Central Michigan University Athletics
Football Notebook: A Businesslike Approach
12/15/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Yes, there is a level of excitement in going to a bowl game.
But the vibe has been decidedly businesslike around Central Michigan football practices since it was announced two weeks ago that the Chippewas had accepted an invitation to play Wyoming in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise one week from today.
Part of that is likely due to the fact that some two dozen seniors dot the Chippewa roster, the vast majority of them starters or key role players, and they'd like to go out as winners.
"Normally bowl practices are a little chill, but this year I feel like we're going at it like it's an in-season game and that's the way we should be going at it," said safety Josh Cox, one of those seniors.
The Chippewas are playing in a bowl game for the fourth consecutive year and for the 11th time as a Division I program. CMU's last bowl win came on Dec. 26, 2012, when it defeated Western Kentucky, 24-21, in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit.
Last season, the Chippewas lost, 55-10, to a strong Tulsa squad in the Miami Beach Bowl. That left a bad taste in the mouths of many in and around the program.
"Anytime you let up that many points you're going to come off (angry)," senior defensive tackle Chris Kantzavelos said, "but that game's behind us now and we're just excited to go get the next one in Boise because I know we'll perform better."
What happened in Miami is irrelevant as the Chippewas look ahead to the Potato Bowl. Still, it can't hurt that the players, to a man, have said that they have used it as a motivator - just as it is a motivators for the senior class, the members of which are seeking their first bowl win.
"Everybody here, I'm pretty sure, we're just tired of going to a bowl game and playing in the game and not getting a win and not getting a ring," Cox said. "The way I look at it, I don't want to just go to a bowl game … I feel like everybody here has a mindset that we're going out there to win. And we've been practicing like it."
Gearing up
The Chippewa defense is gearing up for a potential matchup with Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen, a junior who has been projected to go as high as the top five in the NFL Draft in April.
Allen missed Wyoming's final two regular-season games with a right (throwing) shoulder injury. There has been no definitive word out of the Wyoming camp on his status for the bowl game.
"We're looking forward to that," senior cornerback Amari Coleman said. "A top-five pick. Got to make plays on him, really just show that our defense and our secondary are better than he is. That's what it comes down to."
CMU is ranked No. 1 in the Mid-American Conference and 23rd nationally against the pass (188.2 yards per game) and is tied for second in the country with 19 interceptions.
"Every QB is a personal challenge," Cox said. "I think he's a great quarterback; every quarterback we've played this year has been pretty good. I feel like it's prepared us for this challenge. … At the end of the day, it's going to be our players versus their players and it comes down to who makes the play when ball's in the air."
Special Guest
Mike Franckowiak, the quarterback of CMU's 1974 Division II National Championship team, addressed the Chippewas after practice on Friday in the turf bay in the Indoor Athletic Conference.
A member of the Central Michigan University Marcy Weston Athletics Hall of Fame, Franckowiak went on to a highly successful career. He and his wife, Gay Ebers-Franckowiak, are longtime major supporters of the university.
Taking flight
The Chippewas have one more scheduled practice, on Saturday, and then their annual banquet on Sunday before they depart for Boise on Monday morning from Lansing Capital Airport.
