It’s what champions do – they find a way to win. The Chips were only outmatched in their second game, a 56-17 set back against the Georgia Bulldogs.
The Eastern Illinois opener aside, the largest winning margin has been ten points – twice, once against Temple and last week against Western Michigan. In both contents, the score was tied at least once during the game.
When the Chips rushing game was working, such as against Ohio (70 yards) and Temple (55 yards), the passing game made the difference.
So if the MAC’s 2007 MAC Player of the Year Dan LeFevour (6’3” 226#), with a 65% completion rate this year goes down, what does Coach Butch Jones do? He inserts senior QB Brian Brunner (6’3” 241#) who is completing 64.3% of his passes.
What do you do when your leading running back rusher and third leading receiver, Ontario Sneed (5’11” 203#), is only able to carry the ball twice due to an ankle injury? Coach Jones plays true freshman running back Bryan Schroeder (5’9” 212#) who rushes for 106 yards and a pair of touchdowns becoming the first Chippewas' running back this season to go over the century mark against the 3rd best rushing defense in the MAC.
CMU is 19-2 in its last 21 Mid-American Conference games. CMU has the No. 2 passing offense in the MAC but the Chippewas are 13th in the pass defense. CMU is first in the MAC with 17 sacks and second in rushing defense. CMU is 5th in scoring and 8th in scoring defense.
These stats played out last Saturday against the Broncos. WMU QB Tim Hiller had a career day passing for 471 yards but Broncos’ rushing game was limited to 49 yards. According to WMU coach Bill Cubit "We couldn't run the football, we didn't really move them up front.”
It was a half-hour before kickoff when Coach Jones said to backup QB Brian Brunner, “Hey, you know you’re starting right?” Central Michigan rode the arm of this backup quarterback to a 10 point win against their main rival, WMU. Brunner passed for 346 yards 20 of 28 passes with a touchdown and an interception.
“Brian is an extremely confident young man,” CMU coach Butch Jones said. “He’s got a strong arm, good accuracy and he’s got a great knowledge of our offense. He’s extremely tough both mentally and physically.”
So how does Coach Jones get his Chips to continue its championship caliber of play? “We talk about giving 63," Jones said. "We want six seconds and three great efforts from each player on every play.”
According to Jones, starting quarterback Dan LeFevour's ankle limited him to 80 percent capability and is questionable against the Rockets. Before the Western Michigan game Coach Jones stated “Dan probably would have been 75 to 80 percent, but we had Brian Brunner sitting at 100 percent and he had a great week of practice. We have confidence in Brian and we know we have more than one player that can play that position."
On Offense
The Chips were able to beat their major in-state rival with backup QB Brunner. He only completed 71.5% of his passes. With the MAC player of the year on the bench, the Chips didn’t miss a beat. Brunner is not the runner LeFevour is but he can move the ball with his feet if necessary. Running back Ontario Sneed is probable for Saturday's game against Toledo. If not, Bryan Schroeder is up to the task.
The receiving corps, which includes 13 players with a reception this season, is led by WR Antonio Brown (5’11”, 175#) 43 grabs, 2 TDs, 9.3 ypc and WR Brian Anderson (6’5”, 205#) 31 catches, 2 TDs, 14.8 ypc. RB Sneed has 19 catches in 7 games, 2 TDs, 9 yards per completion. Wide receivers Joe Bockheim, Jean Pitts and Kito Poblah are averaging 13 to 16 yards per catch with 41 grabs and 4 TDs as a trio.
If their rushing and passing attacks aren’t enough, they thrown in trick plays. Against Western, Antonio Brown got the ball on a reverse and threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to TE Rocky Weaver for the score. That was Weaver’s fifth catch of the year. Whatever it takes.
The offensive line, despite having one 300#+ player, is among the better MAC’s OLs. It’s leader is LT Andrew Hartline. Their mobility is a key to their excellent pass protection.
On Defense
The strength of CMU’s defensive unit is against the run. They rank second in the MAC allowing 3.8 yards per carry. The pass defense is another story with the Chips ranking last defending aerial attacks allowing nearly 289 yards per game through the air.
WMU QB Tim Hiller torched the CMU defensive backs. Hiller passed for a school and Kelly/Shorts Stadium record 471 yards in the loss. But Hiller is having quite a year. He currently leads the MAC and is fourth in the nation with 2,517 yards passing. His 25 touchdown passes rank third in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
DE Frank Zombo leads the MAC in sacks with 7.5 and tackles for loses with 12.5. As a team, the Chips are first in the MAC for sacks compared to the 12th spot for Rockets. His counter part, DE Sam Williams is second in QB sacks.
MLB Nick Bellore is having a monster year leading the Chippewas with 70 tackles, including 30 solo tackles (both team leading) and four TFL, two pass break-ups and two forced fumbles.
Most of this season, the defense has bent but not broken rising to the challenge down the stretch. Whatever it takes.
Special Teams
The star of this unit is sophomore Antonio Brown. Brown, who returns punts and kick-offs when he isn’t lined up as a WR, is second in all-purpose yardage in the MAC averaging 158 yards per game.
Against Ohio U Brown has a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown which didn’t hurt his league-leading 24.4 yards per return. He is averaging 21.4 yards per kick-off return.
Andrew Aguila is 8-for-10 on field goals attempts and perfect on 23 PATs. His kick-offs are consistently landing inside the five yard line with 20% being touchbacks. Punter Brett Hartmann is only averaging a spot better than 39 yards per punt.
What to Look For:
CMU to pass to set up the run
Chips to top their average of 11 yards per pass completion
Rockets to hold Chippewas to less than 125 yards rushing with tackling that is reminiscent of the Michigan game
Brian Brunner to start at QB with Dan LeFevour ready to enter at the slightest sign of trouble
Aaron Opelt to start for the Rockets
Rockets running game to work when C Buster Garrett plays
Rockets receivers to have a big day while Aaron plays
Rockets deep backs to line up on or near the goal line to receive CMU kick-offs to avoid irritating back peddling to catch kick-offs that seems to happen in every game
3.5 to 4 point line in favor of the Chippewas to be covered – there is no home field advantage for the Rockets
A small crowd, despite the $13.10 general admission promo, that sits way too much on its collective hands
The Rockets haven’t played a complete game this year. The defense has improved as has the special teams but both in spurts. The offense has all but disappeared. They have a chance to resurface particularly against the worse pass defense in the MAC.
A great place to start is doing as Coach Jones says: “Give 63.”
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