Central Michigan University Athletics
Football Opens Year Two Of DeBord Era
8/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 27, 2001
THE GAME: Central Michigan University opens the 2001 football season with a non-conference clash with Eastern Kentucky of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) on Thursday, Aug. 30, at 7:30 p.m.
KICKOFF: 7:30 p.m. (EDT).
STADIUM: Kelly/Shorts (30,199)
THE RECORDS: Central Michigan (Mid-American Conference) finished the 2000 campaign with a 2-9 record, 2-6 in Mid-American Conferece (MAC) action and 1-4 in MAC West play. CMU ended a seven-game losing streak with a 21-17 upset of Western Michigan before closing last season with a 40-6 loss at Northern Illinois.
Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley Conference) posted its 23rd straight winning season in 2000, posting a 6-5 record and going 3-4 in the OVC. The Colonels finished last season on a sour note, falling at Eastern Illinois by a 49-6 margin.
THE COACHES: Mike DeBord (Manchester, 1978), Central Michigan, second season, 2-9. Roy Kidd (Eastern Kentucky, 1955), Eastern Kentucky, 38th season, 299-117-8.
THE SERIES: Central holds a 5-1 lead in the series that began in 1939 with an 18-14 Chippewa win. CMU also prevailed in 1945 (14-7), '46 (20-7), '72 (21-14) and '73 (21-7). Kidd was the EKU coach when the schools last played while on the coaching staff for CMU was current Athletics Director Herb Deromedi. A defensive standout for Central on that team was current assistant head coach/defensive line coach Jim Schulte.
LAST MEETING: A strong running attack powered Central Michigan to a 21-7 win in Richmond, Ky., in 1973. The Chippewas rushed for 315 yards, Jim Sandy (175 yards and two TDs) and Gary Baginski (102 and one) leading the way. With the game tied at 7-7 at the half, CMU scored in each of the final periods for the win. Central finished with 369 yards in total offense.
NIGHT GAME: The Thursday night clash with Eastern Kentucky marks the fourth time Central Michigan has hosted a night game, the Chippewas are 2-1 in home night contests, losing the first one to Akron in 1993 (23-13) before beating Northern Illinois (44-10) in 1997 and Eastern Illinois (33-17) in '98.
The lights come from Musco Lighting in Musco, Iowa. They'll be installed during the day on Wednesday and will be given a trial run on Wednesday evening.
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. The first show will be Sept. 3.
RADIO SHOW: Central Michigan University will have a weekly coaches radio show on WUPS-FM (98.5) on Thursday nights (beginning Sept. 6) from 7-8 p.m. Stan Shingles will be the host from BW-3 in Mt. Pleasant.
RADIO INFO: The game will be broadcast live on the CMU Football Network beginning at 7:00 p.m. (EDT). A total of 11 radio stations throughout Michigan will carry the game with the broadcast team of Ed Phelps and Herb Deromedi doing the game. The network includes:
WKJF-AM (1370) -- Cadillac
WLSP-AM (1530) -- Lapeer
WCBY-AM (1240) - Cheboygan
WUPS-FM (98.5) -- Mt. Pleasant
WXDX-AM (1310) - Detroit
WOAP-AM (1080) -- Owosso
WJNZ-AM (1680) -- Grand Rapids
WIOS-AM (1480) - Tawas City
WSCG-FM (106.3) -- Greenville
WCCW-AM (1310) -- Traverse City
WVFN-AM (730) -- Lansing
Chippewa broadcasts can also be heard anywhere in the world via the Internet through CMU's athletics home page at www.cmuchippewas.com.
CHIPPEWAS READY FOR 2001 SEASON
MOUNT PLEASANT -Central Michigan University head football coach Mike DeBord will use Eastern Kentucky University as a measuring stick when the 2001 campaign begins on Thursday, Aug. 30, with a home game in Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
"I know we're a better football team than we were last year," DeBord said. "But, how far we've come won't be answered until we start playing some games.
"I know we're excited about playing a game and hitting somebody other than ourselves. We've spent a long time preparing for this season and everyone is anxious to get it going."
After going 2-9 in his first season with marks of 2-6 in the Mid-American Conference and 1-4 in the MAC West, DeBord can't stress how important this game.
"It's not life and death but it's a big game for us," DeBord explained. "This would give our football team a lot of confidence."
The Colonels, a Division 1AA standout, are coming off their 23rd straight winning season, posting a 6-5 mark under legendary head coach Roy Kidd. Entering his 38th year as the at EKU, Kidd is 299-117-8. He's third in career wins at one school behind Grambling's Eddie Robinson (408) and Penn State's Joe Paterno (322).
Next up for the Chippewas is a Sept. 8 trip into Spartan Stadium for a battle with Michigan State. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. The all-time series is tied at 2-2.
DeBORD ON EASTERN KENTUCKY - "I have tremendous respect for the Eastern Kentucky program and what Coach (Roy) Kidd has accomplished there. Eastern Kentucky has won a lot of football games through the years. It's a proven program with a proven coach."
DeBORD ON FALL DRILLS - "It was a good fall camp. Players came in with the intentions of getting better and we got a lot accomplished. Nearly 70 players stayed up here this summer to workout and that has helped tremendously. Now it's a matter of getting them to the game in good health."
DeBORD ON SURPRISES - "I think our three returning receivers on offense - junior Dante McKnight (Trenton, N.J./Valley Forge Military) and sophomores Rod Means (Inkster/Robichaud) and Rob Turner (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Pinecrest) - have made huge strides and tailback Kenan Lawhorne (Miami, Fla./Coral Park/So.) is quicker and faster than he was a year ago. "On defense, linebacker Jovan Clarke (Miami, Fla./Highland JC/Jr.) has made good improvement while three redshirt freshmen defensive backs - Joe Ballard (Chesaning), Ron Bartell (Detroit/Renassaince) and James King (Oak Park/Western) - have been solid and will play a lot for us."
SCOUTING THE COLONELS - EKU averaged 327.7 yards per game and allowed 259.5 in 2000. The Colonels return 14 starters (eight on defense) and 31 lettermen from that team led by a pair of first-team all-OVC defensive standouts in end Nick Hill (6-0, 250) and free safety Yeremiah Bell. EKU led the country in scoring defense prior to a 49-6 loss to Eastern Illinois in the final game of the season and still finished with a 14.2 average. The Colonels will be young at the skilled positions on offense.
CMU STATS - The Chippewas were first in the nation among Division IA schools in pass defense (149.7 yards per game) but were last in the MAC in rushing offense (92.4) and rushing defense (267.6). CB Tedaro France tied for second in interceptions with five and passes defended with 16. Graduated safety Brian Leigeb led the conference in tackles with 147 (13.4 per game) and junior linebacker Darvin Lewis was third with 113 (10.3).
CHIPPEWA NOTES -CMU enters the season opener in relatively good health. Senior cornerback Wayne Dudley (Baltimore, Md./Fork Union Military) will miss the first part of the season while recovering from summer knee surgery while starting defensive tackle Dominic Mancini (Hinsdale, Ill./Fenwick) is out three-four weeks with a knee injury. He sustained the injury last week in practice. Sophomore Jay Davidson (Frankfort) will move into his starting slot.
Although the Chippewas return 16 starters, they will still be young this season with 10 redshirt freshmen, six first-year freshmen and a junior college player in the two-deep on offense and defense.
Two true freshman will share starting duties at tight end - Tory Humphrey (Saginaw) and Dave Kurzen (Masillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) - while freshmen wide receivers Jacob Brown (Saginaw/Bridgeport), Justin Harper (Abilene, Tex./Cooper) and Scott Gibson (Jefferson, Wis.) will see action along with fullback Troy Peyerk (Kimball/Port Huron).
A couple of redshirt freshmen will start, one on each side of the ball. Adam Kieft, a 6-7, 300-pounder, will man the right tackle slot on offense and Joe Ballard (Chesaning) and Ron Bartell (Detroit/Renaissance) will share the free safety position.
The Chippewas have named four seniors as captains for the 2001 season: offensive tackle Matt Brayton (Traverse City), cornerback Rico Epps (Oak Park/Orchard Lake St. Mary's), cornerback Tedaro France (New Haven) and offensive center Anders Hill (Hancock).
Sophomore quarterback Derrick Vickers (Miami, Fla./Pace) started the final five games of the 2000 season, finishing the campaign completing 83-of-180 passes for 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns. He threw two touchdown passes in the 21-17 upset of ranked Western Michigan, connecting on 16-of-28 passes for 228 yards and two scores.
Senior Paul Savich (St. Clair Shores/Lakeview) emerged from a three-way battle as the starting place-kicker. He has converted 28-of-45 field goals the past three seasons. Freshman Mike Gruzwalski (Shelby Township/Eisenhower) and sophomore Josh Ignace (Grand Blanc) were the other kickers fighting for the job.
A key to CMU's season could be remaining healthy at tailback, a position victimized by a horde of injuries the past two seasons. Junior Robbie Mixon (Detroit/Denby) is a multi-talented tailback who has only played eight games the past two years because of injuries.
The Chippewas have won their last four home openers since a 38-37 loss to Louisiana Tech in 1996. Since then, Central has stopped Northern Illinois (44-10) , Western Illinois (35-14), Eastern Illinois (33-17) and Akron (17-7).
CMU has one new assistant coach this season, Curt Mallory in the secondary. The 1993 graduate of Michigan comes to Central comes from Ball State and is taking the place of Willie Martinez who went to Georgia.
