lists this preseason. But the most important thing he gives the Broncos can’t be found on a watch list. He gives them an identity.

Western Michigan wants to run the football, control the clock and make opposing defenses account for every player in the backfield. Lowry is the piece that turns a conventional rushing attack into a math problem.

He is joined by veteran running back Jalen Buckley, who rushed for more than 900 yards and scored nine touchdowns last season. Senior Lolo Mataele adds another experienced option after contributing three rushing scores of his own.

Together, Lowry, Buckley, and Mataele account for 26 returning rushing touchdowns. Michigan can expect to see all three tested early, particularly while a reworked Wolverines defense settles into its new system.

Michigan Wolverines outlook

Whittingham may be new to Ann Arbor, but Michigan’s most important offensive pieces are not.

Sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood returns after starting all 13 games as a freshman. He passed for 2,428 yards and 11 touchdowns while adding six more scores on the ground, showing enough flashes of his enormous potential to become the first sophomore captain in program history.

Underwood now gets an offense coordinated by Jason Beck, who followed Whittingham from Utah. Beck’s offenses finished among the top five nationally in both rushing and total offense in each of the past two seasons.

That combination should make for one of the most interesting quarterback developments in college football this fall. Underwood spent last season learning how to play the position at the college level. This season begins with the question of how quickly Michigan can turn his talent into a consistently explosive offense.

The Wolverines have help around him.

Running back Jordan Marshall rushed for 932 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. Wide receiver Andrew Marsh set a Michigan freshman record with 651 receiving yards and returns as Underwood’s top target.

Michigan also brings back significant experience along the offensive line, including Blake Frazier, Evan Link, Jake Guarnera, and Andrew Sprague. That group helped the Wolverines average 210.2 rushing yards per game last season, good for 14th nationally.

Against a Western Michigan defense replacing much of its front seven, the Wolverines should have an opportunity to establish their preferred personality quickly: big bodies, downhill runs and just enough space for Underwood to turn structure into something spectacular.

Prediction

Western Michigan cannot allow this game to become a track meet.

The Broncos’ best path is to shorten the night. That means sustained drives, manageable third downs and Lowry forcing Michigan’s defense to defend both his arm and his legs.

WMU also needs its experienced secondary to hold up against Marsh and Michigan’s revamped receiving corps. Cornerbacks Jarvarius Sims and Joshua Franklin combined for 24 starts last season. Franklin led the team with 10 pass breakups, while Sims finished fourth on the roster with 64 tackles.

That experience matters, especially in an environment designed to make communication difficult.

But the larger challenge will be keeping Michigan’s defensive front out of the backfield. The Wolverines return defensive tackle Trey Pierce and defensive backs Zeke Berry and Jyaire Hill, then added several experienced transfers familiar with Whittingham’s system.

If Michigan consistently forces Lowry into obvious passing situations, Western Michigan’s upset formula becomes considerably harder to solve.

Michigan has never lost to Western Michigan. It owns a 37-1 all-time record against MAC opponents and has won 11 of its last 12 night games.

History is firmly on the Wolverines’ side.

But this is not merely a ceremonial opening night for the Broncos. Western Michigan enters the Big House as a reigning champion with one of the most productive returning quarterbacks in the country and a roster that already knows how to recover when a season gets difficult.

The Broncos do not need to prove they belong among the favorites in the MAC. They earned that distinction last December.

Saturday night is about discovering how far that championship confidence can travel, and whether it can survive under the lights in front of more than 100,000 people.

Michigan should ultimately have too much depth, too much size and too many ways to create explosive plays. But if the Wolverines treat the defending MAC champions like an opening act, Lowry is talented enough to make the first half considerably more interesting than anyone in Ann Arbor would prefer.

Prediction: Michigan 31, Western Michigan 13