Central Michigan University Athletics
Football Takes On Akron
9/5/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 5, 2000
THE GAME: Central Michigan University opens the home portion of the 2000 football season with a Mid-American Conference (MAC) battle against the University of Akron on Saturday, Sept. 9.
KICKOFF: 1 p.m. (EDT).
STADIUM: Kelly/Shorts Stadium (30,199).
THE RECORDS: Central Michigan (Mid-American Conference) is 0-1 after opening the season at Purdue on Sept. 2 with a 48-0 loss. CMU was 4-7 last season and a 3-5 slate in the MAC.
Akron (MAC) is 0-1 after losing at Virginia Tech, 52-23, on Sept. 2. The Zips were 7-4 last year, 5-3 in MAC action.
THE COACHES: Mike DeBord (Manchester, 1978), Central Michigan, first season, 0-1. Lee Owens (Bluffton, 1977), Akron, sixth season, 19-37.
THE SERIES: Akron holds an 8-7-1 lead in the series that began in 1969 with a 9-6 Zip win, since resuming the series in 1988, it's deadlocked at 5-5-1, CMU won the last meeting in 1998 by a 28-27 margin at home, nine of the 16 games have been decided by four or less points and a 10th ended in a tie, Owens is 2-2 against Central.
LAST MEETING: Trailing by a 24-14 margin entering the fourth period, the Chippewas rallied to a 28-27 home win on Oct. 31, 1998. CMU scored on a three-yard run by Pete Shepherd and a one-yarder by Eric Flowers. Shepherd was 21-of-36 passing for a then career-best 277 yards. Silas Massey rushed 18 times for 85 yards and a TD while Flowers added 51 in 22 cracks. CMU held a slight edge in total offense, 444-438.
HOME OPENERS: The Chippewas are 8-2 in their last 10 home openers, coincidentally, one of the losses was a 23-13 setback at the hands of Akron in 1993 and the other was a 38-37 loss to Louisiana Tech in 1996.
LAST WEEK: Purdue rolled to a 48-0 win before a crowd of 56,197 in Ross-Ade Stadium, the Boilermakers had a 481-215 edge in total offense, much of it provided by QB Drew Brees who hit of 25-of-42 passes for 318 yards and three TDs, CMU's Robbie Mixon rushed for 47 yards and caught six passes for 54 yards, the punting of frosh Brian Brandt (45.3 average in eight punts) was a bright spot.
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 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. 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 EYES FIRST WIN VS. AKRON
MOUNT PLEASANT - Central Michigan University's football team will look to provide new head coach Mike DeBord with his first victory this Saturday, Sept. 9, when the Chippewas entertain the University of Akron.
Kickoff in Kelly/Shorts Stadium is set for 1 p.m.
Both teams come into the cross-divisional Mid-American Conference (MAC) tilt with 0-1 records after losing to a pair of nationally ranked teams headed by Heisman Trophy candidate QBs.
The Chippewas fell to Purdue and Drew Brees, 48-0, while Akron lost to Virginia Tech and Michael Vick, 52-23.
"It's a big football game for us," DeBord said. "It's our first home game and all good football teams show the biggest improvement between game No. 1 and game No. 2.
"I'm confident that we'll get better. We have a lot to get done before facing a good Akron team. Lee Owens has done a great job turning that program around."
Following Akron, the Chippewas hit the road for a game at the University of Wyoming on Saturday, Sept. 16, at 2 p.m. (MDT).
DeBORD ON PURDUE GAME - "Give Purdue a lot of credit, it's an excellent football team with the Heisman Trophy favorite in Drew Brees leading the way. It was disappointing for our football team because we went to Purdue to win.
"You can't win, though, when you turn the ball over like we did (lost three fumbles). We played hard the whole way and I'm proud of that. We were just too inconsistent on both sides of the ball."
DeBORD ON PUNTER BRIAN BRANDT - "Brian did an exceptional job (eight punts for a 45.3 average). He's poised and confident. He has a great leg and he was only taking one step against Purdue because we didn't know if it would be sending people."
CHIPPEWA NOTES - Sophomore tailback Robbie Mixon (Detroit/Denby) showed his versatility at Purdue. He rushed 20 times for 47 yards and caught six passes for 54 more after seeing extended playing time when starter Vince Webber (Elgin, Ill./Larkin) was sidelined with a hamstring injury.
The injury bug has continued to follow Webber. The highly touted tailback missed the end of the 1998 with knee surgery and played just two games in 1999 when he sustained a broken jaw at Syracuse. He's listed as probable for Akron.
Redshirt freshman Brian Brandt (Wausau, Wis./West) averaged 45.3 yards on eight punts, including a 52-yarder, in his collegiate debut.
Senior quarterback Pete Shepherd (Mount Pleasant) enters the 2000 season with his named already etched six times in the Chippewa career record book. He's second in yards passing (4,930), passes attempted (750) and passes completed (383), second in total offense (4,992), sixth in interceptions (26) and tied for ninth in TD passes (16).
He moved into second in total offense at Purdue (76 yards), moving past Chad Darnell (1994-96) who had 4,916 yards.
Shepherd played the first and third quarters against Purdue (he completed 10-of-13 passes for 82 yards) while redshirt freshman Derrick Vickers (Miami, Fla./Pace) played in the second and fourth periods (six-of-15 for 68 yards). The coaching staff indicated it would watch the film before making a decision on the starter for the Akron contest.
Senior free safety Brian Leigeb (Midland/Dow) needs 90 tackles to become the career leader. Ray Bentley (1979-82) is tops with 443 and Leigeb is fourth at 354. Bryan Gross (1976-78) is third with 396.
Coincidentally, Bentley's nephew, Robert Bentley (Wyoming/Wyoming Park), is a walk-on freshman linebacker for the Chippewas.
Senior Ira Gooch (Davenport, Ia./Ellsworth CC) caught six passes for a team-high 59 yards at Purdue after splitting time between tailback and wide receiver in 1999.
He rushed for 438 yards, caught 26 balls for 236 yards and passed for 97 yards and two touchdowns last season.
The youngest unit on the CMU football team - the defensive front four - got younger at Purdue with true freshman Matt Wohlgemuth (Lake Orion) seeing extended time at tackle. He's a 6-5, 240-pounder who was the lone true freshman to play at Purdue. He had one solo and one assisted tackle.
Four sophomores started at Purdue - ends Matt Reynolds (Port Huron/Northern) and Cullen Jenkins (Belleville), middle guard Dominic Mancini (Hinsdale, Ill/Fenwick) and tackle Marvin Smith (Wellington, Fla./Suncoast). Redshirt freshmen Ike Ajoku (Brooklyn, N.Y./Tech) and Charles Harris (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview) are
backup at ends. Ajoku had CMU's lone QB sack at Purdue, one for a loss of seven yards.
Sophomore inside linebacker Darvin Lewis (Farmington Hills/Renaissance) was solid for the Chippewas at Purdue, making 11 tackles and leading the team with two tackles for losses of five yards. The 6-3, 225-pounder tied for the MAC lead in interceptions last fall with five, he also tied the CMU mark among linebackers with Ray Bentley who also snared five in 1982.
The Chippewas are now 6-25 on the road since winning the MAC title in 1994.
Senior inside linebacker Casey Laughlin (DeWitt) missed the Purdue game with an ankle injury but should be ready to start against Akron. Junior roverback Abdullah Muhammad (Kent/East Lansing) and junior offensive lineman Nick Ferguson (Harrison) are out indefinitely with shoulder injuries.
