KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Western Michigan lived up to its Top 25 ranking on Saturday afternoon.

The No. 20 Broncos, ranked for the first season in school history, held off Eastern Michigan University for a 45-31 win in front of 23,721 fans at Waldo Stadium.

Western Michigan improved to 4-0 in the Mid-American Conference's West Division and 8-0 overall. Eastern Michigan fell to 5-3, 2-2.

"You have to give Eastern Michigan a ton of credit," Broncos coach P.J. Fleck said. "I knew this would be hard. We needed this. We needed to be challenged. It was not easy and it was not perfect. Do you know how hard it is to do what we are doing? I don't know if anyone truly understands how hard (being undefeated) is."

The Broncos had their passing game working on Saturday.

Corey Davis, Western Michigan's star receiver, caught five passes for 81 yards, but it was teammate Carrington Thompson that had a career game. Thompson, a redshirt senior from Flint, Mich., had 177 yards on eight catches and two touchdowns.

"I couldn't be prouder of him and the performance he put on today," Broncos quarterback Zach Terrell said. "He really got to showcase his skills and I'm really happy for him."

Fleck said Thompson was capable of having a big game, and breaking out of the shadow of Davis, who is being promoted as a Heisman candidate by Western Michigan.

"Instead of being the sidekick to Batman, you're actually Robin and you save Batman's life," Fleck said. "(Thompson has) matured and he's doing his job."

Terrell threw for 398 yards and three touchdowns on 29-of-35 passing. Jarvion Franklin led Western Michigan with 114 yards rushing on 22 carries.

Davis entered the game as the active leader in career receiving in the FBS with 4,437 yards. He leads the FBS in receiving touchdowns with 11.

When Terrell was asked to comment on Thompson, who was sitting next to him during the post-game press conference, he was happy to.

"You want me to do this right in front of him? Ok, earmuffs (Thompson)," he said with a laugh. "It says a lot about Carrington. He's been through a lot more than most people. For him to be producing like this ... some people would say it's a breakthrough, but this is just him. I could't be happier for this guy."

Eastern Michigan's defense had no answer for Thompson.

"I played decisive," Thompson said. "I didn't let them dictate what I wanted to do. I came out and played fast."

The Broncos got touchdowns from four different players -- two from Jamauri Bogan and Thompson and one each by Davis and Franklin.

Bogan, a redshirt sophomore, scored on a 1-yard touchdown with 7:55 to go in the game for his second TD of the game and a 45-24 lead.

Davis had been quiet until late in the third quarter. Terrell lofted a ball to the right corner of the end zone and Davis used his 6-foot-3 frame to reach over his defender for a 31-yard touchdown. It was Davis' 11th TD of the season, which gave the Broncos a 38-24 lead.

"That was a tremendous job by Corey," Terrell said of Davis. "If we have the opportunity to give Corey a 50-50 ball ... we're going to give Big Dog a shot. He did an an elite job of coming down with the ball."

Thompson caught an 8-yard pass from Terrell with 6:27 left in the third quarter to give Western Michigan a 31-17 lead. It was his second touchdown of the game.

Eastern Michigan answered with a quick touchdown drive. Brogan Roback tossed a 56-yard pass to Sergio Bailey II. One play later, Breck Turner ran the ball in from 9 yards out to cut the lead to 31-24 with 5:16 left in the third quarter.

Roback finished 29 of 45 for 319 yards. Running back Turner had a team-high 86 yards rushing while the Eagles got touchdowns from Antoine Porter, Willie Parker, Turner and Roback.

Thompson caught a short pass from Terrell, dodged two defenders and scampered into the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown for the first score of the game at 9:02 of the opening quarter. It was the third touchdown of the season for Thompson.

Roback sprinted up the gut and dove into the end zone for the Eagles' first touchdown to tie the game at 7-7. It was the first rushing touchdown of the season for the redshirt junior.

Franklin's 2-yard dive into the end zone completed an 11-play, 75-yard drive to give the Broncos a 14-7 lead with 12:13 to go in the second quarter. Franklin, a junior running back, has scored in four straight games and has seven rushing touchdowns on the season.

Trailing 14-10, Roback threw a 29-yard pass to the right corner of the end zone that was brought down by Porter for a 17-14 lead with 3:35 left in the half.

Western Michigan responded on its next possession. A 51-yard catch by Thompson set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Bogan as the Broncos regained the lead 21-17.

Obbie Jackson picked off a Roback pass with 35 seconds left in the first half and the Broncos made the most of it. Six plays later, freshman Butch Hampton kicked a 34-yard field goal that wobbled through the uprights with 3 seconds in the half for a 24-17 lead at halftime.

NOTES: Western Michigan began the season 7-0 for the first time since 1941, when the Broncos were 8-0. ... Eastern Michigan tried a little bit of trickery late in the first half. Roback passed to offensive lineman Cole Gardner, who was tackled short of the end zone, but the 6-foot-5, 295-pound never reported as an eligible receiver. It didn't matter as Roback connected with Porter on a scoring strike on the very next play. ... The Broncos have beaten two Big Ten Conference teams this season for the first time. It beat Illinois 34-10 and Northwestern 22-21. ... Eastern Michigan, with its 5-2 recored entering the game, is off to its best start since 1995. That also is the last season the Eagles were bowl-eligible. Eastern Michigan has not played in a bowl since 1987.