Chippewas Drop Third Straight
11/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
OXFORD, Ohio - A season that looked so promising three weeks ago is unraveling for the Central Michigan football team.
Quarterback Gus Ragland threw for 218 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 60 yards on Friday as Miami (Ohio) handed the Chippewas their third straight loss, 37-17, at the RedHawks' Yager Stadium.
Central Michigan slipped to 5-5, 2-4 in the Mid-American Conference. It was the fourth straight win for Miami (4-6, 4-2).
"It's frustrating," CMU coach John Bonamego said. "We're all frustrated, I'm frustrated. We've got a little bit of time here to kind of regroup. We've got to pick up the pieces and see what we can salvage for the rest of the season."
The Chippewas need a win in one of their final two games to become bowl eligible. CMU plays host to Ohio on Nov. 15 and closes the regular season at Eastern Michigan on Nov. 22.
Central Michigan quarterback Cooper Rush finished 21 for 32 passing for 242 yards. He was held without a touchdown pass for the first time in the 2016 season, and for the first time in a regular-season game since the 2015 season-opener, against Oklahoma State.
Jahray Hayes, making his first start of the season because of injury to Devon Spalding, led the Chippewa ground game with 60 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.
Both of Hayes' TD runs came in the first half. The Chippewas trailed, 20-17, at the break. Brian Eavey tied his season-long with a 45-yard field goal with 2 seconds left in the half to pull the Chippewas within three.
Any momentum the Chippewas gained from Eavey's field goal went up in smoke when Miami's Kenny Young raced 72 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the third quarter. That made it 27-17 and the Chippewas never seriously challenged in the second half.
"The opening play of the second half I think was really a back-breaker," Bonamego said. "If you want to point to one play in the game that really kind of took the air out of us a little bit it was that one. That put them up two scores and then you're playing catchup."
The RedHawks finished with a 436-292 advantage in total yardage, including 218-50 on the ground. Miami converted nine of 13 third-down opportunities and punted just once.
"I think we stopped them on downs one other time," Bonamego said. "Otherwise they moved the ball right up and down the field and that was probably the most discouraging thing.
"Just couldn't do anything with the level of consistency to win. We started off the game well offensively; defensively we just couldn't get them off the field."
