Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Sam Houston State
Football Takes Season Opener, 34-10
8/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 29, 2002
MOUNT PLEASANT -- Junior quarterback Derrick Vickers tossed a career-high three touchdown passes in leading Central Michigan University to a 34-10 non-conference victory over Sam Houston State University here Thursday night.
It marked the third straight home-opening win for the Chippewas under coach Mike DeBord.
CMU jumped out to a 14-0 first period lead, and held a 20-3 edge at the half in rolling to the relatively easy win over the Bearkats.
*Vickers completed 17-of-28 passes for 208 yards with one interception.
*Junior Steve Messam had one career TD reception before tonight; he caught two scoring passes from Vickers on grabs of 7 and 27 yards.
*Senior Robbie Mixon got the start at halfback when Terrence Jackson (foot) and Kenan Lawhorne (ankle) were sidelined with injuries. He made the most of his opportunity with 140 yards rushing on 30 carries, one a four-yard scoring run. Robbie also had a career-long 50-yard run.
*Senior halfback Alan Parks rushed for a career-best 69 yards on 16 carries.
*Junior fullback Adam Supianoski caught the first two passes of his career, gaining 36 yards.
*The Chippewas held a 432-250 edge in total offense, holding the Bearkats to just 32 yards rushing in 32 attempts.
*CMU held a 4-3 edge in turnovers with Dante McKnight and Jovan Clarke grabbing interceptions. It was McKnight's first game at cornerback.
*Redshirt freshman Desmond Crenshaw scored on an eight-yard fumble recovery .
*Senior Darvin Lewis played a strong safety against SHSU when Omari Colen was sidelined with a should injury. He's a 6-3, 235-pounder who normally plays inside linebacker.
*Sophomore Anthony Tyus had a game-high 11 tackles starting in Lewis' linebacker slot.
*Junior Matt Wohlgemuth had four tackles for losses of 11 yards from his defensive position.
*The Chippewas return to action next Saturday at home against the University of Wyoming. Game time is 1 p.m.
Notes and Quotes
? Central Michigan University tailback Robbie Mixon rushed for a career long 50 yards in the first quarter.
? CMU quarterback Derrick Vickers opened the game completing his first 10 passes for 107 yards.
? Wide receiver Steve Messam caught his first touchdown pass in two years for CMU. He caught two against Sam Houston State and has three career touchdown receptions.
? Dante McKnight tallied his first career interception for CMU in fourth quarter.
? The victory over Sam Houston State gives makes CMU head coach Mike DeBord a perfect 3-0 in season openers. All three season-opening wins were in Kelly/Shorts.
? Desmond Crenshaw returned the fumbled punt for a TD, his first for CMU.
? Adam Supianoski made his first career catch.
Sam Houston State head coach Ron Randleman:
"CMU did a good job of taking advantage of our mistakes. But, I don't have a lot to say about CMU. I need to focus on my team. We played poor and we have a lot of work to do."
"We had trouble with our signals because our athletes are not used to them. We had growing pains out there tonight. But, we are a young team and we will do better next week."
"It's not easy to get a win on the road, you have to play a lot better than we did."
"We had two quarterbacks that have not played much. [Travis] Tobaben had problems so I thought that we had to make the switch to [Vance] Smith."
Central Michigan head coach Mike DeBord:
"Derrick Vickers got off to an outstanding start tonight. He was hitting his receivers well and the offensive line needs to be credited for providing protecting and the receivers need to be credited for running good routes. He only made one bad decision and that's something we can work on and it won't happen next week."
Both [Allen Parks and Robbie Mixon] have had up-and-down careers at Central Michigan. But, they both have great attitudes and tonight when they were asked to step up, they performed well and helped carry this team."
"I thought the secondary played well tonight. It is a young group and there are still some things it needs to work on. Overall, the secondary did impress me."
"I thought our defense played fast and strong and showed how much it has improved. Our defensive line did a great job pressuring Sam Houston's quarterback and our linebackers stepped up and made some nice plays."
