Football vs. Syracuse Notebook
9/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Chippewas Honor National Champions
Central Michigan honored part of its history Saturday when the 1974 Division II National Championship team was introduced at halftime of the Chippewas' game with Syracuse at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
Players and coaches from that memorable team, which finished 12-1 and defeated Delaware, 54-14, in the national title game, received a standing ovation from the crowd of 25,531.
Among those on the field was head Roy Kramer, who guided that group to the only national championship in school history. Some 60 members of the team attended the 40th anniversary celebration.
Rebound
The Central Michigan defense that had been so stout through the first two weeks of the season struggled Saturday in trying to contain a Syracuse offense led by quarterback Terrel Hunt.
Hunt threw for 175 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 92 yards and three TDs as the Orange finished with 464 yards in total offense.
"He was a really smart quarterback," CMU middle linebacker Justin Cherocci said of Hunt. "He did really well. A lot of credit to him. He played smart, he read our defense well and made great plays."
Syracuse finished with 289 yards on the ground, by far the highest total allowed by the Chippewas this season. Adonis Ameen-Moore ran for 106 yards on nine carries to lead the Orange ground game.
The Chippewas go to Kansas next Saturday.
"There's a lot to learn from this game, in all three phases, and moving forward we're going to rebound and be ready for Kansas," Cherocci said. "We didn't really execute on either side of the ball today, so we're going to turn it up in practice and try to get better for next week."
Kicking game
Brian Eavey was pressed into placekicking duties for CMU a week ago when starter Ron Coluzzi was injured in the first quarter at Purdue.
It was the first career appearance for Eavey, who booted a 26-yard field goal to account for CMU's only points against the Orange.
Coluzzi returned to the lineup this week and handled kickoff and punting duties. He averaged 40.2 yards on six punts against Syracuse. He kicked off three times (one of which came after CMU surrendered a safety) and averaged 57 yards with one touchback.
Run game
Central Michigan struggled in the run game, finished with 34 yards on 23 attempts.
With Thomas Rawls out, Saylor Lavallii, Devon Spalding, Martez Walker and Maurice Shomaker-Gilmore split the majority of the carries.
"We get them all ready all week," Enos said. "They all get a ton of reps in practice. We always plan everything like someone is going to get hurt the first series of the game. And then it's 'What are we going to do.?'
"We plan as a coaching staff. I hate to be so morbid sometimes, but that's what we have to do."
Enos went on to say that that is one reason he and his coaching staff strive to get the likes of Spalding, defensive back Amari Coleman and defensive end Mitch Stanitzek playing time in non-conference games.
"When we get to our MAC game, we have these guys ready to go and the game won't be too big from them," he said.
Top target
CMU junior wide receiver Jesse Kroll set career marks with five catches for 86 yards, including a 35-yarder that was the longest gain of the day for the Chippewas.
"He made some plays - he made some mistakes too," said Enos, who added that his overall assessment of the 6-foot-3, 214-pound Kroll's performance was good. "He's a playmaker and we know that about him. He's got great size and body control. He is about the only one on offensive who made explosive plays for us today."
Kroll, who entered the game with four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown on the season, was a little harder on himself.
"I made a lot of critical errors, so I've got to get in the film room and get better for next week," he said. "There were a lot of plays where I could've made a play but I did something wrong, and we need to fix those mental errors because we can be a really smooth offense."
Kroll, along with other receivers, may continue to see a higher profile role in CMU's offense the longer Titus Davis remains sidelined.
Davis, one of the top talents in the Mid-American Conference, was injured in the Chippewas' 20-16 season-opening win over Chattanooga and hasn't played since.
Davis remains listed as day-to-day.
"I get told by our medical staff if he's available or he's not," Enos said. "That's the way it should be. The medical staff will usually say he's available by Thursday after practice or he's not available then we make our plans from there."
Defense
CMU recorded four tackles-for-loss in the game, including one each by Kevin King, Jason Wilson and Jabari Dean. Joe Ostman and Dennis Nalor were each credited with one-half tackle-for-loss.
Ostman has five such stops this season after finishing with 1 ½ a year ago.
Cherocci made 11 tackles to lead CMU's defense, while Tony Annese finished with nine and Kavon Frazier, a safety who drew his first start of the season, had eight.
Annese's eight solo stops led the Chippewas.
