Central Michigan University
Michigan State
Chippewas Fall To Michigan State, 24-7
9/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
EAST LANSING. - Central Michigan University showed improvement in its second football game of the season but Chippewa head coach Brian Kelly wasn't into "moral victories" after suffering a 24-7 loss at the hands of Michigan State University here Saturday afternoon.
"We asked our football team to compete for four periods and they did," Kelly said. "I'm proud of our conditioning and effort but we came here to win.
"We played hard but that's not enough. We have to make plays. We have one playmaker right now ... we need more."
The one playmaker the Chippewas showed, Jerry Seymour, nearly proved enough.
"The good thing about Jerry is that he's on our team," Kelly said. "The bad thing is that there's just one of him."
The 5-6, 190-pound sophomore tailback broke the 100-yard barrier for the seventh straight game with 164 yards on 26 carries, scoring CMU's lone TD on a 90-yard run in the third quarter. He also caught two passes for 20 yards.
Trailing by a 10-0 margin at the half, CMU fell behind 17-0 early in the third when Seymour busted off the right side and galloped 90 yards for a score.
CMU threatened a couple of other times but could not make the big play when it counted most.
Junior Kent Smith started at quarterback and went the distance, completing 10-of-30 passes for 93 yards. He also rushed nine times for 52 more.
"I thought Kent did some good things and managed our offense well," Kelly said. "He's leasing the position right now. It's not his for keeps. He just has to pass the ball better."
Senior Grant Arnoldink, who started in a 41-10 loss at Indiana University, did not play against the Spartans.
The Spartans scored on their third possession of the game on a 44-yard pass from freshman quarterback Stephen Reaves to a wide-open Kyle Brown. It capped a four-play, 81-yard drive.
MSU upped its lead to 10-0 early in the second period on a 28-yard field goal by Dave Rayner. The three-pointer came at the 11:55 mark and capped a 39-yard drive that took nine plays.
The Chippewas had a great opportunity prior to half to get on the scoreboard but Mike Gruzwalski's 27-yard field goal attempt missed to the right.
The Spartans wasted little time in the third period to up the lead to 17-0, scoring on their first possession on a seven-yard run by Jehuu Caulrick at the 12:03 mark.. It capped a six-play, 47-yard drive.
Seymour put the Chippewas on the board on a 90-yard scoring gallop on their ensuing to make it 17-7 with 8:10 to play in the third. The scamper tied the Spartan Stadium record for the longest scoring run by an opponent.
CMU nearly made it 17-14 midway through the fourth period when a Kent Smith pass to Obed Cetoute was caught at the goal line but he was ruled out-of-bounds.
NOTES
* Seymour's 90-yard TD run tied the MSU opponent record for longest rush. It was previously held by Frank Ashenbrenner from Great Lakes Naval in 1945.
* Seymour's 164 rushing yards marked his third-best individual game effort. His top two games both came last season -- 207 against Eastern Michigan and 166 against New Hampshire. Seymour has now rushed for 100 yards in nine of 11 career games, including seven straight.
*MSU held a 405-329 edge in total offense although the Chippewas held a 236-216 edge in rushing.
*MSU's lopsided edge in punting, 55.3 to 39.3 proved to be a huge advantage as the Chippewas had a long field to work with nearly every possession.
*For the second straight week, redshirt freshman Thomas Keith led the Chippewas with 10 tackles. The 6-1, 226-pounder also had a tackle for a one-yard loss and broke up one pass.
*True freshman Asante White returned his first collegiate kickoff 37 yards for CMU.
