Football | October 03, 2018

Western Michigan Athletics will be welcoming back the 1988 MAC Championship football team this weekend, as the group celebrates the 30th anniversary of their championship season. The team will be honored at Saturday's football game against Eastern Michigan. Kickoff is at noon.

Feature special to wmubroncos.com by Paul Morgan
KALAMAZOO, Mich.- Western Michigan University football team's 1988 Mid-American Conference championship actually started on one of the first days of practice in 1987.

It was head coach Al Molde's first season and he was looking for a quarterback. Tony Kimbrough had come to WMU after completing an All-American season as the quarterback at then Grand Rapids Junior College.

''I was being recruited by Michigan State, Clemson, Kansas State, Iowa State and several others but they wanted me to either be a slot receiver or a defensive back,'' Kimbrough, now the football head coach at East Kentwood High School, said. ''Coach Molde said he would give me a shot at quarterback but he also wanted to see me at receiver.

''In the first practice of 1987, I played receiver. Coach called me into his office after practice and said, 'Forget that receiver thing … you're going to play quarterback.' ''

Kimbrough would go on to help the Broncos win their first outright MAC championship in 1988 and their first since they shared the title with Miami in 1966. Western Michigan had a 9-3 overall record.

The decision to keep Kimbrough as the quarterback was just one of the many decisions a head coach will make to help his team win a title. There also has to be team chemistry, which Kimbrough said, the 1988 had right from the start of spring practice of that year.

''After the 1987 season (5-6 overall record), I thought we were very talented across the board,'' he said. "I thought we had all the pieces to compete not only at the MAC level, but at the national level.

''We had a great summer and a great winter and everyone believed we had something special.''

Kicker John Creek, a Parchment grad who played four years at Western Michigan, heartily agreed.

''Back then, not a lot of guys stayed in Kalamazoo in the summer, but we did,'' the sales rep for Jack Pearl Team Sports in Battle Creek said. ''Allan and Bruce Boyko from Canada stayed, a lot of our offensive linemen and Tony stayed.

''And we also had a full year with our first strength coach which was huge.''

WMU had the talent, that's for sure. Kimbrough would go on to be one of the nation's top passers, throwing for 2,831 yards and 21 touchdowns. His 3,041 rushing and passing yards were the eighth best in the NCAA. He was the MAC Offensive Player of the Year.

Robert Davis rushed for 1,125 yards and Robert Oliver caught 42 passes for 831 yards. Offensive lineman Kevin Haverdink was picked as a third-team All-American by the Associated Press. Molde was the MAC Coach of the Year. Defensive lineman Joel Smeenge would go on to play 11 seasons in the NFL for New Orleans and Jacksonville.  

Then there was defensive lineman Terry Crews.

''Terry was the jokester, the guy who kept all of us loose,'' Kimbrough said. ''He was Mr. Entertainer. That was his personality. He would dance around all the time.''

So it's no surprise that Crews would go on to become an actor, artist and activist in Hollywood after playing in the NFL for the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego and Washington.

With all that going for them, the Broncos opened the 1988 season against Wisconsin.

''Early on, we showed we had the size and speed to hang with them and we played one of those games you never forget,'' Kimbrough said.
Western Michigan never trailed in scoring a shocking 24-14 victory.

''For as good as our offense was, coach Larry Edlund's defense was great,'' Creek added.

Staying on the road, the Broncos played Toledo at the old Glass Bowl, a tough place to play a league game. But WMU came away with a 31-9 victory.

More victories would come, too, against Illinois State (44-14), Bowling Green (37-10) and Miami of Ohio (41-18) before the Broncos played Kent State at Waldo Stadium.

''Kent State was the weirdest game of the year,'' the quarterback said. ''It had the perfect formula and we jumped out on them, but for the first time, their offense had our defense on its heels.''

It led to a 45-28 loss to the Golden Flashes, ''but it got us refocused for the rest of the season,'' Kimbrough said.

The 31-24 over Eastern Michigan was next and it was a big win as EMU was the defending conference champions.

''The clock on the scoreboard had quit so they were keeping time on the field,'' Creek recalls. ''We stopped their good running back on the 1-yard line as time expired.''

A win over Central Michigan (42-24) came next before the Broncos went to Ball State. It was a barnburner which WMU won, 16-13, to clinch the MAC Championship and earn the league's bid to the California Bowl to play Fresno State on the road. Against Ball State, in soggy, muddy conditions, Creek made three field goals to help seal the victory.

''I was the only player with a clean white jersey because everyone else was covered in mud,'' Creek said with a laugh.

''That Ball State game was crazy,'' Kimbrough said. ''We made enough plays and played well defensively to come out with a MAC Championship.''

Next was a loss to independent Northern Illinois (15-7) before the Broncos finished the regular season with a 23-16 win over Ohio University.

Then came a trip to California to play Fresno State.

''They had the home crowd, they were good and we just didn't make the plays we need to make,'' Kimbrough said. ''I thought we had the momentum in the fourth quarter, but we just ran out of time.''

Fresno State won, 35-30, ''but we gained a lifetime of experiences from playing in the game,'' he said. ''We represented the MAC well.''
Early on in the game, the Broncos found out that those California guys were fast.

''Allan Boyko used to run away from people on the kickoff and punt returns, but he was caught from behind early in the game,'' Creek said. ''That opened up our eyes.''

And there was a special onside kick in the middle of the game which Creek will never forget because he recovered it and was then smothered in a big pile of players.

''I kicked it in front of me, it rolled 10 yards, our guys blocked the Fresno front line and I recovered the ball,'' he said. ''Now I know what goes on in the middle of the pile on a fumble.

''I told our special teams coach Jerry Rosburg (who now is a coach for the Baltimore Ravens) that I wouldn't do that again and he said not to worry, that it was my last game of my career anyway.''

The loss was tough, but realizing that would be that last time you would be around many of your teammates was really hard, according to Creek.

''It was a surreal feeling at the end,'' he said. ''You accomplished so much during the year and suddenly, you wouldn't be around the guys anymore.''

Until days like this Saturday.