CMU 44, SEMO 27
9/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 18, 2004
Southeast Missouri State (27) at Central Michigan University (44)
September 18, 2004
Notes and quotes
CMU
-First-year head coach Brian Kelly secured his first victory as coach of the Chippewas.
-Junior running back Spencer Lewis scored his first career touchdown in the second quarter for the Chippewas. He finished with 134 yards rushing, a career high.
-James King blocked an extra point attempt in the second quarter. It was the 11th blocked kick in the senior's career at CMU.
-Junior kicker Mike Gruzwalski had an extra point attempt blocked in the third quarter, snapping his streak of 52 consecutive extra point conversions.
-Sophomore Damien Linson returned a punt for a 66-yard touchdown in the third quarter, CMU's first punt return touchdown since 1983.
-CMU returned two punts for a total of 90 yards and three kickoffs for a total of 98 yards.
Quotes:
Southeast Missouri State:
Coach Tim Billings:
"We didn't play good enough to win. We were really bad in our kicking coverage and had very poor execution in the kicking game."
"I was very disappointed in the first series of the second half when we went three-and-out. I thought that was a devastating thing for our football team."
On Kent Smith: "He did some good things, but we have a lot of injuries in our secondary. That's the bottom line."
Comparing CMU to last week's opponent, Bowling Green: "BG has more skill guys right now. They are faster, but CMU has some really tough guys. (CMU is) well coached and they play really hard."
Quarterback Andrew Goodenough: "The important thing is to improve every week. We definitely made our share of mistakes."
Central Michigan
Coach Brian Kelly:
On Jerry Seyour: "His hip-pointer didn't respond. He's not the type of runner that you want to put out there {in a game} unless he's 100 percent. Being conservative with him was the best idea."
On his first win: "Your preparation is where you satisfaction comes from. What I look for is improvement from week to week. This football team is starting to respond to the type of coaching and leadership that we've (the coaches) prepared them."
On Kent Smith: "He did some good things today. I was pleased with his ability to make some plays downfield. He can do some things athletically and can make some plays. If anyone throws for 300 yards in a game, that's a pretty good day."
On the offensive line and running game: "Our offensive line is really solid. We're going to be about running the football. Whether it's Spencer Lewis or Jerry Seymour, we're going to run the football."
On Spencer Lewis: "He was the player of the game. We game him the game ball."