Central Michigan University Athletics
Football Notebook: Wideouts In The Spotlight
8/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - With a new up-tempo, pass-oriented offense, the receivers will be squarely in the spotlight for the Central Michigan football team in 2017.
First-year wide receivers coach Marcus Knight has a good corps with which to work, beginning with senior veterans Corey Willis and Mark Chapman, who ranked one-two, respectively, on the team last season in receptions and receiving yardage.
"What I'm most impressed about with this group is that they love each other the way that they do," Knight said. "They play together, they compete every day, and they're pushing each other to be better. All of them are very skilled athletes. If we can tweak a few things here and there they're going to have a very successful season."
Willis earned Second Team All-MAC honors a year ago when he racked up 1,091 receiving yards, which ranked fourth in the MAC and was the sixth-highest single-season total in CMU history. He finished with 72 receptions, nine of them for touchdowns.
Chapman caught 44 balls for 592 yards and four TDs last season. Sophomore Brandon Childress, who had 23 receptions for 327 yards in 2016, also returns, giving Knight a solid trio around which to build.
Several others on the depth chart, senior Eric Cooper and sophomores Damon Terry and Cameron Cole among them, are in the hunt and should get plenty of snaps.
"We've got great competition and that's the way you get better," Knight said. "We've got a long way to go. We're in preseason camp and these young men are learning what it takes to win a championship. They're accepting every challenge that we bring to them daily. They're on the right track and by the time the season rolls around we hope that we've put enough into them that they understand that when adversity hits, they have to step up a little bit more."
All of the wideouts - plus the running backs and tight ends - will get ample opportunity to catch the ball in the Chippewas' spread offense.
Championship pedigree: Knight knows of what he speaks when it comes to reaching a championship level.
He played on Michigan's 1997 National Championship team, which capped the '97 season with a win in the '98 Rose Bowl; He also played three seasons in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was a member of the Raiders team that played in Super Bowl XXXVII.
While it's clear that a critical component to CMU's potential success is its ability to move the ball through the air, the bottom line is moving the ball, one way or another, Knight said.
"It's about the Chippewas and we're trying to find ways to win and if that takes running the ball 40 times (a game) we will, if it takes throwing the ball 50 times we will," he said. "I think (the receivers) understand that and we make sure it's something that we impress upon our kids and I think they'll be ready for anything."
Buying in: Knight said that team-first theme is not exclusive to the wide receivers. It begins with coach John Bonamego and runs through the entire staff and up and down the roster.
"They've got to understand that it's not about them, it's about us, it's about us as a team," he said. "Coach Bonamego, he preaches team, team, team and that's what we're going to be about.
"Once we figure out that somebody has a selfish attitude then we've got to go back to the drawing board no matter if it's our worst player or our best player, that can be a cancer to what we're trying to build here and I think the young men understand that."
On the same page: Knight came to CMU from Northern Michigan, where he served as an assistant under Chris Ostrowsky, the Chippewas' first-year offensive coordinator.
Ostrowsky was NMU's head coach from 2011-16. In the past two seasons combined, the Wildcats averaged 31.7 points and 386 yards in total offense per game.
The familiarity between Ostrowsky and Knight has helped speed things along with the wide receivers group in camp.
"We have chemistry," Ostrowsky said. "I think (Knight) completely understands the plan. We've got great trust in one another, which you can only get with time. You can't get that right away, and I think because of that our chemistry as men and the fact that we trust each other really puts us in the driver's seat, if you will, in regards to teaching the system."
A different look: The Chippewa receivers have not only been tasked with learning a new offensive scheme, but also with adjusting to a new quarterback.
Cooper Rush graduated after last season, leaving a legacy as one of the very best to have ever worn a Chippewa uniform. His successor will come from a group of players, including Shane Morris, a graduate transfer from Michigan, redshirt freshman Tony Poljan, and junior Tommy Lazzaro.
Morris throws left-handed, while every other quarterback on the roster is a righty.
"It's definitely different coming from a lefty's hand, but we can't make excuses," said Knight, who, when he was with the Buccaneers in the NFL, caught passes from left-hander Chris Simms. "There's no such thing as bad throws, only great catches, so you've got to adjust to that.
"With a lefty, the ball spins a little bit differently. You have to see it and anticipate, if it's not a perfect ball, which way it's going to go. If it's a perfect ball it doesn't matter. Our job is to catch it. But not always is the quarterback going to be able to set up perfectly and throw a perfect ball, and when that happens you've got to be able to adjust and understand the spin and how different it is from a right-handed quarterback. You have to adjust and that's part of ball skill."
Midway point: Wednesday marked a midway point of sorts. The Chippewas have been in camp since Aug. 3, and the season opener is Thursday, Aug. 31, at home against Rhode Island.
Fourteen days in camp, 15 days until they kick it off against the Rams.
The Chippewas ran their two-minute drill for much of the second half of Wednesday practice, often with the first-team offense going head-to-head against the first-team defense.
"They've been really good this week," Bonamego said of his players. "Tempo's been great, there's been a lot of good competition, good back and forth."
By this point, camp can become a grind, Bonamego said, and it's critical to keep morale at a high level and continue to be productive.
"It's a daily process," he said. "You have a high standard and you just keep it high. It's all of us. Obviously, I'm the head coach and it falls on me, and I need the help and the support of the rest of the coaches and the upperclassmen."
Proud moment: Bonamego said he did not watch on Saturday night as Rush saw significant playing time in the Dallas Cowboys' 13-10 NFL preseason loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
He did, however, catch the game highlights, one of which was provided by Rush when he delivered a strike for a 25-yard TD pass, the Cowboys' lone TD of the game. Rush finished 9-of-11 passing for 104 yards.
Rush, who signed a free-agent contract with the Cowboys, is 18-for-29 for 191 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in two preseason games. His passer rating is 104.2, the best of Dallas' three quarterbacks who have played in the preseason. Rush is battling with veterans Kellen Moore and Luke McCowen to back up starter Dak Prescott, the 2016 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
"I saw the highlight of the touchdown pass," said Bonamego, who coached for 16 seasons in the NFL before returning to CMU, his alma mater, before the 2016 season. "I'm not surprised by his success. At all."
