On October 21, 1891, Eastern Michigan (then known as Michigan State Normal College) played its first football game against Michigan State Normal School (now Western Michigan University) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The game was played with 11 players on each side, and Eastern Michigan was led by its first coach, Walter S. Simmons. The final score of the game was not recorded, but according to a newspaper account, Eastern Michigan won “by a good margin.” The game was the first of several matchups between the two schools, and it marked the beginning of a football tradition that continues to this day.