Central Michigan University
6-4 , 4-2
Northern Illinois
3-6 , 2-3
Big-Time Performance, Big-Time Win
11/2/2019 4:50:00 PM | Football
Chippewas hammer NIU to remain in the hunt in the MAC West
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The Chippewas scored touchdowns on their first three drives en route to a 28-point halftime lead on Saturday as they rolled past Northern Illinois, 48-10, in a Mid-American Conference game before 10,438 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
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The win kept the Chippewas, 6-4, 4-2 MAC, in the hunt for the West Division title and it came one week after they took a 43-20 beating in a league game at Buffalo.
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"Pretty awesome," first-year CMU coach Jim McElwain said. "Can't tell you how proud I am and how happy I am for that locker room. That team that is in that locker room, in the beginning of the season, was picked dead last in the conference (poll).
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"We kind of used the term judgement. This was an opportunity to find out exactly who we are, and the guys responded. I think we learned something about our team today."
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CMU goes to division-leading Ball State on Nov. 16. The Cardinals are 3-1 in the league and play at Western Michigan on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
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The Chippewas rolled through the Huskie defense to the tune of a season-high 615 yards. They did not commit a turnover after giving it away five times a week ago.
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With six wins, CMU is bowl eligible for the 11th time in the last 14 seasons and is 5-0 at home for the first time since 2009, when they won the MAC championship.
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Kobe Lewis ran for 143 yards and Jonathan Ward had 138 to lead a Chippewa ground game that churned out 327 yards. CMU quarterback Quinten Dormady had 288 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-24 passing.
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Dormady capped CMU's opening drive with a 14-yard TD pass to Kalil Pimpleton, then Tommy Lazzaro scored on a 3-yard run to give CMU a 14-0 lead.
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After an NIU field goal, Lewis scored on a 16-yard run and Ryan Tice kicked a 32-yard field goal to up CMU's lead to 24-3 just three minutes into the second quarter. Dormady tossed a 39-yard TD pass to Tony Poljan and then hit Tyrone Scott for a 16-yard score as CMU took complete control, leading 38-10 at halftime.
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The 38 points was the most a Chippewa team has scored in the first half of a game since 2006.
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The Chippewa defense forced four turnovers and limited NIU running back Tre Harbison to 17 yards on 10 carries. Harbison had run for a combined 500 yards in the Huskies' previous four games. The Huskies finished with 251 total yards, just 22 of which came on the ground.
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"We just didn't like how we played last week," said CMU middle linebacker Michael Oliver, who made a team-high five tackles and had an interception. "We knew we were better than what we put on film last week, and we wanted to show it. Today was the day to show it, and we came out and did just that.
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"You've got to have heart to when you step on the field to play for the Chips."
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Team Stats
NIU 0, CMU 7
CMU - PIMPLETON, K. 14 yd pass from DORMADY, Q. (TICE, Ryan kick) 7 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:48
NIU 0, CMU 14
CMU - LAZZARO, Tommy 3 yd run (TICE, Ryan kick), 6 plays, 78 yards, TOP 2:02
NIU 3, CMU 14
NIU - RICHARDSON, Joh 33 yd field goal 8 plays, 60 yards, TOP 3:43
NIU 3, CMU 21
CMU - LEWIS, Kobe 16 yd run (TICE, Ryan kick), 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:00
NIU 3, CMU 24
CMU - TICE, Ryan 32 yd field goal 6 plays, 22 yards, TOP 2:55
NIU 10, CMU 24
NIU - TEARS, Spencer 9 yd pass from BOWERS, Ross (RICHARDSON, Joh kick) 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:12
NIU 10, CMU 31
CMU - POLJAN, Tony 39 yd pass from DORMADY, Q. (TICE, Ryan kick) 6 plays, 77 yards, TOP 2:30
NIU 10, CMU 38
CMU - SCOTT, Tyrone 16 yd pass from DORMADY, Q. (TICE, Ryan kick) 8 plays, 66 yards, TOP 2:26
NIU 10, CMU 45
CMU - WARD, Jonathan 3 yd run (TICE, Ryan kick), 9 plays, 53 yards, TOP 4:32
NIU 10, CMU 48
CMU - TICE, Ryan 31 yd field goal 7 plays, 14 yards, TOP 3:56
