Chippewa Notebook: Western Week Begins

Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf

9/22/2019 7:55:00 AM | Football

CMU defense staunch against Hurricanes

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The Central Michigan football team expended an awful lot of energy and emotion in pushing Miami (Fla.) to the limit on Saturday.

That's nothing compared to what's next: Western Michigan.

"Let me put it this way," junior defensive lineman Robi Stuart said after CMU's 17-12 loss to the Hurricanes before 49,997 at Hard Rock Stadium. "if you need to get your emotion back up to play Western, I'm not sure you're a Chippewa."

There is a lot of up for the Chippewas coming out of the Miami game as CMU acquitted itself quite well, particularly defensively, in the grand scheme of things.

There is almost always a requisite against-the-odds vibe to any game involving a Mid-American Conference school and one from a Power 5 conference.

In this case, it was the Chippewas representing the MAC against Miami, a school that not only plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but has long been among college football's blueblood programs with its five national championships and a legion of players who have gone on to NFL fame.

"That's the beautiful part about this game, getting an opportunity to go test yourself," first-year CMU coach Jim McElwain said. "That's what you learn from, and I think we're the only class on campus that takes our test every Saturday in front of the public and they publish our results. That's where we're at."

The Chippewas are 2-2, 1-0 MAC. Their wins, both convincing, have come over league member Akron and over Football Championship Subdivision Albany. On the opposite end of the spectrum was their 61-0 loss to Wisconsin, a team that rolled past Michigan on Saturday, 35-14, and is almost certain to move into the top 10 of the national rankings this week.

Now, it's on to the MAC, where CMU plays seven of its final eight regular-season games, a stretch that will best determine where the program stands and where it is headed.

Western is 2-2 after a 52-33 loss at Syracuse on Saturday. The Chippewas and Broncos meet in Kalamazoo on Saturday, Sept. 28 (noon) for the Victory Cannon.

"Beautiful thing about this one is we'll get a chance to play for a trophy," McElwain said. "I think that's one of the things that makes college football and rivalries great. We've got to go get ourselves healthy, have a great week of practice, get on the bus, and go down and play a heck of a football team."

Defensive battle
Most everything, offensively, came grudgingly in Saturday's game. The Hurricanes finished with 301 total yards to CMU's 248.

The Chippewas held Miami to a season-low rushing total of 51 yards, which is something the Chippewas can point to with pride considering the Hurricanes opened the season against Florida and then played North Carolina. And Miami's 301 total yards matched its season low, which came against Florida.

"We go out and we practice our (butts) off every day," Stuart said. "We all know we have greatness in us. I think people saw a little bit of that. We need to be a little better, always need to be a little better. No such thing as perfection, but we're on our way and I'm really proud of what everyone did today."

Safety
The Chippewas recorded their first safety since the 2017 season when freshman defensive lineman Jacques Bristol tackled Miami quarterback Jarren Williams in the end zone early in the second quarter, cutting the Hurricanes' lead to 7-2.

The safety came two plays after it appeared that Stuart had recorded a safety when he dropped Williams in the end zone. However, the play was ruled an incomplete pass.

"Literally what happens is one guy gets going and everybody just feeds off of it," Stuart said. "It's a great feeling when you're out there. We had our first few hits on the quarterback, we got some pressure from the inside, and then as soon as that happened they started protecting more on the inside and our outside guys had a chance to go get him.

"Defensive line is a much bigger group effort than most people who just watch football understand."

Leaders
Troy Brown and Andrew Ward led CMU's defense with seven tackles apiece, while Da'Quaun Jamison and Michael Oliver had six each.

Tackle Sean Adesanya turned in another solid performance with his second-consecutive two-sack performance. The Chippewas recorded four sacks on the day among nine tackles-for-loss.

The Quarterback
Junior David Moore made his second-straight start at quarterback for the Chippewas and while his numbers don't necessarily pop – he was 23 for 50 for 217 yards with one interception – he continued to get up after taking several hard shots from Miami defenders throughout the game.

He led CMU's lone touchdown drive, scoring on a quarterback sneak in the fourth quarter as the Chippewas drew to 17-12.

Big Day For KP
Sophomore wide receiver Kalil Pimpleton made a career-high 11 catches for 73 yards to lead CMU's receiving corps. He also returned three punts for a total of 16 yards.

Big Return
Redshirt freshman Montrae Braswell returned two kickoffs for 70 yards, with a long of 45. It was the longest return of the season by a Chippewa. Braswell is averaging 29.7 yards on his three kick returns on the season.

Big Boot
CMU senior kicker Ryan Tice continued to impress, nailing a career-long 55-yard field goal late in the third quarter. It came after he missed a 54-yarder wide left.

Tice's 55-yarder is the second longest in program history behind a 57-yarder by Rade Savich in 1975. Tice hit a 53-yarder last season, which ranks as the fourth longest by a Chippewa.

Tice has made 15 of his 18 field goal attempts in his career and is 10-for-12 from 40 yards or longer.

Consistent
Sophomore punter Brady Buell averaged 39.8 yards on six punts with a long of 51 yards. Three of his punts were downed inside the Miami 20-yard line. Buell is averaging 42.6 yards per punt.