Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU to Honor, Celebrate 2006 MAC Champions
10/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Central Michigan will honor part of its rich football history on Saturday when members of the 2006 Mid-American Conference championship team will be introduced during the Chippewas’ homecoming game against Ball State at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
The 2006 team finished 10-4 overall, beating Ohio in the MAC Championship game and Middle Tennessee State in the Motor City Bowl. It marked the first time a CMU team had won the league title game and a Division I-A bowl game.
It was Brian Kelly’s third and, as it turned out, final year, as the Chippewas’ head coach. CMU returned a load of talent from a team that finished 6-5 in 2005, including senior defensive lineman Dan Bazuin, the reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Year and a preseason All-American.
“To have been a part of that is pretty special,” said Brian Brunner, then a junior quarterback on the squad who serves as CMU’s Associate Athletic Director for Development/Major Gifts. “The hardest thing is you see your best friends every single day and you go through all of that every day and all of a sudden it’s over.
“Now you get to relive that a little bit. That’s what I’m looking forward to. It seems in a lot of ways like yesterday. We had a special group of guys that I was pretty blessed to play with. Man my teammates were incredible.”
Bazuin, linebacker Ike Brown, and offensive lineman Joe Staley were the captains, while Dan LeFevour burst on to the scene as a neophyte redshirt freshman quarterback who would go on to become the most prolific passer in school history.
Among LeFevour’s career program records that still stand are yards passing, pass attempts, pass completions, touchdown pass, total offense and rushing touchdowns.
No less than seven players from the ’06 team were drafted by NFL or CFL teams, LeFevour, Bazuin and Staley along with center Drew Mormino, tackle Greg Wojt, wide receiver Obed Cétoute, and defensive back Eric Fraser.
Another 15 players from that team signed with professional teams as free agents or had pro tryouts, Brown among them, along with the likes of linebacker Red Keith, defensive back Josh Gordy, linebacker Frank Zombo, and wide receiver Bryan Anderson.
The Chippewas opened the season with back-to-back losses to Boston College and to Michigan. Boston College, which topped the Chippewas, 31-24, at Kelly/Shorts Stadium, would go on to finish 10-3 and was ranked 20th in the final Associated Press; Michigan, which downed the Chippewas, 41-17, in Ann Arbor, would finish 11-2, play in the Rose Bowl, and finish eighth in the AP poll.
CMU opened MAC play with a 24-21 home win over Akron, highlighted by Gordy’s 100-yard interception return for a touchdown, and followed a week later with a 24-17 overtime win at Eastern Michigan when Brunner came out of the bullpen to throw for 214 yards and run for 72 and two touchdowns.
The win was big on several levels, not the least of which was the fact that Eastern had beaten the Chippewas in each of the previous two seasons, 2005 in overtime and 2004 in four OTs.
After dropping a 45-36 non-leaguer at Kentucky – CMU’s third Power-5 opponent that season, the Chippewas rebounded with another statement win, 42-20, at Toledo. It was CMU’s first victory on the Rockets’ home turf, the Glass Bowl, in more a decade.
Bazuin’s strip-sack-and-score with under a minute to play in the half swung momentum in the Chippewas’ favor, and the CMU defense forced three second-half turnovers including a 31-yard interception return for a TD by Doug Kress. The Chippewas would overcome a 14-0 deficit by scoring 42 consecutive points.
CMU’s win streak continued the following week at home in an 18-7 victory over Ball State. While LeFevour was solid in throwing for 245 yards and scoring two rushing touchdowns, the defense was the story of the game. CMU forced five turnovers and limited Ball State – which came in to the game with the MAC’s top passing offense – to 160 yards through the air. The Chippewas also mounted a critical fourth-quarter goal-line stand.
The late Ontario Sneed, CMU’s leading rusher that season, bolted 44 yards for a touchdown on the Chippewas’ first offensive play the following week, sparking a 31-14 win over Bowling Green at Kelly/Shorts. LeFevour and Cétoute connected on an 88-yard TD pass play early in the fourth quarter and Cétoute later blocked a Bowling Green field goal attempt.
Sneed would account for 233 all-purpose yards and score four TDs the following week to highlight a 42-26 win at Temple. Sneed’s 65-yard TD run in the third quarter put CMU in command at 42-13.
The following week the Chippewas pounded rival Western Michigan on a miserable day, weather-wise, at Kelly/Shorts Stadium, 31-10. Marcel Archer ran for three touchdowns and Bazuin turned in a monster performance with eight tackles including two sacks, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. The game was played before a then-Kelly/Shorts-record crowd of 30,027.
The lone speed bump on CMU’s MAC slate in 2006 came the following week, when the Chippewas dropped a 31-10 decision at Northern Illinois, ending CMU’s win streak at five games.
CMU rebounded the following week, thrashing Buffalo, 55-28, in New York to clinch the MAC West crown. True freshman Tim Brazzel ignited the Chippewas when he scooped the opening kickoff off the turf and raced nearly untouched for a TD; he later blocked a punt that led to another CMU score. The Chippewa defense forced three punts and four turnovers on Buffalo’s next seven possessions and the Chippewas lead was 55-13 in the third quarter.
CMU’s Damien Linson made seven catches for 191 yards and a TD as the Chippewas rolled past Ohio, 31-10, in the MAC title game at Ford Field in Detroit. Linson was named the game’s Most Valuable Player and his 191 yards in receptions still stand a MAC title game record.
Ohio entered the title game allowing just 16.2 points and 291.6 yards per game, ranking first and second in those categories, respectively, in the league. CMU finished with 457 yards of offense. The Chippewas’ point total and total yards were both season highs allowed by the Bobcats. Sneed’s 96-yard TD run in the fourth quarter still stands as a MAC title game record.
The Chippewas returned to Ford Field 26 days later for the Motor City Bowl, pasting Middle Tennesse, 31-14. LeFevour threw for 162 yards and ran for 69 to earn MVP honors, while Bazuin was named the UAW Lineman of the Game for his eight-tackle, two-sack performance. Keith and Kress led CMU’s defense, which held Middle Tennessee to 61 yards rushing, with nine stops apiece. Kress’ interception return for a TD in the third quarter put it out of reach.
LeFevour was named the MAC Freshman of the Year and 11 Chippewas earned All-MAC recognition, including First Teamers Bryan Anderson, Bazuin, Keith, LeFevour and Staley.
