Central Michigan University Athletics
Saturday, September 28
Kalamazoo, Mich.
12 p.m.
Central Michigan University
at
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Western Michigan
CMU coach Jim McElwain and his Chippewas head to Kalamazoo on Saturday for a showdown with archrival Western Michigan.
Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf
Chippewas Ready For Annual Showdown With Western
9/27/2019 2:29:00 PM | Football
Always something extra when Chippewas take on their archrivals
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – It's Western. 'Nuf said.
Well, no, not really. There's plenty to be said leading up to Saturday's noon kickoff at Western Michigan's Waldo Stadium when the Chippewas and Broncos lock horns in their annual showdown.
It is the first Victory Cannon game for first-year CMU coach Jim McElwain, a veteran of 30-plus years in the coaching business who has been involved in several other rivalries as a player or as a coach, including Michigan-Michigan State (he served as an assistant at both schools).
"That's obviously a huge rivalry, but this one, there's something between these two schools that you can kind of feel, and I think it's cool," McElwain said. "These are the kinds of things that when you grow up in sports, you really get excited to go play. I know our guys are looking forward to it.
"(Western) came and put it on us pretty good a year ago and yet, every year you go into a rivalry, it has nothing to do with whatever (happened) last year. These are two new teams. We've got to go figure it out on the field."
On The Field
Both teams are 2-2, which is about where most figured they would be, won-loss record wise, through four games. The Chippewas lost on the road to their two power-5 opponents, Wisconsin and Miami (Fla.), and the Broncos did likewise with Michigan State and Syracuse.
CMU is 1-0 in the MAC after a 45-24 win over Akron. The Chippewas opened with a 38-21 over Football Championships Subdivision Albany. Western also opened with a win over an FCS opponent, Monmouth, 48-13; and then defeated a Georgia State team, 57-10, that opened the season with a victory over Tennessee.
Though as is typical when it comes to the Chippewas and the Broncos, nothing that happened in the past month really matters much come Saturday afternoon when emotions run as high, on both sides, as they will at any given point in the season.
"I just think these games are a blast," McElwain said. "There's something kind of cool when you go into a stadium and just get booed. You kind of embrace it and hopefully it gets you juiced up to play."
MAC Implications
Forgetting, for a moment, the emotions of the game, it is important in regard to the Mid-American Conference standings. If the Chippewas win, they will have two in the win column before most of their league brethren have even played a conference game.
"Any win is a big win, but obviously when you're playing for a trophy that's going to sit in your place all year until we bring it out next year, that means a lot," McElwain said. "There's extra stuff on that. And yet the key is not to get yourself too hyped up, but ultimately just go out and do your job, but let's do it with a little more sense of an urgency here and hopefully bring that trophy back here to Mount Pleasant and let the guys enjoy it."
Personnel
Junior David Moore will make his third consecutive start at quarterback for the Chippewas in place of Quinten Dormady, while running back Jonathan Ward is "questionable to doubtful," McElwain said.
Moore has completed 53 percent of his passes for 533 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in his two starts. Kobe Lewis, who has started the past two games in place of Ward, has run for 191 yards on 42 carries (an average of 4.5 yards per carry) in the Chippewas' last two games.
Legends' Take
At McElwain's request, two giants – Roy Kramer and Herb Deromedi -- in Central Michigan football history addressed the Chippewas this week.
"Really gave all of us, not only the players but the new coaches that we brought in here, kind of a perspective and a history of Central Michigan football and in that history obviously Western's a big piece of it," McElwain said. "So it's great to learn from the guys who have been there and actually, in some ways, created that rivalry."
Kramer coached the Chippewas from 1967-77, compiling an 83-32-2 record and leading CMU to the Division II national championship in 1974; Deromedi coached at CMU for 16 seasons, from 1978-93, amassing a 110-55-10 record including 13-2-1 against Western Michigan. He was the defensive coordinator of Kramer's '74 national-championship team and was inducted in 2008 into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Superlatives
The Chippewas rank second in the MAC in total defense, allowing an average of 368.3 yards per game, and are second in rush defense (85.5).
Western Michigan ranks first in the MAC in scoring offense (38.8 points per game) and in total offense (515.3 yards per game), and is second in passing offense (313.3 yards per game).
Scouting
Western running back Levante Bellamy is second in the league in rushing yards per game (113.5) and has scored a league-high six rushing touchdowns.
"Once he gets a little space he's going to score on any team in the country," McElwain said.
Western quarterback Jon Wassink has completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 1,222 yards and nine TDs. He ranks second in the MAC in passing yardage and third in TD passes.
Chippewa Notes
• CMU has converted on seven of its eight fourth-down opportunities this season. The Chippewas rank 16th nationally in that category.
• Four Chippewas have 10 or more receptions this season, led by sophomore Kalil Pimpleton with 29. Ty Scott has 12, Tony Poljan has 11, and Lewis has 10.
• Scott, a redshirt freshman, is averaging 20.3 yards per reception, the fourth-best mark in the MAC and the 29th best in the nation.
• Pimpleton had a career-high 11 receptions last week at Miami. It marked the first time that a Chippewa has reached double digits in receptions in a game since Tyler Conklin had 10 catches in a 26-23 win at Ohio on Oct. 7, 2017.
The 11 receptions ties for the eighth most in program history. Seven times has a Chippewa caught 11 passes in a game, the most recent being Cody Wilson against Northern Illinois in 2010.
Next
The Chippewas entertain Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 5 (3 p.m.) in a MAC game, and then welcome New Mexico State for homecoming on Oct. 12 (3 p.m.).
The Eagles (2-1) are off this week. New Mexico State (0-3) plays host to Fresno State on Saturday.
Well, no, not really. There's plenty to be said leading up to Saturday's noon kickoff at Western Michigan's Waldo Stadium when the Chippewas and Broncos lock horns in their annual showdown.
It is the first Victory Cannon game for first-year CMU coach Jim McElwain, a veteran of 30-plus years in the coaching business who has been involved in several other rivalries as a player or as a coach, including Michigan-Michigan State (he served as an assistant at both schools).
"That's obviously a huge rivalry, but this one, there's something between these two schools that you can kind of feel, and I think it's cool," McElwain said. "These are the kinds of things that when you grow up in sports, you really get excited to go play. I know our guys are looking forward to it.
"(Western) came and put it on us pretty good a year ago and yet, every year you go into a rivalry, it has nothing to do with whatever (happened) last year. These are two new teams. We've got to go figure it out on the field."
On The Field
Both teams are 2-2, which is about where most figured they would be, won-loss record wise, through four games. The Chippewas lost on the road to their two power-5 opponents, Wisconsin and Miami (Fla.), and the Broncos did likewise with Michigan State and Syracuse.
CMU is 1-0 in the MAC after a 45-24 win over Akron. The Chippewas opened with a 38-21 over Football Championships Subdivision Albany. Western also opened with a win over an FCS opponent, Monmouth, 48-13; and then defeated a Georgia State team, 57-10, that opened the season with a victory over Tennessee.
Though as is typical when it comes to the Chippewas and the Broncos, nothing that happened in the past month really matters much come Saturday afternoon when emotions run as high, on both sides, as they will at any given point in the season.
"I just think these games are a blast," McElwain said. "There's something kind of cool when you go into a stadium and just get booed. You kind of embrace it and hopefully it gets you juiced up to play."
MAC Implications
Forgetting, for a moment, the emotions of the game, it is important in regard to the Mid-American Conference standings. If the Chippewas win, they will have two in the win column before most of their league brethren have even played a conference game.
"Any win is a big win, but obviously when you're playing for a trophy that's going to sit in your place all year until we bring it out next year, that means a lot," McElwain said. "There's extra stuff on that. And yet the key is not to get yourself too hyped up, but ultimately just go out and do your job, but let's do it with a little more sense of an urgency here and hopefully bring that trophy back here to Mount Pleasant and let the guys enjoy it."
Personnel
Junior David Moore will make his third consecutive start at quarterback for the Chippewas in place of Quinten Dormady, while running back Jonathan Ward is "questionable to doubtful," McElwain said.
Moore has completed 53 percent of his passes for 533 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in his two starts. Kobe Lewis, who has started the past two games in place of Ward, has run for 191 yards on 42 carries (an average of 4.5 yards per carry) in the Chippewas' last two games.
Legends' Take
At McElwain's request, two giants – Roy Kramer and Herb Deromedi -- in Central Michigan football history addressed the Chippewas this week.
"Really gave all of us, not only the players but the new coaches that we brought in here, kind of a perspective and a history of Central Michigan football and in that history obviously Western's a big piece of it," McElwain said. "So it's great to learn from the guys who have been there and actually, in some ways, created that rivalry."
Kramer coached the Chippewas from 1967-77, compiling an 83-32-2 record and leading CMU to the Division II national championship in 1974; Deromedi coached at CMU for 16 seasons, from 1978-93, amassing a 110-55-10 record including 13-2-1 against Western Michigan. He was the defensive coordinator of Kramer's '74 national-championship team and was inducted in 2008 into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Superlatives
The Chippewas rank second in the MAC in total defense, allowing an average of 368.3 yards per game, and are second in rush defense (85.5).
Western Michigan ranks first in the MAC in scoring offense (38.8 points per game) and in total offense (515.3 yards per game), and is second in passing offense (313.3 yards per game).
Scouting
Western running back Levante Bellamy is second in the league in rushing yards per game (113.5) and has scored a league-high six rushing touchdowns.
"Once he gets a little space he's going to score on any team in the country," McElwain said.
Western quarterback Jon Wassink has completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 1,222 yards and nine TDs. He ranks second in the MAC in passing yardage and third in TD passes.
Chippewa Notes
• CMU has converted on seven of its eight fourth-down opportunities this season. The Chippewas rank 16th nationally in that category.
• Four Chippewas have 10 or more receptions this season, led by sophomore Kalil Pimpleton with 29. Ty Scott has 12, Tony Poljan has 11, and Lewis has 10.
• Scott, a redshirt freshman, is averaging 20.3 yards per reception, the fourth-best mark in the MAC and the 29th best in the nation.
• Pimpleton had a career-high 11 receptions last week at Miami. It marked the first time that a Chippewa has reached double digits in receptions in a game since Tyler Conklin had 10 catches in a 26-23 win at Ohio on Oct. 7, 2017.
The 11 receptions ties for the eighth most in program history. Seven times has a Chippewa caught 11 passes in a game, the most recent being Cody Wilson against Northern Illinois in 2010.
Next
The Chippewas entertain Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 5 (3 p.m.) in a MAC game, and then welcome New Mexico State for homecoming on Oct. 12 (3 p.m.).
The Eagles (2-1) are off this week. New Mexico State (0-3) plays host to Fresno State on Saturday.
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/ FootballFootball Insider - 10.24.25
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