Central Michigan University Athletics
Saturday, October 27
Akron, Ohio
12 p.m.
Central Michigan University
at
Akron
Photo by: Mary Lewandowski
Akron Preview: Chippewas May Make Personnel Changes
10/26/2018 9:16:00 AM | Football
CMU looks to right the ship as it enters stretch run
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Anger, frustration, puzzlement. They have all been part of the equation for Central Michigan football coach John Bonamego in the 2018 season.
The Chippewas are 1-7, 0-4 in the Mid-American Conference. It is not a pretty picture, and Bonamego knows it as he looks ahead to Saturday's league game at Akron (3-3, 1-2).
But for all the soul-searching and what-ifs that have gone into the first two-thirds of the season, Bonamego is looking at Akron, and beyond, the only way he knows how: Correct, attack, get better.
"I blame myself before I blame a player, and then I tell him what I want," Bonamego said. "It's important to communicate what you want from (players) and what you expect from them, and that they know that the standards aren't going to change.
"You're either going to get it right and rise or else. You can't just accept it, or sweep it under a rug and pretend like it didn't happen. (You can't) push the reset button and start the season over. It doesn't work that way."
Despite encouraging signs here and there -- and myriad reasons that have led to this point -- the bottom line is CMU has struggled. Changes in personnel, either by choice or necessity, may come as early as Saturday.
Several Chippewas left last week's 35-10 loss to Western Michigan with injuries. One of them, senior defensive tackle Nate Brisson-Fast, suffered a season-ending leg injury. Others, however, could return this week or later in the season.
Whether or not those players are available for the Akron game, Bonamego said he may opt for some younger players in order to examine how they perform in game situations.
Among them, Bonamego said, are quarterback Austin Hergott, wide receiver Keonta Nixon, offensive lineman Tyden Ferris, defensive lineman LaQuan Johnson and tight end Joel Wilson. Hergott is a redshirt freshman who has been third on the depth chart this season behind Lazzaro and Tony Poljan.
The other aforementioned players are true freshmen who are allowed, under the new NCAA rule, to appear in four games while still preserving their redshirt, meaning they would still have four years of eligibility ahead of them even if they play in CMU's final four games.
"I'm not playing anyone who I think is not prepared to help us win," Bonamego said. "The younger guys' first opportunity is going to come in the kicking game. I've maintained that from day one, I believe in that.
"We want to see what they can do. Based on what we seen in practice we feel like they have earned an opportunity to get in the game."
MAKING CORRECTIONS
Two major areas of concern for the Chippewas are turnovers and penalties. CMU is minus-9 in turnover ratio and is averaging 71.3 yards per game in penalties.
It is the penalties that raise Bonamego's ire, specifically those that he said arise from lack of discipline: false starts, offsides, illegal procedure and the like.
"There are some that happen through the course of games where it gets competitive," he said. "Bang-bang plays, judgement calls and those you can live with.
"Guys have to understand where they're at on the football field. They're not invisible, and the decisions that are made affect everybody. We've had some very, very blatantly dumb penalties. There is no other way for me to tackle this problem, It's just unexplainable sometimes."
Another aspect that has led to Chippewa woes, Bonamego said, is missed assignments. Simplifying things, particularly for a young team, can help ease that.
"If they have a missed assignment they're probably trying to do too much," he said. "I'd rather have them do five things really well then have 10 options and have them (miss things) because they have too much to do."
SCOUTING
The Zips are coming off a 24-23 overtime victory over rival Kent State in the Wagon Wheel game. The win snapped a three-game losing streak. Akron opened with back-to-back wins over Morgan State and Northwestern, the first win in Akron history over a Big Ten team.
Akron's scheduled season opener at Nebraska was cancelled because of lightning.
Sophomore quarterback Kato Nelson leads the Zips in rushing with 292 yards and has thrown for 1,199 yards and eight touchdowns. He has completed 52.5 percent of his pass attempts.
Bonamego called Nelson a true dual-threat quarterback
"We have to make sure that we do a good job with our assignments," Bonamego said. "He is an elusive guy and is strong."
DEFENSE FIRST
Neither team has been adept offensively this season. The Chippewas are ranked 12th in the MAC and the Zips are 10th in total offense. Defensively, CMU is fourth in the league and Akron is fifth.
CMU is ranked first in the MAC and third nationally in passing yards allowed (140.6 per game).
TOP 10
CMU senior middle linebacker Malik Fountain continues to rank among the nation's top tacklers with 98 stops. He ranks second in the MAC to Buffalo's Khalil Hodge in total tackles and ranks ninth nationally with 12.3 tackles per game. He is third in the nation with 7.0 solo tackles per game.
The senior ranks among the NCAA's active career leaders in three categories. He is seventh in career total tackles (344), sixth in career solo tackles (194), and 15th in career assisted tackles (150).
Fountain needs eight tackles to move onto CMU's career top-10 list.
LEAGUE LEADER
Chippewa place-kicker Ryan Tice has made nine of his 10 field goal attempts, which is a MAC-leading 90 percent. He has also made all 11 of his extra-point tries.
Seven of Tice's field goals have been from 40 yards or longer. His 53-yarder against Ball State is the third-longest in CMU history.
NEXT
CMU goes to Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 3 (noon). The Eagles (4-4, 2-3) play host to Army in a nonconference game on Saturday.
The Chippewas are 1-7, 0-4 in the Mid-American Conference. It is not a pretty picture, and Bonamego knows it as he looks ahead to Saturday's league game at Akron (3-3, 1-2).
But for all the soul-searching and what-ifs that have gone into the first two-thirds of the season, Bonamego is looking at Akron, and beyond, the only way he knows how: Correct, attack, get better.
"I blame myself before I blame a player, and then I tell him what I want," Bonamego said. "It's important to communicate what you want from (players) and what you expect from them, and that they know that the standards aren't going to change.
"You're either going to get it right and rise or else. You can't just accept it, or sweep it under a rug and pretend like it didn't happen. (You can't) push the reset button and start the season over. It doesn't work that way."
Despite encouraging signs here and there -- and myriad reasons that have led to this point -- the bottom line is CMU has struggled. Changes in personnel, either by choice or necessity, may come as early as Saturday.
Several Chippewas left last week's 35-10 loss to Western Michigan with injuries. One of them, senior defensive tackle Nate Brisson-Fast, suffered a season-ending leg injury. Others, however, could return this week or later in the season.
Whether or not those players are available for the Akron game, Bonamego said he may opt for some younger players in order to examine how they perform in game situations.
Among them, Bonamego said, are quarterback Austin Hergott, wide receiver Keonta Nixon, offensive lineman Tyden Ferris, defensive lineman LaQuan Johnson and tight end Joel Wilson. Hergott is a redshirt freshman who has been third on the depth chart this season behind Lazzaro and Tony Poljan.
The other aforementioned players are true freshmen who are allowed, under the new NCAA rule, to appear in four games while still preserving their redshirt, meaning they would still have four years of eligibility ahead of them even if they play in CMU's final four games.
"I'm not playing anyone who I think is not prepared to help us win," Bonamego said. "The younger guys' first opportunity is going to come in the kicking game. I've maintained that from day one, I believe in that.
"We want to see what they can do. Based on what we seen in practice we feel like they have earned an opportunity to get in the game."
MAKING CORRECTIONS
Two major areas of concern for the Chippewas are turnovers and penalties. CMU is minus-9 in turnover ratio and is averaging 71.3 yards per game in penalties.
It is the penalties that raise Bonamego's ire, specifically those that he said arise from lack of discipline: false starts, offsides, illegal procedure and the like.
"There are some that happen through the course of games where it gets competitive," he said. "Bang-bang plays, judgement calls and those you can live with.
"Guys have to understand where they're at on the football field. They're not invisible, and the decisions that are made affect everybody. We've had some very, very blatantly dumb penalties. There is no other way for me to tackle this problem, It's just unexplainable sometimes."
Another aspect that has led to Chippewa woes, Bonamego said, is missed assignments. Simplifying things, particularly for a young team, can help ease that.
"If they have a missed assignment they're probably trying to do too much," he said. "I'd rather have them do five things really well then have 10 options and have them (miss things) because they have too much to do."
SCOUTING
The Zips are coming off a 24-23 overtime victory over rival Kent State in the Wagon Wheel game. The win snapped a three-game losing streak. Akron opened with back-to-back wins over Morgan State and Northwestern, the first win in Akron history over a Big Ten team.
Akron's scheduled season opener at Nebraska was cancelled because of lightning.
Sophomore quarterback Kato Nelson leads the Zips in rushing with 292 yards and has thrown for 1,199 yards and eight touchdowns. He has completed 52.5 percent of his pass attempts.
Bonamego called Nelson a true dual-threat quarterback
"We have to make sure that we do a good job with our assignments," Bonamego said. "He is an elusive guy and is strong."
DEFENSE FIRST
Neither team has been adept offensively this season. The Chippewas are ranked 12th in the MAC and the Zips are 10th in total offense. Defensively, CMU is fourth in the league and Akron is fifth.
CMU is ranked first in the MAC and third nationally in passing yards allowed (140.6 per game).
TOP 10
CMU senior middle linebacker Malik Fountain continues to rank among the nation's top tacklers with 98 stops. He ranks second in the MAC to Buffalo's Khalil Hodge in total tackles and ranks ninth nationally with 12.3 tackles per game. He is third in the nation with 7.0 solo tackles per game.
The senior ranks among the NCAA's active career leaders in three categories. He is seventh in career total tackles (344), sixth in career solo tackles (194), and 15th in career assisted tackles (150).
Fountain needs eight tackles to move onto CMU's career top-10 list.
LEAGUE LEADER
Chippewa place-kicker Ryan Tice has made nine of his 10 field goal attempts, which is a MAC-leading 90 percent. He has also made all 11 of his extra-point tries.
Seven of Tice's field goals have been from 40 yards or longer. His 53-yarder against Ball State is the third-longest in CMU history.
NEXT
CMU goes to Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 3 (noon). The Eagles (4-4, 2-3) play host to Army in a nonconference game on Saturday.
Players Mentioned
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