Ready For Some Football?

Saturday, September 4

Columbia, Mo.

4 p.m. ET

Central Michigan University

Missouri

Photo by: Steve Jessmore

9/2/2021 10:46:00 PM | Football

Head coach questionable for Saturday's opener at Missouri

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Just when things seemed to be at least trending back to normal, there is a twist.

The Central Michigan football team is set to open the 2021 season on Saturday (4 p.m. ET) at Missouri. It marks the beginning of coach Jim McElwain's third year in charge of the program.

McElwain, however, may miss Saturday's game after a bout with appendicitis and subsequent surgery earlier this week. If McElwain can't make the trip to Columbia, Mo., assistant head coach Tim Skipper will step in to lead the squad on Saturday at the Tigers' Memorial Stadium.

"We're definitely anticipating him being there and working with us," said Skipper, who joined McElwain's staff as the linebackers coach ahead of the 2020 season and had served as an assistant under McElwain at both Florida and Colorado State and was the assistant head coach with the Rams in 2013-14. "If not, we're trained for this; this is what we do.

"All setbacks are temporary, and we are trained to step up when you need to step up. Every man in this building is going to be ready to step up and do their job and be leaders.

"We are planning everything right now like Coach Mac is with us. We are following the same schedule; I kind of have it memorized from being with him for so long. It is business as usual over here and we're ready to roll. We're sticking to what we would normally be doing, rolling through everything, and we're just excited to go play."

The Chippewas were 3-3 last season while Missouri went 5-5. Both played only against teams in their respective leagues, CMU the Mid-American Conference, and the Tigers the Southeastern Conference.

COVID aside, CMU's .500 finish was disappointing. McElwain has said as much throughout fall camp, refusing to use the effects of the pandemic as an excuse. It was, after all, something everybody across the country – make that the world – had to deal with and continues to deal with.

That said, the Chippewas have twice as many players -- some 115 -- in camp now than they finished the 2020 season with.

And while the nation is far from out of the woods regarding COVID, college football is moving ahead with a full schedule.

"First games are always the best games because it's been a while since you've actually played (and) now you're hearing the band, you're hearing the crowd, all those things," Skipper said. "I'm excited for them to get an opportunity to go against somebody else, playing a Power 5 opponent is always awesome and I'm just excited to watch the guys play, see that look in their eyes of excitement and it's game time and there are people there. That's just fun. Just ready to get a little normal football back."

As always before the opener, there are plenty of questions and storylines:

Quarterback
For CMU, the No. 1 question is at quarterback. Redshirt freshman Daniel Richardson started four games last season before an injury ended his season. Sophomore Jacob Sirmon, a transfer from Washington and freshman Tyler Pape are battling Richardson for playing time.

All three are listed evenly on the depth chart.

"It is a true competition that is on-going," Skipper said. "I will tell you this, you will see multiple quarterbacks playing. That position we feel like we have a lot of talented guys there. Sometimes you've just got to wait 'til Saturday to see what happens."

Backfield Adjustment
The Chippewas were expected to have potentially one of the best backfield combinations in the nation in junior Kobe Lewis and redshirt freshman Lew Nichols III. Both were named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List. The award goes to the top running back in college football.

Lewis, who has run for more than 1,500 yards and scored 18 touchdowns over the past two seasons, is out for the season with a knee injury.

Nichols is the reigning MAC Freshman of the Year. He rushed for 508 yards and averaged 6.5 yards per carry and scored five TDs a year ago.

The Wideouts
CMU is well stocked at wide receiver with the return of veterans Kalil Pimpleton and JaCorey Sullivan along with junior Dallas Dixon.

Pimpleton is one of the MAC's most dazzling players who has earned All-MAC accolades both as a receiver and as a punt returner during his career.

A former high school quarterback, Pimpleton is a triple threat on offense and last season caught 26 passes for 277 yards while rushing 16 times for 134 yards and completing five of his eight pass attempts for 149 yards. He accounted for six touchdowns.

He is on the Hornung Award Watch List. The award goes to the most versatile player in college football.

Returning Headliners
Joining the likes of Nichols and Pimpleton among the Chippewas' premier players are defensive end Troy Hairston II and linebacker Troy Brown.

Hairston was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2020 after leading the league in both sacks (5 ½) and tackles-for-loss (12 ½). Brown was named to the All-MAC First Team last fall for the second straight season.

Scouting
The Tigers are in their second year under coach Eliah Drinkwitz, who landed in Columbia after just one year as the head coach at Appalachian State. He led the Mountaineers to a 12-1 finish and the Sun Belt Conference championship in 2019.

The quarterback is redshirt sophomore Connor Bazelak who threw for 2,366 yards while completing 67.3 percent of his passes a year ago. He was named the SEC co-Freshman of the Year by the conference's coaches.

He has a pair big receivers to throw to in 6-foot-4 Keke Chism, who led the Tigers with 35 catches last season, and 6-3 Tauskie Dove. Missouri also added speedster Mookie Cooper, a transfer from Ohio State.

The Tigers' top two running backs are diminutive Tyler Badie – he is listed at 5-8 – and Elijah Young (5-9). Badie averaged 5.0 yards per carry on 48 attempts a year ago, when Missouri ranked 10^th in the SEC with 135.2 rushing yards per game.

On defense, the Tigers feature end Trajan Jeffcoat, a junior who made six sacks in earning All-SEC honors a year ago.

Precedence
The Chippewas are 0-9 against current members of the SEC. The last time they played a team from that conference was in the 2018 season opener; they fell at Kentucky, 35-20.

McElwain is 2-0 against Missouri with both wins coming while he was the head coach at Florida. His Gators defeated the Tigers, 21-3, in 2015; and 40-14, in 2016. Both came in Columbia, Mo.

The Chippewas have played a team from a Power 5 conference in nine of their last 10 road openers and they have won four of those matchups. The wins have come in 2017, 45-27 at Kansas; 2016, 30-27 at Oklahoma State; 2014, 38-17 at Purdue; and 2012, 32-31 at Iowa.

Next
The Chippewas are scheduled to face Robert Morris in their home opener on Saturday, Sept. 11 (3 p.m.) at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. The Colonials, who play in Football Championship Subdivision, open on Saturday at Dayton.