Central Michigan University Athletics
Back in the Ring
10/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
CENTRAL MICHIGAN (3-2, 0-1 MAC) vs. BALL STATE (3-2, 0-1 MAC)
Saturday, October 8 • 3:30 p.m. • Kelly/Shorts Stadium • Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Game Notes: Central Michigan | Ball State
Watch: American Sports Network/ESPN3
Listen: Central Michigan IMG Sports Network
Live Stats:
Twitter: @CMU_Football
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The old saying among coaches is you're never as good as you think you are when you win, and you're never as bad as you think you are when you lose.
For three games, things were pretty good for the Central Michigan football team. The Chippewas built a 3-0 resumé by pasting Football Championship Subdivision Presbyterian in the season-opener; by stunning then-22nd-ranked Oklahoma State on the road with a national-attention grabbing win on a Hail Mary pass; and by posting a going-away win against UNLV.
But the last two? Not so much. The Chippewas have surrendered 49 points in back-to-back games, the second of which was a stinging 39-point loss at home last week to bitter rival Western Michigan in CMU's Mid-American Conference opener.
Saturday's game against Ball State (3:30 p.m.) at Kelly/Shorts may be telling for the Chippewas. Both teams are 3-2 overall, 0-1 MAC. How CMU responds against the Cardinals in the wake of the Western game will be telling.
"They may be hurting a little bit still," second-year CMU coach John Bonamego said of his players during his weekly media session on Tuesday. "I know I am, and I'm not sure that that's a bad thing. If you care and if you're invested in something and you put a lot of time and effort into something and you don't get the desired result, it's going to sting. It hurts."
Critical is in how one turns that "hurt" into a positive, Bonamego said.
"You can't mope around and feel sorry for yourself," Bonamego said. "You have to use that frustration and pain and be able to channel it in a positive way.
"It starts with a hard-nosed, competitive analysis, and that's from the top down - everybody. And really looking at what happened and where things broke down and why."
Ball State dropped its MAC opener last week to Northern Illinois, 31-24, surrendering 653 total yards, 355 on the ground. Ball State ranks ninth in the league in total defense, 10th in pass defense. The Cardinals are the MAC's least-penalized team, averaging below 25 yards per game in penalties. With three wins, they have already equaled their win 2015 win total.
CMU ranks second in pass offense and fourth in total defense, an accomplishment considering that the Chippewas have surrendered 49 points in back-to-back games. A CMU opponent had scored that many just once in the Chippewas' previous 40 contests (49 in the 2014 Bahamas Bowl vs. Western Kentucky).
Ball State quarterback Riley Neal, a sophomore, has completed 59.4 percent of his passes for 1,127 yards and five touchdowns against four interceptions.
His top target is KeVonn Mabon, who has made 29 catches for 359 yards this season. Mabon returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown last season against the Chippewas in Muncie, Ind. CMU won that game, 23-21, ending a skid of five consecutive loss to the Cardinals.
Ball State's defense recorded eight sacks in a 41-14 win over Eastern Kentucky three weeks ago, the same number of sacks the Chippewas surrendered last week in falling to Western Michigan. That is the second-highest total in a Football Bowl Subdivision game this season. The Cardinals' 18 sacks rank second in the MAC and tied for 10th nationally.
"When it comes to pass protection it only takes one guy and you're off schedule," Bonamego said. "The biggest thing is to try and avoid getting into third-and-long and second-and-long. That's where avoiding penalties is such an important thing and having success on first and second down so you're not in predictable situations where people can just lay back and tee off on you."
