Friday, November 27
Ypsilanti, Mich.
4 p.m.
Central Michigan University
3-1 , 3-1
31
at
23
Eastern Michigan
0-4 , 0-4
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Central Michigan
6
0
0
25
31
Eastern Michigan
7
10
3
3
23
Lew Nichols rushed for 195 yards and two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter, on Friday as CMU came from behind to beat Eastern Michigan.
Big-Time Rally Lifts Chippewas To Dramatic Win
11/27/2020 9:04:00 PM | Football
CMU scores 25 fourth-quarter points in topping Eastern, 31-23
YPSILANTI, Mich. – Hardly a thing of beauty, but the Chippewas will happily take it.
Central Michigan trailed throughout the game and then scored 25 points in the fourth quarter on Friday to pull out an improbable 31-23 Mid-American Conference victory over Eastern Michigan at Rynearson Stadium.
The Chippewas committed three turnovers and lost starting quarterback Daniel Richardson to an injury early in the third quarter but dug deep and overcame a 20-6 fourth-quarter deficit to knock off the stubborn Eagles and improve to 3-1 overall and in the MAC.
"We figured out a way to win," CMU coach Jim McElwain said. "Wins are hard to come by. Just proud of our guys for hanging in there. I'm very disappointed in the way we played, very disappointed that this game was even this close. And yet at the end of the day you play the games, and you figure out a way to win. We figured out a way to win."
Junior Ty Brock came out of the bullpen in relief of Richardson, who left with a leg injury early in the third quarter. In his first extended action since transferring to CMU from Sam Houston State, Brock engineered three scoring drives in the fourth quarter, two for touchdowns and one for a field goal, a 26-yarder from freshman Marshall Meeder with 2:31 to play that put CMU in front, 24-23.
It was CMU's first lead of the game, and the field goal was set up when CMU's Troy Hairston pounced on an Eastern fumble at the Eagle 7-yard line.
After the go-ahead field goal, CMU safety Devonni Reed intercepted an EMU pass with 2:26 remaining. Three plays later, Kobe Lewis scored an insurance TD from nine yards out, making it 31-23.
Donte Kent's first career interception with 53 seconds remaining iced it.
Lew Nichols rushed for a career-high 196 yards and scored two touchdowns on 29 carries, while Lewis added 106 on 18 as the Chippewas finished with a season-high 318 yards on the ground. Brock completed nine of his 15 pass attempts for 62 yards, and he added 18 rushing yards.
"I'm proud of the way they fought, there's no doubt about it," McElwain said. "I think at halftime it was a situation where guys had to look in the mirror a little bit and chose what we were going to do with that second half.
"For us I think it's a great learning lesson that no matter who you're playing, you've got to come out ready to go. I'm not sure we had that spark until after halftime. You've got to go out and play to a standard. For our guys I think they realize that."
Three times in the first half the Chippewas drove inside the Eastern 10-yard line but had just two Meeder field goals to show for it. A costly holding penalty stalled one drive, and another ended with a Lewis fumble at the goal line.
Meanwhile, Eastern quarterback Preston Hutchinson capped two long drives with TD runs and the Eagles added a field goal for a 17-6 halftime lead. Eastern extended its lead to 20-6 with a 32-yard field goal with 3:07 to play in the third quarter.
Two other Chippewa threats, both early in the third quarter, ended in frustrating fashion. The Chippewas fumbled it away at the Eastern 11-yard line, and then were stopped on fourth-and-goal from the Eagle 1.
But the fourth quarter belonged to the Chippewas. Nichols scored from nine yards out less than a minute into the stanza and Brock threw to Drayton Law for the two-point conversion to cut Eastern's lead to 20-14.
After another Eastern field goal made is 23-14, Nichols scored his second touchdown to pull CMU to 23-21.
Central Michigan trailed throughout the game and then scored 25 points in the fourth quarter on Friday to pull out an improbable 31-23 Mid-American Conference victory over Eastern Michigan at Rynearson Stadium.
The Chippewas committed three turnovers and lost starting quarterback Daniel Richardson to an injury early in the third quarter but dug deep and overcame a 20-6 fourth-quarter deficit to knock off the stubborn Eagles and improve to 3-1 overall and in the MAC.
"We figured out a way to win," CMU coach Jim McElwain said. "Wins are hard to come by. Just proud of our guys for hanging in there. I'm very disappointed in the way we played, very disappointed that this game was even this close. And yet at the end of the day you play the games, and you figure out a way to win. We figured out a way to win."
Junior Ty Brock came out of the bullpen in relief of Richardson, who left with a leg injury early in the third quarter. In his first extended action since transferring to CMU from Sam Houston State, Brock engineered three scoring drives in the fourth quarter, two for touchdowns and one for a field goal, a 26-yarder from freshman Marshall Meeder with 2:31 to play that put CMU in front, 24-23.
It was CMU's first lead of the game, and the field goal was set up when CMU's Troy Hairston pounced on an Eastern fumble at the Eagle 7-yard line.
After the go-ahead field goal, CMU safety Devonni Reed intercepted an EMU pass with 2:26 remaining. Three plays later, Kobe Lewis scored an insurance TD from nine yards out, making it 31-23.
Donte Kent's first career interception with 53 seconds remaining iced it.
Lew Nichols rushed for a career-high 196 yards and scored two touchdowns on 29 carries, while Lewis added 106 on 18 as the Chippewas finished with a season-high 318 yards on the ground. Brock completed nine of his 15 pass attempts for 62 yards, and he added 18 rushing yards.
"I'm proud of the way they fought, there's no doubt about it," McElwain said. "I think at halftime it was a situation where guys had to look in the mirror a little bit and chose what we were going to do with that second half.
"For us I think it's a great learning lesson that no matter who you're playing, you've got to come out ready to go. I'm not sure we had that spark until after halftime. You've got to go out and play to a standard. For our guys I think they realize that."
Three times in the first half the Chippewas drove inside the Eastern 10-yard line but had just two Meeder field goals to show for it. A costly holding penalty stalled one drive, and another ended with a Lewis fumble at the goal line.
Meanwhile, Eastern quarterback Preston Hutchinson capped two long drives with TD runs and the Eagles added a field goal for a 17-6 halftime lead. Eastern extended its lead to 20-6 with a 32-yard field goal with 3:07 to play in the third quarter.
Two other Chippewa threats, both early in the third quarter, ended in frustrating fashion. The Chippewas fumbled it away at the Eastern 11-yard line, and then were stopped on fourth-and-goal from the Eagle 1.
But the fourth quarter belonged to the Chippewas. Nichols scored from nine yards out less than a minute into the stanza and Brock threw to Drayton Law for the two-point conversion to cut Eastern's lead to 20-14.
After another Eastern field goal made is 23-14, Nichols scored his second touchdown to pull CMU to 23-21.
Team Stats
CMU
EMU
Total Yards
553
439
Pass Yards
235
365
Rushing Yards
318
74
Penalty Yards
64
15
1st Downs
28
22
3rd Downs
8
7
4th Downs
3
1
TOP
33:16
26:44
1st Quarter
CMU 0, EMU 7
EMU - HUTCHINSON, P. 3 yd run (RYLAND, Chad kick), 6 plays, 63 yards, TOP 2:57
CMU 3, EMU 7
CMU - MEEDER, M. 51 yd field goal 9 plays, 39 yards, TOP 3:46
CMU 6, EMU 7
CMU - MEEDER, M. 29 yd field goal 14 plays, 50 yards, TOP 4:37
2nd Quarter
CMU 6, EMU 10
EMU - RYLAND, Chad 34 yd field goal 6 plays, 56 yards, TOP 2:10
CMU 6, EMU 17
EMU - HUTCHINSON, P. 20 yd run (RYLAND, Chad kick), 9 plays, 79 yards, TOP 3:20
3rd Quarter
CMU 6, EMU 20
EMU - RYLAND, Chad 32 yd field goal 9 plays, 85 yards, TOP 4:52
4th Quarter
CMU 14, EMU 20
CMU - NICHOLS, Lew 9 yd run (LAW, Drayton pass), 15 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:05
CMU 14, EMU 23
EMU - RYLAND, Chad 29 yd field goal 10 plays, 49 yards, TOP 4:56
CMU 21, EMU 23
CMU - NICHOLS, Lew 1 yd run (MEEDER, M. kick), 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:25
CMU 24, EMU 23
CMU - MEEDER, M. 21 yd field goal 4 plays, 4 yards, TOP 1:47
CMU 31, EMU 23
CMU - LEWIS, Kobe 9 yd run (MEEDER, M. kick), 3 plays, 32 yards, TOP 0:43
Players Mentioned
DB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
K
/ Football
DB
/ Football
QB
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