All that stands between football and the MAC Championship game are 60 minutes and P.J. Fleck’s surging Western Michigan Broncos.

The Huskies take on the Broncos 10 a.m. Friday at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo, Mich. They need to win to secure the MAC West crown and a fifth-straight trip to Detroit.

The Broncos have rattled off six consecutive wins after opening conference play with a 20-19 overtime loss to the Toledo Rockets Oct. 4 at home. The Huskies have won five games in a row after losing their Homecoming game to the Central Michigan Chippewas, 34-17, Oct. 11.

“I don’t think that means anything at all,” said redshirt senior tailback Akeem Daniels. “At the end of the day … what happened in the past is in the past. Now you got to focus on the task at hand, which is the game. What we’ve been through this year, last year, whenever, all that stuff doesn’t even matter anymore. We’re just focused on what we got ahead of us.”

The Broncos enter the matchup with the best scoring offense (35.8 points per game) and the No. 3 scoring defense (23.2 points per game) in the MAC. Through seven conference games they have averaged 36.1 points per game and have allowed 18.6 points per game, both No. 1 in the MAC.

Western Michigan’s offense is led by freshman phenom tailback Jarvion Franklin. Franklin has rushed for a MAC-best 23 touchdowns and is second in the conference with 130.3 rushing yards per game.

“He’s big, physical, [has] good feet [and is a] downhill type of guy,” said head coach Rod Carey. “If you let him get a head of steam he has good speed, he can really play physical. [He’s] just a really good running back in another long line of really good running backs in this conference this year.”

But the Broncos’ offense isn’t all Franklin. In the passing game, quarterback Zach Terrell ranks first in pass efficiency (170.8) and third in passing yards per game (262.7). Wide receiver Corey Davis leads the MAC with 117.3 receiving yards per game and 11 receiving touchdowns.

“It’s one of those cat-and-mouse games where we’ve got to kind of find the right balance between how many people to devote to stopping the run and still be able to cover them,” said defensive coordinator Jay Niemann. “That’s the tough part about any good, balanced offense is they can run it and throw it equally well, and that’s the case with Western.”

Offensive coordinator Bob Cole described the Broncos’ defense as “fast and physical” and said they “play with a whole lot of energy.” He said the key for the Huskies’ offense is to pick up positive yardage on first and second downs because the Broncos are skilled at getting teams into second and long and third and long.

For Dechane Durante, redshirt senior free safety, the Huskies’ losses to the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Chippewas were good and have helped the players learn from their mistakes and position themselves to win the MAC West title.

“Those losses we took this year, especially the one in conference, definitely opened our eyes up a little bit more,” Durante said. “We haven’t clinched the [MAC] West yet, so we have to win to go to the MAC Championship game. So, everybody is ready to get the win.”

How the West can be won

• The Huskies capture the MAC West title with a win over the Western Michigan Broncos.

• The Toledo Rockets win the MAC West division with a win over the Eastern Michigan Eagles and a Huskies loss against Western Michigan.

• Western Michigan claims the MAC West title with a win over the Huskies and a Toledo loss against Eastern Michigan.