Chippewa Notebook: They Get Bigger From Here On Out

CMU linebacker Michael Oliver (7) corrals Bowling Green's Jake Rogers on Saturday in the Chippewas' 38-20 victory at Bowling Green's Doyt Perry Stadium.

Photo by: Allissa Rusco

10/19/2019 8:19:00 PM | Football

Dormady much improved in second game back

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Now it's up to the Chippewas to repeat the feat.

If they want to remain in the hunt for the Mid-American Conference West Division title, that's what they face when they go to Buffalo on Saturday, Oct. 26 (3:30 p.m.).

The Central Michigan football team posted its first road victory since the 2017 season on Saturday when it won at Bowling Green, 38-20. The victory, their third straight, lifted the Chippewas to 5-3, 3-1 MAC. They are in second place behind Ball State, which is 3-0 in league play.

Western Michigan entered its Saturday-night game at Eastern Michigan 2-1 in the conference.

CMU and Ball State meet in Muncie on Nov. 16. A long way off in football terms. The first order of business is Buffalo for a Chippewa team that seems to grow in confidence every week.

"Every game now has a little meaning, there's something to it," first-year CMU coach Jim McElwain said. "That's a good thing."

Senior safety Da'Quaun Jamison made two interceptions against the Falcons as the defense did a solid job of containing Bowling Green's Grant Loy, a dual-threat quarterback.

"Just coming into somebody else's place and having success is a really big part of growing up as a team," Jamison said. "Today we did that.

"It feels like we're playing for something. We just have to take this one for 24 hours and get on to studying Buffalo. We're not worrying about the MAC championship right now. We're not trying to look into the future, we're just trying to handle the now. If (a title shot is) the end result, that'll be the end result."

Said CMU quarterback Quinten Dormady: "From here on out, every game gets bigger and bigger. We've just got to stay the course and do our job, not let the moment get too big and we'll be fine and see where it puts us at the end of the year."

Ward & Lewis
CMU running backs Jonathan Ward and Kobe Lewis were again outstanding. Ward ran for 130 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries, while Lewis had 125 yards and a TD on 15 attempts. They combined to average 6.8 yards per carry.

It was Ward's fifth 100-yard game of the season and Lewis' third. It marked the second-consecutive time they both rushed for 100-plus yards in the same game.

"I think (Ward) and Kobe really complement each other as runners, and that's great to see," McElwain said. "I credit our guys up front for popping some holes."

Breaking 2,000
With his 130 rushing yards, Ward went over 2,000 for his career. He now has 2,092. His three rushing TDs gave him 21 in his career. He needs four more to break into the top 10 in program history.

Dormady Improves
Dormady, in his second game as a starter since returning from injury, completed 22 of his 36 pass attempts with 295 yards and one touchdown against one interception. Last week in a 42-28 victory over New Mexico State, he was 14 for 24 for 134 yards and two TDs.

"I think I took a step forward," Dormady said. "I had a much better week of practice, had a much better grasp of the game plan and we went out and executed. When you have backs rush for over 100 yards (in) a game, that makes it a lot easier too.

"Last week I threw the ball very poorly. And then today I kind of started to hit a stride, hit a rhythm a little bit and the receivers were making plays."

Sweet Sullivan
Junior wide receiver JaCorey Sullivan proved to be Dormady's top target, finishing with eight catches for 126 yards – both career highs – and one TD.

"When JaCorey gets going like that he's hard to stop, so it makes it a lot of fun," Dormady said.

Tight end Tony Poljan and wideout Kalil Pimpleton added four catches each, Poljan for 89 yards, Pimpleton for 52.

In Total
The Chippewas finished with 553 yards in total offense, their second-highest total of the season behind the 587 they posted two weeks ago in a 42-16 win over Eastern Michigan. They also converted on eight of their 14 third downs.

The Defense
Safety Devonni Reed made 11 tackles to spearhead a Chippewa defense that held Bowling Green to 344 yards in total offense and did an admirable job of bottling up Loy.

Linebacker Michael Oliver added 10 tackles and safety Gage Kreski had a career-high seven stops.

Jamison had two of the Chippewas' interceptions, while linebacker Troy Brown had the other.

The Chippewas held Bowling Green to a combined three of 16 on third and fourth downs.

Big Swing
Chippewa quarterback Tommy Lazzaro fumbled at the Bowling Green 1-yard in the first quarter with the Chippewas leading, 7-0. The Falcons' Caleb Biggers scooped up the fumbled and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown with 1:30 left in the quarter. Instead of the Chippewas being up 14-0, the game was tied.

While that play seemed to swing momentum in Bowling Green's favor, the Chippewas responded less than three minutes into the second quarter with a five-play, 58-yard drive capped by a Ward 7-yard TD run.

The Chippewas never trailed after that, extending their lead to 21-7 at halftime.

"We answered right back, I thought that showed some composure offensively," McElwain said. "But that (kind of) miscue is going to hurt you down the road; you cannot let that happen."

It wasn't the only time CMU responded when the Falcons appeared to garner some momentum on Saturday.

Loy capped the Falcons' opening drive of the third quarter with a short TD run to cut CMU's lead to 21-14. It took the Chippewas just four plays and less than two minutes of game time to answer as Ward scored on a 9-yard run to re-up the lead to two TDs, 28-14.

The score was set up on a 53-yard Dormady-to-Poljan pass that gave the Chippewas a first down at the Bowling Green 9.

Bowl Eligibility
One year after finishing 1-11, the Chippewas are win from getting their sixth victory, which would make them bowl eligible.

The Mid-American Conference has at least five opportunities this season: The Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl on Dec. 20, the Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 21, the Camelia Bowl on Dec. 21, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Jan. 3, and the Mobile Alabama Bowl on Jan. 6. A MAC team could also find its way into any number of other bowl games, including the Quick Lane Bowl and the Frisco Bowl.