Happy Homecoming

Saturday, October 12

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

3 p.m.

Central Michigan University

4-3

New Mexico State (Homecoming)

0-7

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

New Mexico State

Central Michigan

CMU sophomore Kobe Lewis sprints for the end zone, leaving New Mexico State defenders in his wake, Saturday at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf

10/12/2019 8:33:00 PM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

Chippewas run past New Mexico State, improve to 4-3

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Central Michigan football coach Jim McElwain likes explosive plays.

He got them – and a lead -- in the first half on Saturday. Then he settled for some good old-fashioned ball-control football in the second.

Either way, McElwain and the Chippewas will happily take the result, a 42-28 nonconference victory over New Mexico State before 15,764 on homecoming at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

"We're starting to learn, there's some things we're going to get better at from this game as well, but at the same time it's about getting wins and we got a win today," McElwain said. "We ran the ball well at times, I think our explosive plays, second week in a row, kind of set the tone and that was good to see."

The win lifted CMU to 4-3 and it marked the first time the Chippewas, 42-16 winners over Eastern Michigan a week ago, have won back-to-back games since late in the 2017 season. It also marks the first time that CMU is over .500 since that same period.

Jonathan Ward and Kobe Lewis once again proved to be a potent one-two punch as the running backs combined for 328 yards in rushing and receiving and three touchdowns on 45 touches.

Ward continued his senior-season resurgence, rushing for 131 yards on 18 carries and catching four passes for 36 yards. Lewis, a sophomore, had 161 yards and scored twice on 23 carries.

"I love what both of those guys bring," McElwain said. "You feel really comfortable when they're in there. Both of them have finish speed and that's big."

The Chippewas finished with a season-high 352 yards on the ground, averaging 6.3 yards per attempt. They held a 10-plus-minute edge in possession time on a day when a strong southerly wind was clearly a factor.

"I felt from the start we were going to have an opportunity to be a good balanced football team, and I still think we are and can better at it," McElwain said. "Somebody told me when I took this job, the later the season gets, you'd better be able to run the football in this league because there's a chance you're going to play in some games where the weather's not real conducive to spinning it around the yard."

Quinten Dormady returned to quarterback for the Chippewas after missing the better part of five games with an injury. The graduate transfer completed 14 of his 24 pass attempts for 134 yards and two touchdowns.

"I thought he was rusty, I thought he missed a couple throws, and yet he did a good job of commanding the game and taking advantage of some of the things they gave him," McElwain said.

Dormady's first scoring pass went for 44 yards to Kalil Pimpleton on CMU's first possession of the game. Lewis bolted 57 yards for a touchdown the next time the Chippewas had the ball, increasing their lead to 14-0 midway through the first quarter.

The Chippewas never relinquished the lead.

Lewis scored on a nifty 20-yard spinning run midway through the second quarter, and Ward ripped off a 75-yard TD run with under four minutes to play in the half. The Chippewas led at the break, 28-21.

The second half featured nowhere near the highlight-reel plays as did the first, but the Chippewas were plenty good enough, getting a pair of Ryan Tice field goals in the third quarter when the wind was at their backs, and a 7-yard Dormady-to-Tony Poljan TD pass as they kept the Aggies (0-7) at arm's length.