Chippewas Like Their Bowl Destination
12/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - In a way, it's like a home game.
And a homecoming for first-year Central Michigan football coach John Bonamego.
Bonamego's Chippewas are headed to the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit to play the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Monday, Dec. 28 (5 p.m.). The game will be carried live on ESPN2.
It's only about 150 miles from Mount Pleasant to downtown Detroit, and Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions. Bonamego was a Lions assistant in the previous two years before taking over at CMU, his alma mater.
"It'll be great to be back in Ford Field," Bonamego said. "It's a fantastic facility and we expect a great crowd. I'm really excited about it and so is our team."
In addition, 75 percent of the players on CMU's roster hail from the state of Michigan, and at least three dozen of those players grew up with a 45-minute drive of the stadium.
"I think a lot of my family are really happy about that," said CMU center Nick Beamish, who hails from suburban Detroit's Riverview, about 20 minutes from Ford Field. "I'm sure there'll be a big turnout from them. I'm excited about it."
Bonamego said the Chippewas, particularly the veterans on the roster, were hoping for a bowl game in Detroit.
"I did a couple of informal polls, really just talking to the seniors on our football team about where they would like to be, and Detroit was always in the top two," he said. "There was an overwhelming majority of our guys who had Detroit first because they want to be able to play in front of their family and they're excited about our students being able to be there as well."
The Chippewas are 7-5 and finished 6-2, tied for first in the Mid-American Conference West Division. Minnesota is 5-7 and finished tied for the fifth at 2-6 in the Big Ten West.
Seven MAC teams accepted bowl invitations. CMU is the only one of those seven that will face a team from a Power Five conference.
There is just one common opponent, Kent State. The Chippewas defeated the Golden Flashes, 27-14, in the second-to-last game of the regular season. Minnesota topped Kent, 10-7, on Sept. 19, as part of a 4-2 start.
The Gophers lost five of their last six games, including contests with Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin. Three of those four teams - the Wolverines, Buckeyes and Hawkeyes - will play New Year's Day bowl games.
CMU and Minnesota have met just once, in 1987, with the Golden Gophers winning, 30-10, at home.
The last time the Chippewas played a game indoors, they lost to Syracuse, 30-27, in overtime in the Orange's Carrier Dome.
In that game, CMU quarterback Cooper Rush threw for 430 yards - the second-highest total of his career - and two touchdowns. Tight end Ben McCord caught 10 passes, a record for a Chippewa tight end.
"It'll be a great environment, great facility, happy it's indoors," Rush said. "Don't have to worry about wind or a dry ball, stuff like that. It helps a lot. Quarterbacks favor that."
