Eastern Michigan Notebook: Waller Steps Up in Starting Role
11/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
YPSILANTI, Mich. - Two starts, two times atop the tackle chart.
Central Michigan junior Tyree Waller made his second consecutive start at outside linebacker Tuesday in the Chippewas' 26-21 loss to Eastern Michigan at the Eagles' Rynearson Stadium.
Waller, along with fellow outside backer Nathan Ricketts, led the Chippewas with nine total tackles apiece. Last week, in a 27-20 win over Ohio, Waller led the defense with nine stops in his second career start.
Waller was playing in his hometown, Ypsilanti, where he starred at Lincoln High School. He moved into the starting lineup against Ohio because of a season-ending injury to starter Alex Briones.
• Another Chippewa pressed into starting duty because of injury, Otis Kearney, also turned in a solid performance against the Eagles. Kearney made eight tackles in his first start in the secondary in six games after replacing the injured Winslow Chapman.
• Corey Willis led the Chippewa receivers with seven receptions for 125 yards. Willis has made at least six catches in nine of his last 10 games, and the 125 yards are his second-highest yardage output of the season. It marked the fifth time this season he has exceeded the 100-yard mark.
• Joe Ostman continued to shine on the CMU defense, collecting a sack, his team-best ninth of the season, among five tackles. He also forced a fumble on the sack. It marked the second time this season that Ostman, a junior from St. Ignace, was credited with a forced fumble.
• Ostman's nine sacks tie him with five players for third in a single season in CMU history.
• Ostman now has 14 career sacks, which ties him for 10th on the CMU career list with Gabe McMasters, who played from 1996-99.
• CMU cornerback Amari Coleman made his fourth interception of the season. The junior entered the game tied for second in the conference with three picks, one behind De'Andre Montgomery of Miami (Ohio).
• CMU junior Devon Spalding scored three rushing touchdowns for the first time in his career. The last time he rushed for multiple touchdowns in a game was during his freshman season, 2014, at Eastern when he scored twice and ran for 154 yards.
• The loss snapped CMU's four-game win streak in the series. EMU's last win over the Chippewas came in 2011, 35-28, in Mount Pleasant. The Chippewas hold a 59-29-6 edge in the series.
• CMU placekicker Brian Eavey, a senior, made all three of his extra-point kicks in the game. He is 41-for-41 on PATs this season and 119-for-121 in his career.
• At 6-6, the Chippewas are bowl eligible for the eighth time in the last 11 seasons. The Mid-American Conference has ties to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (vs. a Mountain West opponent), the Dollar General Bowl (Sun Belt), Miami Beach Bowl (American Athletic), Popeyes Bahamas Bowl (Conference USA), Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (Sun Belt).
• MAC teams may be conditional selections for the Quick Lane Bowl and the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.
• The Chippewas have most recently played in the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl (2014) and the Quick Lane Bowl (2015).
