Ball State Notebook: With Western Next, Chippewas Can't Hang Their Heads

Photo by: Allissa Rusco

Ball State Notebook: With Western Next, Chippewas Can't Hang Their Heads

10/13/2018 10:44:00 PM | Football

Tice proves his worth with long field goals

By: Andy Sneddon

Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Certainly, this one stung.

Yet there is very little time for the Central Michigan football team to hang its collective head.

Western Michigan is next. And everybody in Mount Pleasant and Kalamazoo knows what that means.

"It's an emotional game, I've played in it for a couple years now," said CMU senior defensive tackle Nathan Brisson-Fast of the Central-Western rivalry. "You have to bring that emotion to the game but harness it.

"Limit the mistakes. We had some penalties (against Ball State), we can't do that in that game. It's going to be a close game every time. We have to limit those mistakes and play hard with that emotion, and make sure we play with it in the right way."

The Chippewas, coming off a subpar performance one week earlier in a 34-24 loss to Buffalo, appeared to have the right kind of emotion for much of Saturday's 24-23 loss to Ball State.

CMU established the running game early, something it had been unable to do throughout much of the season, and appeared to be in control – and perhaps on the way to turning around its season – with a 20-7 halftime lead.

The Cardinals surged in the fourth quarter and the Chippewas could not get back on track.

The biggest culprit: penalties. The Chippewas were flagged 11 times for 115 yards in the game. Eight of those penalties, totaling 78 yards, came in the second half. One of them wiped out a Chippewa interception on the drive that ended with Ball State's game-winning field goal.

Ball State put together scoring drives of 12, 11 and 12 plays in the second half. The Cardinals finished the game with 25 first downs, 16 of them in the final two quarters. Ball State ran 42 offensive plays in the second half, 14 more than CMU did over the same period.

Ball State quarterback Riley Neal, who CMU coach John Bonamego called "one of the better quarterbacks in the MAC," threw for 183 yards and rushed for 55.

"I think we weren't attacking as much," Brisson-Fast said of the defense's performance in the second half. "We have to keep attacking. That was the biggest thing. We had them running around the yard too much. We have to shore up those tackles, contain the quarterback, and make it so he can't run around like that."

OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION
The Chippewa offense turned in its most productive game of the season, finishing with season highs in rushing yards, 261; first downs, 23; and total offense, 388.

Running back Romello Ross and quarterback Tommy Lazzaro did most of the damage, finishing with 111 and 110 yards rushing, respectively.

NO TURNOVERS
After committing four turnovers one week earlier in the loss to Buffalo, the Chippewas did not commit any against the Cardinals.

ROSS BACK
Ross, a junior from Detroit, returned to form after a series of injuries had limited him this season in 2016, when he redshirted.

As a freshman, Ross scored four touchdowns against Eastern Michigan and finished with 128 all-purpose yards in the Quick Lane Bowl. Last season, Ross had 83 yards against Ball State, but his production and touches diminished throughout the season as Jonathan Ward emerged as CMU's feature back.

He carried 14 times for an average of 7.9 yards per carry against the Cardinals on Saturday. His total included a 47-yard run.

"It's great to see that," Bonamego said. "Mello did what Mello does. He is a patient runner; he's got good balance and vision. He kind of weaves his way through some narrow cracks. He's a slippery back, and he was very effective today."

GOOD COMPANY
With his 110 yards on 25 carries, Lazzaro cracked the 100-yard plateau for the second consecutive week.

He became the first CMU quarterback to register back-to-back 100-yard rushing games since Dan LeFevour accomplished the feat in 2008.

KICKS
Overshadowed by the loss was place-kicker Ryan Tice's outstanding performance. Tice booted a 53-yard field goal in the first quarter, and then hit a 47-yarder in the fourth quarter that put the Chippewas up, 23-21. He also had a 26-yarder.

On both long field goals, the junior from Saline – who spent three years at Michigan before coming to CMU as a graduate transfer – had plenty of leg and he was kicking with the wind at his back.

"I have confidence in Luke (Idoni) snapping and Jack (Sheldon) holding and all the guys up front," said Tice, who added that the 53-yarder was by far the longest he has ever hit in a game. "It's muscle memory at that point. We'll do (in games) what we've done thousands of times before. Really there's not so much to think about.

"Every kick should be the same: same technique, same mechanics; extra point, 53-yarder are all the same."

Tice's 53-yarder was just four yards shy of Rade Savich's program record 57-yarder, a record that was set in 1975. It is believed to be CMU's longest field goal since 2007 when Andrew Aguila hit a 51-yarder.

KICKING GAME
The Chippewas' other two specialists, Kaden Keon and Jack Sheldon, also turned in solid performances.

Sheldon averaged 40.7 yards on three punts with one inside the Ball State 20-yard line; Keon kicked off six times for an average of 57.7 yards with three touchbacks.

THE DEFENSE
Once again, middle linebacker Malik Fountain led the Central Michigan defense. The senior from Chicago made 10 stops, eight of them solos, in posting his sixth consecutive double-digit tackle total.

Fountain entered the game averaging 12.2 total tackles per game, which ranks second in the MAC and ninth in the nation.

The Chippewas sacked Neal five times. Mike Danna, who posted nine tackles, had a sack among two tackles-for-loss and forced a fumble.

Mitch Stanitzek was credited with 1.5 sacks, while Trevor Apsey had one. Brisson-Fast, Amir Siddiq and D'Andre Dill were each credited with one-half sack.