Central Michigan University Athletics
Football Notebook: Inside The Numbers
11/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
The Central Michigan football team doesn't know who, it doesn't know where, and it doesn't know when.
But what is clear about the CMU football team is that it has put together one of the program's best regular-season performances in recent memory. The result: An 8-4 record and a five-game winning streak
Here's by-the-numbers look at where the Chippewas stand as they wait, like everybody else in college football, to find out their bowl destination on Sunday.
1 - The Chippewas are tied for first in the nation with 19 interceptions. Iowa also has made 19 picks.
1 - CMU is No. 1 in the nation in turnovers forced with 31. It also recovered 12 fumbles, and it ranks ninth in fumble recoveries.
1* - CMU's Jarrod Davis averaged 29.6 yards on 13 kickoff returns. His return average is the best in the Mid-American Conference, but he did not total enough returns to qualify for the statistical leaders. Likewise, nationally, Davis' average is the eighth best.
2 - Defensive end Joe Ostman is tied for second in the nation with 12 sacks and is tied for the lead nationally with 1.2 sacks per game. Ostman's sack total ranks second in program history for a single single season behind Dan Bazuin's 16 in 2005. Ostman is also second, behind Bazuin (35 ½), with 26 career sacks.
2 - Chippewa quarterback Shane Morris is the No. 2-rated passer in the MAC, throwing for 242.3 yards per game. He has completed 226 of 407 passes for 2,908 yards and a league-best 26 touchdowns. He has been intercepted 13 times. Morris is tied with Dan LeFevour for fourth place on CMU's single-season TD pass list. LeFevour tossed 26 scoring passes in 2006. Morris needs just 14 yards passing in the Chippewas' bowl game to move into the top 10 in single-season passing yards in program history. His 407 attempts tie Ryan Radcliff (2012) for eighth and he needs 17 completions to make the top-10 list for single-season completions.
2 - Tight end Tyler Conklin ranks second in CMU history among tight ends for career receptions (74) and career receiving yardage (945) and first in TD catches (11). Conklin had six receptions for 67 yards in the 31-24 victory last week over Northern Illinois, moving past Ben McCord on the tight end receiving yardage list behind Adam Simonson (1995-97), who tops both lists with 84 catches for 1,070 yards.
3 - Senior safety Josh Cox is tied for third in the nation with six interceptions. The six picks are the most by a Chippewa since 1988 and Cox ranks tied for second in program history. The school record for a single season (8) was set by Jim Bowman in 1983. The others with six: David Johnson, 1988; Howard Young, 1987; Paul Fleszar, 1975; Jamie Gent, 1963; and John Blackstock, 1962.
3 - Punter Jack Sheldon is averaging 43.6 yards per punt. If he maintains that average, it would be the third-best single-season averaging in program history behind Art Texiera's 44.5-yard average in 1948 and Richie Hogan's 43.9 in 2013. Brian Brandt (2003) is third on the list at 43.1.
5 - The Chippewas are riding a five-game win streak, the program's longest since 2009. The five-game win streak is the longest by a Mid-American Conference school this season (Toledo also had a five-game win streak).
11 - CMU's red-zone defense is the best in the MAC and ranks 11th nationally. When opponents reached the red zone, the Chippewa defense surrendered a score just 72.3 percent of the time.
125 - The yards rushing average over the past five games for sophomore Jonathan Ward. Ward finished the regular season with 988 rushing yards, 625 of which came in the final five games. He has scored nine touchdowns, eight of them rushing. Ward's all-purpose yardage is 1,349 (he has caught 41 passes for 361 yards), which ranks 55th nationally.
