Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Get Down to Business
12/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MIAMI - The Central Michigan football team hit the field on Friday for the first time in Florida, going through a two-plus-hour workout in preparation for Monday's Miami Beach Bowl.
"Been a great trip, we've had great weather, we had an excellent practice today, high energy, guys are ready to go," second-year CMU coach John Bonamego said. "It was good to get down here in the heat and run around. It gives us a chance to review some things and make some corrections from our last practice, which was Wednesday."
The Chippewas (6-6) will take on Tulsa (9-3) in Monday's game (2:30 p.m., ESPN2) at Marlins Park. CMU arrived on Thursday afternoon and attended a welcome dinner along with Tulsa players and coaches on Thursday night.
Their workout on Friday was at a nearby high school field, under partly sunny skies with temperatures in the high 70s.
CMU enters the game having lost four of its last five regular-season contests, including its finale at Eastern Michigan, 26-21, on Nov. 22.
"That Eastern game was a tough way to end the regular season," said CMU safety Tony Annese, a senior. "This is a way to bounce back and get a win. There would be nothing better than to get a win in my last game here, a bowl win, a ring."
The Chippewas have not won a bowl game since 2012, when they defeated Western Kentucky, 24-21, in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit. Annese, along with many others on the current roster, was a redshirt freshman on that squad.
"I was on the team, but I wasn't playing," he said. "This'll be huge for all of our seniors, the whole team and the whole staff."
Quarterback Cooper Rush, another senior who was a redshirt during the 2012 bowl win, echoed Annese's sentiment.
"We want to end with a winning record, kind of leave your mark as a team, as a senior class because we haven't been able to do that," he said. "This will be a chance to put something up in that trophy case with a win and leave with a winning record."
Tulsa finished second in the American Athletic Conference West Division. Its losses came to Ohio State, Houston and Navy, and the Golden Hurricane scored 40 or more points in nine games this season.
One of the keys to slowing down Tulsa, Bonamego said, is controlling the football. Tulsa averages 522.5 yards in total offense. The Chippewas ranked second in the Mid-American Conference in possession time.
"You've got to make sure you possess the ball, finish drives, and you can't hurt yourself with turnovers or any kind of negative plays, whether they're breakdowns or penalties," he said. "It's absolutely critical to play complementary football in a game like this. If you get too many three-and-outs, you're not giving the defense time to rest or time to adjust."
Tulsa running backs James Flanders and D'Angelo Brewer have rushed for 1,529 and 1,330 yards, respectively, and quarterback Dane Evans has thrown for 3,044 yards and 24 touchdowns.
While the weather is certainly at the forefront of bowl-game conversation, Bonamego said concerns about overheating may be overstated.
Marlins Park features a retractable roof that, even when open, leaves a good portion of the field shaded.
"There should be good shade in there, especially on the sidelines," he said. "I don't think that's going to be as big a factor as it might be if you were at a destination further south. I think we're in good condition, we're rested. Guys have taken good care of their bodies."
