Chippewas Outslug Akron, 14-6

Oct. 31, 2015

Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

AKRON, Ohio - No fireworks, no flash. Just good old-fashioned Midwestern football.

Cooper Rush threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns and the Central Michigan defense stood strong once again as the Chippewas grinded out their second straight Mid-American Conference road victory, this one 14-6 over Akron at the Zips' InfoCision Stadium.

"Wasn't pretty but our defense was outstanding," said CMU coach John Bonamego, whose team third consecutive game to improve to 5-4, 4-1 MAC. "It's better to win ugly than to lose pretty. The best thing is right now we're relevant and we're going into November."

The Chippewas will play host to Toledo (7-0, 4-0) on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. The Rockets are ranked 20th nationally and shares first place in the MAC West with Western Michigan.

"Big week, Toledo week," Rush said. "One of the best teams in the country. We're excited. We'll be ready. We'll have a week to prepare, couple days off to get healed up. We'll be ready."

Rush connected with Joe Bacci on a short touchdown pass in the first half, then he found Anthony Rice for a 14-yard score to open the third quarter.

Other than that, defense ruled the day. The teams combined for just 64 rushing yards and punted a combined 17 times.

"Defensively I thought it was an outstanding effort," Bonamego said. "Offensively we've definitely played better and we'll be better. That's how winning teams win. When one group's falling short somebody else has to pick up the slack."

The Chippewa defense pitched a second-half shutout for the second-consecutive week.

Bacci's 2-yard TD catch early in the second quarter gave CMU a 7-0 lead. Akron (3-5, 1-3) responded with its lone offensive highlight of the day, a 57-yard sideline catch-and-run TD from quarterback Thomas Woodson to Jerome Lane with under 12 minutes to play in the half.

The Zips missed the extra point, and the Chippewas led, 7-6.

CMU drove 75 yards in eight plays to open the third quarter, and Rush found Rice for the insurance TD. Rush, who completed 23-of-37 pass attempts on the day, was 5-of-6 in the drive.

"We had a big emphasis on starting fast in the first half," Rice said. "That didn't really end up happening. Going into the second half we were just emphasizing energy. It was, `We need more juice.'"

Rice had four catches for 37 yards on the drive, and finished with nine catches for 105 yards. Both were career-highs for Rice, a junior.

"We caught them in some good looks, base coverages and we started playing pitch-and-catch for a little bit," Rush said of the scoring drive. "Pass protection was really good on that drive and we were able to step up and get those guys downfield.

"The ball was just finding (Rice) today. Just how it works. Every game it's a new guy as the leading receiver. Today it was Anthony Rice. His competitiveness and his leadership today was huge."

The Chippewas held Akron to 106 total yards in the second half, a good chunk of that coming on the Zips final drive that started at their own 4 and ended with a Tony Annese interception as time expired.

Akron finished with 25 yards rushing and the Chippewa defense recorded four sacks, two by senior end Blake Serpa.

"We have confidence in our offense to put up points, but if for some reason they're having an off day, we're really confident in going out there and doing a little bit more to get the job done," Serpa said. "You know it's your opportunity, your chance to do something. It's on your shoulders, really, so we take great pride in that."

The Chippewas went into the game with the No. 1-ranked defense in the MAC, and their performance on Saturday kept them there.

"They play their butts off," Rush said. "They do that every week. They play so hard. Made a lot of plays for us this year. Lot of good playmakers, lot of good leaders on that defense."

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Team Stats

Cooper Rush

Players Mentioned

Tony Annese

Joe Bacci

Anthony Rice

Cooper Rush

Blake Serpa