Central Michigan University Athletics
Football Hosts Boise State
9/18/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 18, 2000
THE GAME: Central Michigan University returns home for another cross-sectional battle with Boise State University on Saturday, Sept. 23.
KICKOFF: 1 p.m. (EDT).
STADIUM: Kelly/Shorts (30,199).
THE RECORDS: Central Michigan (Mid-American Conference) is 1-2 following a 31-10 loss at Wyoming. The Chippewas opened the season with a 48-0 loss at home to No. 15-ranked Purdue and then came home to record a 17-7 win over Akron. CMU was 4-7 last season and a 3-5 slate in the MAC.
Boise State (Big West Conference) is 2-1 after a 38-31 loss at Arkansas on Saturday. The Broncos opened the season with wins at New Mexico (31-14) and home against Northern Iowa (42-17). BSU was 10-3 in 1999, finishing 5-1 in the Big West. Boise won the Humanitarian Bowl with a 34-31 win over Louisville.
THE COACHES: Mike DeBord (Manchester, 1978), Central Michigan, first season, 1-2, Dirk Koetter (Idaho State, 1981), Boise State, third season, 18-9.
THE SERIES: This will be the fourth meeting between the two schools with the Chippewas having won the first three contests - 20-6 in the first round of the Division II playoffs in 1974, 42-21 at Boise State to open the 1996 season and 44-26 in Mount Pleasant in 1997. CMU finished with 449 yards in total offense to the Broncos' 361. Eric Flowers rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns while Tim Crowley completed 15-of-26 passes for 208 yards. Reggie Allen caught seven passes for 114 yards and a score. Boise rushed for just 30 yards but threw for 331.
LAST WEEK: Central Michigan jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period but Wyoming moved to a 16-3 lead in the fourth quarter. The Chippewas then scored on a five-yard pass from Pete Shepherd to Ira Gooch to make it 16-10 with 12:14 remaining. The Cowboys scored the final 15 points of the game.Shepherd completed 18-of-31 for 240. Robbie Mixon caught five passes for 16 yards and also rushed 17 times for 50 yards. Ira Gooch (53 yards) and David Hannah (51) each caught four passes.
Boise State and Arkansas were tied at 31-31 with 9:01 remaining before the Razorbacks scored the winning TD on a 54-yard pass at 6:12. Boise QB Bart Hendricks completed 23-of-48 passes for 304 yards and two scores. Brock Forsey rushed for 73 yards as the Broncos finished with 378 yards in total offense to Arkansas' 466.
TV SHOW: The CMU Football Review is aired weekly with head coach Mike DeBord and host Ed Phelps. The one-half hour show is on CMU Public TV on Mondays at 7:30 p.m. Fox 33 in Cadillac will also show it on Tuesday nights at 11 p.m.
RADIO SHOW: Central Michigan University will have a weekly coaches radio show on WUPS-FM (98.5) on Thursday nights from 7-8 p.m. Stan Shingles will be the host from Buffalo Wild Wings in Mt. Pleasant.
RADIO INFO: The game will be broadcast live on the CMU Football Network beginning at 3:30 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. The stations the on the network include:
WFYC-AM (1280) - Alma, WJKN-AM (1510) -- Jackson, WKJF-AM (1370) -- Cadillac, WVFN-AM (730) -- Lansing, WCBY-AM (1240) - Cheboygan, WLSP-AM (1530) -- Lapeer, WYUR-AM (1310) - Detroit, WUPS-FM (98.5) -- Mt. Pleasant, WTKG-AM (1230) --Grand Rapids, WOAP-AM (1080) -- Owosso, WPLB-AM (1380) -- Greenville WCCW-AM (1310) -- Traverse City, WHGR-AM (1290 - Houghton Lake
Chippewa broadcasts can also be heard anywhere in the world via the Internet through CMU's athletics home page at www.cmuchippewas.com.
CMU NEEDS TO BOUNCE BACK AGAIN
MOUNT PLEASANT -The Central Michigan University football team needs to bounce back one more time as it prepares to entertain its final non-conference rival of the season on Saturday, Sept. 23, when Boise State comes to Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. (EDT).
The Chippewas, who lost at Purdue in the season opener but claimed a 17-7 home win over Akron in game two, are reeling from a 31-10 loss at Wyoming last Saturday.
"We need the same kind of focus in our preparation this week," said head coach Mike DeBord. "If we come back mentally, we have a chance to win a football game against an excellent team."
Boise State is 2-1 and the lone loss was a 38-31 thriller at Arkansas. The Broncos were deadlocked at 31-31 in the fourth period before falling.
"Boise State has built its football program to conference championship level," DeBord said. "It has a great quarterback (Bart Hendricks) who runs the offense well."
DeBord was disappointed with his team's performance at Wyoming.
"We simply did not do the basic things like blocking and tackling," he said. "I felt it was a game we could win. But, the fundamentals we did well against Akron, we did not do at Wyoming. We need to execute better."
The Chippewas finish the season with seven straight games against MAC foes. Toledo is next up after Boise State. CMU plays in Toledo on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m.
DeBORD ON WYOMING LOSS - "It was frustrating. We didn't execute. We didn't block and tackle. When you don't block, it's tough to sustain any kind of drives on offense. We did have some poor field position but you have to work your way out of it. "Give Wyoming credit. It did what it had to do without its quarterbacks (the top two were injured). It ran the ball and played good defense."
DeBORD ON BOISE STATE - "Boise went into Arkansas and nearly won the football game. That tells you something about this program. (Bart) Hendricks is one of the top quarterbacks in the country. He runs the show and does a great job of doing it.
"Boise's defense is solid. It's quick up front and runs well to the ball."
MAC STATS - CMU is 11th in total offense (280.7 yards per game) and sixth in total defense (367.0). The Chippewas are first in pass defense (150.3). TB Robbie Mixon is third in all-purpose yardage (144.0), fourth in rushing (87.8), ninth in receptions (4.7) and 10th in receiving yards (57.0) and sixth in receiving (77.5). QB Pete Shepherd is second in passing efficiency (135.2) while punter Brian Brandt is sixth (41.4). Darvin Lewis (11.7) and Brian Leigeb (11.3) are fifth and sixth in tackles.
CHIPPEWA NOTES - Senior quarterback Pete Shepherd (Mount Pleasant) passed for 240 yards on 18-of-31 at Wyoming. It was the 13th time he's been over 200 yards in his career, the first time this season. He's second to Jeff Bender (1988-91) in four career categories -- yards passing (5,343/Bender has 6,528), passes attempted (800/960), passes completed (410/502) and total offense (5,389/6,518). He's tied for eighth in TD passes with 18.
Shepherd, who has 27 career starts to rank sixh among active Division IA quarterbacks, has started 25 straight contests.
Senior free safety Brian Leigeb (Midland/Dow) had a season-high 15 tackles at Wyoming and now needs 67 tackles to become the career leader. Ray Bentley (1979-82) is tops with 443 and Leigeb is fourth at 377. Bryan Gross (1976-78) is third with 396.
Sophomore tailback Robbie Mixon (Detroit/Denby) remains a double threat for CMU. He tops in rushing (261 yards) and receiving (14 catches for 171 yards).
In his second collegiate start against Akron, Robbie became the first CMU player in history to rush for more than 100 yards (164) and catch passes for more than 100 yards (101) against Akron.
A fourth true freshmen saw action at Wyoming and fullback Terrence Jackson (Somerset, N.J./Franklin) had a memorable day. He rushed three times for 12 yards and raced 73 yards with a pass to set up Central's lone TD.
Jackson joined defensive tackle Matt Wohlgemuth (Lake Orion), wide receiver Steve Messam (South Bay, Fla./Glades Central) and linebacker Ed Hillery (Rochester Hills/Rochester) as first-year frosh to have played. Messam caught his first pass at Wyoming, a 17-yarder.
Sophomore inside linebacker Darvin Lewis (Detroit/Renaissance) had a career-high 15 tackles at Wyoming and leads the Chippewas with 35 this season. He's also first in tackles for loss with four for eight.
Place-kicker Paul Savich (St. Clair Shores/Lakeview) matched his career high with a 45-yard field goal at Wyoming.
Senior receiver Ira Gooch (Davenport, Ia./Ellsworth CC) sustained a shoulder injury at Wyoming and won't play against Boise. Redshirt freshman Adam Supianoski (Manistee) had a concussion at Wyoming and is questionable. Senior fullback Joe Fuller (Mount Pleasant), junior roverback Abdullah Muhammad (Kent/East Lansing) and junior offensive lineman Nick Ferguson (Harrison) are out indefinitely with shoulder injuries.
| MAC Standings |
| East Division | |||
| Team | MAC Division | MAC Overall | Overall |
| 1. Miami | 0-0 | 1-0 | 2-1 |
| 2. Ohio | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| 3. Marshall | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| 4. Bowling Green | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 |
| 5. Buffalo | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 |
| 6. Kent State | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 |
| 7. Akron | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-2 |
| West Division | |||
| 1. Central Michigan | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1-2 |
| 2. Toledo | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-0 |
| 3. Western Michigan | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| 4. Northern Illinois | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| 5. Ball State | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 |
| 6. Eastern Michigan | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-2 |
