Safety Gage Kreski celebrates his first-half interception on Saturday in the Chippewas' loss at Western Michigan.
Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf
Chippewa Notebook: Emotions Run High Against Broncos
9/28/2019 8:02:00 PM | Football
Ward cracks 100-yard mark in return
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Losing an athletic event is always a disappointing outcome, no matter the sport, no matter the opponent.
When it comes to Western Michigan, well, that disappointment is compounded – just as the euphoria is heightened with a win over the Broncos.
"Believe me I feel like I let a lot of Central Michigan people down that don't deserve to be let down," said CMU coach Jim McElwain after the Chippewas fell, 31-15, to Western on Saturday at the Broncos' Waldo Stadium. "But the great thing about sport, you learn from your failures and move forward; hopefully you turn it into success. We'll get it looked at and you've got to move on. That's the way it is."
Playing a highly emotionally charged game can put players on edge, McElwain acknowledged, but he refused to use that as an excuse for poor play or for mistakes, particularly penalties.
He also took full responsibility for the Chippewas' performance in the first game that he has coached in the rivalry.
"You just go out and handle it," he said of the emotions and the pressure. "We had a good week of practice. (Western) didn't do anything that we didn't see. Our execution was not the way it needed to be and is going to (need to) be, plain and simple.
"The disappointing thing is not going out and executing things that you actually worked against (in practice), and that's on me, plain and simple, preparation-wise, having your guys ready, giving them the answers to the test. We'll find out who we are next week, we'll find out what kind of team shows up tomorrow. And we'll push forward and put a plan together to play next week at home."
Junior offensive lineman Derek Smith played in his third Central-Western game on Saturday.
"Every time you play Western, you know it's a rivalry, they all hurt when you lose," he said. "This one hurt today, it hurt.
"You always use every loss as a little bit of motivation, but you still look at yourself and what's coming up next. You can't let stuff carry over too much. We've got to continue to work, focus on what we can do, what we can control."
Ward Returns
Senior running back Jonathan Ward was back in the CMU lineup for the first time since he was injured at Wisconsin in the second game of the season.
He bolted for back-to-back 11-yard gains on the first two plays of the game (the second was nullified by a penalty) and finished with 107 yards on 19 carries, a 5.6-yard average.
"He played hard, there's no doubt about it," McElwain said. "I thought he ran behind his pads well and ran with power and gave us a couple of pretty good chunk runs. He could have taken another week off, but he chose to come and play in this game. Got a lot of respect for that."
Lots of Yellow
The Chippewas and Broncos combined for 30 penalties, 15 apiece, for 262 yards. CMU amassed 95 yards in penalties, while the Broncos had 167. Many of the flags were for unsportsmanlike conduct and personal fouls, not unusual in a rivalry as heated as that of Central and Western.
But in the Chippewas' case, a good number of those penalties were simply for offsides on the defensive line, a problem that has hit the Chippewas throughout the season, McElwain said.
"These guys saw us jumping offsides (on film) and did a good job of taking advantage of it," he said. "It goes back to discipline."
The Defense
Middle linebacker Michael Oliver matched his career high with 10 tackles to lead the CMU defense, while Da'Quaun Jamison and Troy Brown added six apiece. All six of Brown's tackles were solo stops.
Junior safety Gage Kreski made an interception, the second of his career.
Longest Drive
The Chippewas showed some life in the fourth quarter when Kobe Lewis scored on a 1-yard plunge to cut their deficit to 24-6 (CMU's two-point conversion try failed).
Officially, the drive covered 99 yards in nine plays. CMU started at its own 1-yard line after a Western punt. Two Broncos were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct on the punt, resulting in 30 yards in penalties, meaning the Chippewas' first snap of the drive was at their own 31.
Another 15-yard penalty on Western, this one for a personal foul, came later in the drive.
The 99-yard drive will go down as the longest, or tie for the longest, in program history.
Next
The Chippewas return to Mount Pleasant for back-to-back home games over the next two weeks. They entertain Eastern Michigan (2-1) in a MAC game on Saturday, Oct. 5 (3 p.m.). It is the Eagles' league opener. CMU plays host to New Mexico State on Saturday, Oct. 12 (3 p.m.) for homecoming. New Mexico State (0-3) was scheduled to play Fresno State on Saturday night.
When it comes to Western Michigan, well, that disappointment is compounded – just as the euphoria is heightened with a win over the Broncos.
"Believe me I feel like I let a lot of Central Michigan people down that don't deserve to be let down," said CMU coach Jim McElwain after the Chippewas fell, 31-15, to Western on Saturday at the Broncos' Waldo Stadium. "But the great thing about sport, you learn from your failures and move forward; hopefully you turn it into success. We'll get it looked at and you've got to move on. That's the way it is."
Playing a highly emotionally charged game can put players on edge, McElwain acknowledged, but he refused to use that as an excuse for poor play or for mistakes, particularly penalties.
He also took full responsibility for the Chippewas' performance in the first game that he has coached in the rivalry.
"You just go out and handle it," he said of the emotions and the pressure. "We had a good week of practice. (Western) didn't do anything that we didn't see. Our execution was not the way it needed to be and is going to (need to) be, plain and simple.
"The disappointing thing is not going out and executing things that you actually worked against (in practice), and that's on me, plain and simple, preparation-wise, having your guys ready, giving them the answers to the test. We'll find out who we are next week, we'll find out what kind of team shows up tomorrow. And we'll push forward and put a plan together to play next week at home."
Junior offensive lineman Derek Smith played in his third Central-Western game on Saturday.
"Every time you play Western, you know it's a rivalry, they all hurt when you lose," he said. "This one hurt today, it hurt.
"You always use every loss as a little bit of motivation, but you still look at yourself and what's coming up next. You can't let stuff carry over too much. We've got to continue to work, focus on what we can do, what we can control."
Ward Returns
Senior running back Jonathan Ward was back in the CMU lineup for the first time since he was injured at Wisconsin in the second game of the season.
He bolted for back-to-back 11-yard gains on the first two plays of the game (the second was nullified by a penalty) and finished with 107 yards on 19 carries, a 5.6-yard average.
"He played hard, there's no doubt about it," McElwain said. "I thought he ran behind his pads well and ran with power and gave us a couple of pretty good chunk runs. He could have taken another week off, but he chose to come and play in this game. Got a lot of respect for that."
Lots of Yellow
The Chippewas and Broncos combined for 30 penalties, 15 apiece, for 262 yards. CMU amassed 95 yards in penalties, while the Broncos had 167. Many of the flags were for unsportsmanlike conduct and personal fouls, not unusual in a rivalry as heated as that of Central and Western.
But in the Chippewas' case, a good number of those penalties were simply for offsides on the defensive line, a problem that has hit the Chippewas throughout the season, McElwain said.
"These guys saw us jumping offsides (on film) and did a good job of taking advantage of it," he said. "It goes back to discipline."
The Defense
Middle linebacker Michael Oliver matched his career high with 10 tackles to lead the CMU defense, while Da'Quaun Jamison and Troy Brown added six apiece. All six of Brown's tackles were solo stops.
Junior safety Gage Kreski made an interception, the second of his career.
Longest Drive
The Chippewas showed some life in the fourth quarter when Kobe Lewis scored on a 1-yard plunge to cut their deficit to 24-6 (CMU's two-point conversion try failed).
Officially, the drive covered 99 yards in nine plays. CMU started at its own 1-yard line after a Western punt. Two Broncos were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct on the punt, resulting in 30 yards in penalties, meaning the Chippewas' first snap of the drive was at their own 31.
Another 15-yard penalty on Western, this one for a personal foul, came later in the drive.
The 99-yard drive will go down as the longest, or tie for the longest, in program history.
Next
The Chippewas return to Mount Pleasant for back-to-back home games over the next two weeks. They entertain Eastern Michigan (2-1) in a MAC game on Saturday, Oct. 5 (3 p.m.). It is the Eagles' league opener. CMU plays host to New Mexico State on Saturday, Oct. 12 (3 p.m.) for homecoming. New Mexico State (0-3) was scheduled to play Fresno State on Saturday night.
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