Defense Carries Chippewas to 24-14 Win Over Temple

Saturday, October 11

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

4:00 PM

Central Michigan University

4-2 , 3-0

Temple

2-5 , 1-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Temple

Central Michigan

10/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

MOUNT PLEASANT Central Michigan’s defense forced four turnovers and held Temple to 108 yards in the second half to lead the Chippewas to a 24-14 Mid-American Conference win at Kelly/Shorts Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Eric Fraser intercepted two passes, Bobby Seay intercepted one and Frank Zombo tallied two sacks to pace the Chippewas’ defensive effort.

Dan LeFevour and Brian Brunner combined to complete 17-of-24 passes for 242 yards and three scores to lead the CMU offense. Bryan Anderson caught eight passes for 149 yards and a score, and two of Antonio Brown’s three catches went for touchdowns.

CMU (4-2 overall, 3-0 MAC) remains deadlocked in a first-place tie in the MAC West Division with the win. At 4-2, the Chippewas are off to their best six-game start since 1994.

The Chippewas put at least 24 points on the scoreboard for the 11th time in the last 12 games, but it was key plays on defense and special teams that set up each of CMU’s three touchdown drives. All three covered 37 yards or fewer and lasted 62 seconds or less.

CMU punted on each of its first two possessions a 62-yard boot by Brett Hartmann and a 42-yard punt by LeFevour but both were downed at the Temple 1-yard line. Temple went three-and-out following LeFevour’s punt, and a 27-yard Temple punt set up the CMU offense at the Owls’ 32-yard line.

A 17-yard throw from LeFevour to Anderson on second down moved the ball to the 15, and one play later LeFevour hit Brown in stride in the back of the end zone.

The Owls again went three-and-out on the following possession, and Brown returned the punt 52 yards to the Temple 24-yard line. Three plays later LeFevour hooked up with Brown for a 14-yard score and a 14-0 CMU lead just four seconds into the second quarter.

Temple (2-5, 1-3 MAC) tied the score with touchdowns on two of its next three possessions. Jamal Schulters’ 42-yard kickoff return following CMU’s second score set up a 17-yard touchdown run by Kee-ayre Griffin. Jake Brownell’s point-after deflected off the right upright and was no good.

Brownell missed a 45-yard field goal on the Owls’ next possession, but Temple regained possession when LeFevour fumbled on third-and-18 from CMU’s 36-yard line. Chester Stewart threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Bruce Francis just two plays after the turnover, then hit Steve Maneri on the two-point conversion attempt to even the score at 14-14.

The Chippewa offense responded with its longest drive of the night, covering 75 yards in 11 plays, the last of which was a 22-yard field goal by Andrew Aguila with 51 seconds left in the first half.

CMU’s defense took over after halftime. Temple’s seven possessions in the second half resulted in three turnovers, two punts and two fourth-down stops. Seay collected his first career interception early in the fourth quarter, and one play later Brunner connected with Anderson for a 37-yard touchdown that extended CMU’s lead to 24-14. Brunner was hit as he threw, and Anderson worked his way back to the ball and out-jumped the defender for his 17th career touchdown catch.

Temple turned the ball over on downs on its final two possessions, the last of which was finished off when Zombo and Sean Murnane combined to sack Stewart on fourth-and-10 from midfield with 1:50 remaining.

Murnane finished with a team-high nine tackles, including three for a loss of yardage.

CMU closes out a three-game homestand next Saturday when it hosts Western Michigan at noon. The game will be televised on ESPN Regional as part of the MAC’s Game of the Week television package.