Central Michigan University Athletics
FOOTBALL RELEASE (Oct. 11, 1999)
2/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 11, 1999
Mount Pleasant, Mich. - FOOTBALL QUICK FACTS
THE GAME: Central Michigan University is home for a Mid-American Conference (MAC) clash with Northern Illinois University on Saturday, Oct. 16, at 1 p.m. It will be Homecoming. The Chippewas' 1974 Division II national championship team will hold its 25th reunion around the weekend's activities.
KICKOFF: 1 p.m. (EDT).
STADIUM: Kelly/Shorts (30,199).
THE RECORDS: Central Michigan (Mid-American Conference) is 2-4 for the season and 1-2 in MAC play after a 38-19 win at Buffalo on Saturday, Oct. 9. It ended a four-game losing skid and marked the first win since a 33-17 decision over Eastern Illinois on Sept. 2. CMU had lost at Syracuse (47-7), at Purdue (58-16) at home to Miami (24-16) and at Western Michigan (38-16).
Northern Illinois (Mid-American) is 2-4 for the season, 2-1 in MAC action. The Huskies have won two in a row, winning 45-21 at Buffalo and 37-17 at home over Ball State.
THE COACHES: Dick Flynn (Michigan State, 1965), Central Michigan, sixth season, 28-34, Joe Novak (Miami, O., 1967), Northern Illinois, fourth year, 5-34.
THE SERIES: Central Michigan holds a 21-12-1 lead in the series that began in 1936 with a 7-6 Chippewa win, since resuming the series in 1997 when NIU rejoined the MAC, both teams have won at home -- CMU in 1997 (44-10) and Northern Illinois in 1998 (16-6).
LAST YEAR: Northern Illinois posted a 16-6 win at home over the Chippewas in a game played in a constant downpour and featured a lightning delay in the first quarter, the Huskies took a 10-0 lead at the half and led 13-0 entering the final period, CMU's lone points came on a one-yard run by Eric Flowers, Central held a 233-198 edge in total offense but had four turnovers to NIU's two, Abdullah Muhammad set a CMU school record with seven tackles for loss as the Chippewas recorded 25 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
LAST WEEK: Central Michigan took a 31-0 lead early in the fourth period en route to a 38-19 MAC win at the University at Buffalo. Eric Flowers carried 42 times for 219 yards and scored a career-high four touchdowns. Ira Gooch carried 12 times for 108 yards, one a 66-yard TD run. CMU held a 562-346 edge in total offense. Pete Shepherd completed 12-of-17 passes for 168 yards.
Northern Illinois held a 37-3 lead late in the fourth quarter and posted a 37-17 MAC triumph over Ball State. The Huskies came up with five turnovers and the defense scored twice. William Andrews rushed 12 times for 117 yards while Chris Finlen completed 13-of-24 passes for 193 yards. NIU held a 397-339 edge in total offense.
TV SHOW: The CMU Football Review is aired weekly with head coach Dick Flynn and host Ed Phelps. The one-half hour show is on CMU Public TV on Mondays at 7:30 p.m.
RADIO INFO: The game will be broadcast live on the CMU Football Network beginning at 12:30 p.m. (EDT). A total of 13 radio stations throughout Michigan will carry the game with the broadcast team of Ed Phelps and Herb Deromedi doing the game. Don Chiodo will serve as the host. The stations the game are: WATZ-AM (1450) -- Alpena, WPLB-AM (1380) -- Greenville, WRCC-AM (1400) - Battle Creek, WJKN-AM (1510) -- Jackson, WKJF-AM (1370) -- Cadillac, WVFN-AM (730) -- Lansing, *WTVB-AM (1590) -- Coldwater, WLSP-AM (1530) -- Lapeer, WYUR-AM (1310) -- Detroit, WUPS-FM (98.5) -- Mt. Pleasant, *WDBC-AM (680) -- Escanaba, WCCW-AM (1310) -- Traverse City , WTKG-AM (1230) -- Grand Rapids. *Indicates partial schedule. Chippewa broadcasts can also be heard anywhere in the world via the Internet through Broadcast.com, which is linked to CMU's athletics home page at http://www.cmich.edu/~cmsports.
CHIPPEWAS RETURN FOR HOMECOMING
MOUNT PLEASANT -- Buoyed by a win at the University at Buffalo, the Central Michigan University football team returns to Kelly/Shorts Stadium for a Homecoming showdown with Northern Illinois University.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Not only will the Chippewas be celebrating Homecoming but the 1974 NCAA Division II national championship team will hold its 25-year reunion. Included in those returning is former head coach and current commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, Roy Kramer.
The Chippewas hope the momentum from the 38-19 win at Buffalo will carry over into the battle with the much-improved Huskies.
"It promises to be an exciting weekend with Homecoming and the 1974 team coming back," said CMU head coach Dick Flynn. "That team is such a great part of the tradition of Chippewa football and it will mean a lot to our football team for them to be here and see us play."
The win at Buffalo ended a four-game losing skid -- quite possibly the toughest four-game stretch in school history with games at Syracuse, Purdue, at home against Miami and at Western Michigan. The four teams have a combined record of 17-7.
"I was pleased that our football team was able to get ready to play as well as it did at Buffalo," Flynn said. "We had played awfully hard for four weeks and I didn't notice a letdown at all in our effort. We were ready to play and it showed."
The Chippewas will get a much-needed weekend off after the NIU contest, and won't return to action until a Saturday, Oct. 30, contest at Bowling Green.
FLYNN ON WIN AT BUFFALO -- "It was a real plus for us to be able to control the football like we did on offense. Our line played well and Eric Flowers ran hard. And, when we threw the ball, we threw it effectively. It was a complete game by the offense.
"The defense came up with some big plays and two key turnovers that helped change the momentum of the game. We may have let down a bit late in the game after going up 31-0."
FLYNN ON NORTHERN ILLINOIS -- "We felt Northern was a good football team going into the game last year and it proved it against us. Northern is coming in on a two-game winning streak and has a lot of momentum. It's a physical, aggressive football team ... maybe as tough a one as we've played."
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES -- TB William Andrews has carried 110 times for 632 yards and five touchdowns while TB Ivory Bryant has gained 236 yards and scored four TDs in 59 cracks. QB Chris Finlen has completed 52-of-85 passes for 584 yards. Justin McCareins has 30 catches for 490 yards and Darrell Hill 20 for 287.
NIU is fifth in offense in the MAC with 356.7 yards a game and third in defense at 336.3.
MAC STATS -- CMU is fourth in total offense (360.7) and eighth in total defense (379.3). The Chippewas are fourth in rushing defense (147.7) and fifth in rushing offense (159.8) and passing offense (200.8). Jammarl O'Neal is second in yards receiving per game (96.7) and tied for fourth in receptions per game (5.67) while Pete Shepherd is fourth in passing yards (199.5) and total offense (201.5). Eric Flowers is second in rushing (112.0) and scoring (12.0).
CHIPPEWA NOTES -- Senior tailback Eric Flowers (Trenton, N.J.), who missed the Purdue and Miami games with a sprained knee, returned to his old form with 42 carries for 219 yards and a career-high four touchdowns at Buffalo. It marked the fourth 200-yard rushing game of his career.
Flowers is ninth in career rushing for the Chippewas with 2,804 yards, just behind Walt Beach (2,968), Willie Todd (2,928), Mose Rison (2,838) and Silas Massey (2,836).
Backup tailback Ira Gooch (Davenport, Ia./Ellsworth JC), converted from flanker two weeks ago, had an excellent game with 12 carries for 108 yards and a 66-yard TD scamper. He also caught three passes for 32 yards.
CMU rushed for 394 yards against Buffalo were the most since gaining 471 against Toledo in 1994.
Junior quarterback Pete Shepherd (Mount Pleasant) is now fourth in three career passing categories -- attempts (549), completions (288) and yards (3,750).
Shepherd has four 200-yard games this season and nine for his career.
Redshirt freshman Jammarl O'Neal (Riviera Beach, Fla./Dwyer) did not break the 100-yard barrier in receptions at Buffalo, but did snare five for 93 yards. He's been over 100 four times.
First-year freshman receiver Rob Turner (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Pinecrest) caught a pass in the second straight game, grabbing a 12-yarder at Buffalo.
Another first-year freshman, Kyle Croskey (East Lansing), started at offensive guard at Buffalo. The 6-3, 290-pounder was filling in for the injured Eric Dumont.
Junior free safety Brian Leigeb (Midland/Dow) continues to lead CMU in tackles as he's done for the past two years. He has 62, including four for losses of 17 yards.
Senior tackle Joe Adam (Howell) has been outstanding on defense. He's among the MAC leaders with 12 tackles for losses of 69 yards, six of them QB sacks for minus 62 yards. He's also tied for third in tackles with 38.
The Chippewas have played six true freshmen this season -- defensive linemen Marvin Smith (Wellington, Fla./Suncoast) and Dominic Mancini (Hinsdale, Ill./Fenwick), outside linebacker Cullen Jenkins (Belleville), tailback Robbie Mixon (Detroit /Denby), Croskey and Turner.
Junior Casey Laughlin (DeWitt) and offensive lineman Eric Dumont (St. Clair Shores/South Lake) remain out with shoulder injuries while Vince Webber (Elgin, Ill.) is out for the season with a broken jaw. Mixon remains sidelined indefinitely with a hip injury.
The win at Buffalo ended a six-game losing skid on the road dating back to the middle of the 1998 season.
