Saturday, October 22
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
1 p.m.
Central Michigan University
2-6 , 1-3
18
vs
34
Bowling Green
4-4 , 3-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Bowling Green
7
10
0
17
34
Central Michigan
3
0
7
8
18
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Football Falls At Home To Bowling Green
10/22/2022 6:56:00 PM | Football
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Injuries, an inconsistent offense, an early deficit.
Coach Jim McElwain was having none of it. No excuses after his Central Michigan football team simply did not get it done on Saturday in its 34-18 Mid-American Conference loss to Bowling Green on Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
"Obviously very disappointing," McElwain said after his team slipped to 2-6, 1-3 MAC. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us and you know what, that's something we're going to do. We're going to stay together and get it figured out."
The Chippewas struggled to move the ball, particularly in the first half, when they fell into a 17-3 deficit. Their performance was much improved in the final two quarters as they drew to within 27-18 midway through the final quarter, but they didn't have enough.
"Whatever the issues are, they all point right at me," McElwain said. "I haven't done a good enough job to get these guys ready to play and we're not playing very well."
"It's me. I haven't given us answers. It's all on me."
The Chippewas go to Northern Illinois for a MAC game on Nov. 2, the first of three consecutive Wednesday night games. CMU needs to win all four of its remaining games to become bowl eligible.
"Every week, no matter what you do, no matter what you do in life, sometimes you've got to re-center," McElwain said. "Our end goals might not be there, but you re-adjust, and you come back; you certainly don't throw the towel in. It's my responsibility to get them back and get them going."
Down 17-3 after a first half in which their offense was silenced, the Chippewas scored on the opening drive of the second half when Jake Tafelski bulled in from 3 yards out to cut the deficit to 17-10.
Bowling Green extended its lead to 27-10 with a field goal and then a fumble return for TD early in the fourth quarter.
CMU got an 8-yard TD pass from Jase Bauer to Joel Wilson with just over 6 minutes remaining and then Bauer hit Carlos Carriere for the two-point conversion to pull the Chippewas within 27-18.
Bowling Green covered CMU's onside kick, snuffing out the Chippewas' legitimate hopes of a comeback.
Bauer was a bright spot in relief of starter Daniel Richardson. Bauer, a redshirt freshman, led both of CMU's TD drives and finished with 185 yards on 18-of-25 passing while also rushing for 109 yards on 16 attempts.
The game plan called for Bauer to take some snaps, McElwain said, but he earned more playing time.
"Just felt he was giving us a little bit of a spark," he said. "He did some OK things when he was in there. We'll evaluate."
Running Back Depth
The Chippewas were without starting running back Lew Nichols III, who missed his second consecutive game with an injury. Marion Lukes, who finished with 249 all-purpose yards a week ago in a 28-21 win at Akron, started against the Falcons but left with an injury after carrying seven times for 16 yards.
Myles Bailey, who was the co-No. 2 running back along with Lukes, missed the game with an injury he sustained at Akron. The Chippewas were also without another injured running back Christian Brown, who saw action last week at Akron.
When Lukes left Saturday's game, redshirt freshman Jake Tafelski who, like Brown, had played almost exclusively on special teams throughout the season, stepped into the role.
"Next man up, as coach always says," Tafelski said. "Today was an opportunity to step up and do your job. … Your time comes, you know what you should be able to do."
Starting defensive back De'Javion Stepney, another redshirt freshman who played running back a year ago, also took snaps at running back in the second half against the Falcons.
In short, running back personnel – once perhaps the deepest position on the team – has been severely hampered. Tafelski carried three times for four yards and caught four passes for 37; Stepney caught one pass for two yards and had two nice runs, but both were erased by penalties.
"I felt Tafelski did a great job," McElwain said. "Both of those guys did a hell of a job. They certainly weren't the reason for our missteps.
"We'll see where we're at. (Stepney) can play both ways. He came up after the game and gave me a big hug and thanked me for trusting him. That tells you what kind of kid he is. He was playing really good on defense as well. I'm proud of him. Pretty cool to see. He stepped up and came in there and did some really good things for us."
Tafelski's TD was the first of his career.
"Not too much emotion on my part, but I was happy," he said. "I was just worried about winning the game. That's where my thought was."
On the Receiving End
Tight end Joel Wilson continued to be productive for the Chippewas with eight catches for 75 yards. His TD catch was his team-high fifth of the season.
Wilson, a junior, has a team-high 41 catches and ranks second on the team with 412 receiving yards. He entered the game with 33 receptions, the third most among tight ends in the nation.
The Defense
The Chippewas recorded six sacks one week after posting nine at Akron.
LaQuan Johnson recorded two sacks while Thomas Incoom accounted for 1 ½.
Linebackers Kyle Moretti and Justin Whiteside led CMU with seven tackles apiece.
"I thought, at times, they played lights out," McElwain said of his defense, adding "any time you lose a game it's a team loss. Doesn't matter. In the end it points to me not doing a good job as a head coach. That's the bottom line."
Special Teams
CMU's Marshall Meeder booted a 52-yard field goal in the first quarter. It was 1 yard shy of his career long.
The Chippewas averaged 30 yards per kickoff return, including a 35-yarder by Sam Hicks to open the second half.
CMU punter Luke Elzinga averaged 41.2 yards on four punts with a long of 54. Elzinga ranks second in the MAC with an average of 43.2 yards per punt.
Next
NIU, CMU's next opponent, is 2-6, 1-3 after dropping a 24-17 decision at Ohio on Saturday.
Coach Jim McElwain was having none of it. No excuses after his Central Michigan football team simply did not get it done on Saturday in its 34-18 Mid-American Conference loss to Bowling Green on Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
"Obviously very disappointing," McElwain said after his team slipped to 2-6, 1-3 MAC. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us and you know what, that's something we're going to do. We're going to stay together and get it figured out."
The Chippewas struggled to move the ball, particularly in the first half, when they fell into a 17-3 deficit. Their performance was much improved in the final two quarters as they drew to within 27-18 midway through the final quarter, but they didn't have enough.
"Whatever the issues are, they all point right at me," McElwain said. "I haven't done a good enough job to get these guys ready to play and we're not playing very well."
"It's me. I haven't given us answers. It's all on me."
The Chippewas go to Northern Illinois for a MAC game on Nov. 2, the first of three consecutive Wednesday night games. CMU needs to win all four of its remaining games to become bowl eligible.
"Every week, no matter what you do, no matter what you do in life, sometimes you've got to re-center," McElwain said. "Our end goals might not be there, but you re-adjust, and you come back; you certainly don't throw the towel in. It's my responsibility to get them back and get them going."
Down 17-3 after a first half in which their offense was silenced, the Chippewas scored on the opening drive of the second half when Jake Tafelski bulled in from 3 yards out to cut the deficit to 17-10.
Bowling Green extended its lead to 27-10 with a field goal and then a fumble return for TD early in the fourth quarter.
CMU got an 8-yard TD pass from Jase Bauer to Joel Wilson with just over 6 minutes remaining and then Bauer hit Carlos Carriere for the two-point conversion to pull the Chippewas within 27-18.
Bowling Green covered CMU's onside kick, snuffing out the Chippewas' legitimate hopes of a comeback.
Bauer was a bright spot in relief of starter Daniel Richardson. Bauer, a redshirt freshman, led both of CMU's TD drives and finished with 185 yards on 18-of-25 passing while also rushing for 109 yards on 16 attempts.
The game plan called for Bauer to take some snaps, McElwain said, but he earned more playing time.
"Just felt he was giving us a little bit of a spark," he said. "He did some OK things when he was in there. We'll evaluate."
Running Back Depth
The Chippewas were without starting running back Lew Nichols III, who missed his second consecutive game with an injury. Marion Lukes, who finished with 249 all-purpose yards a week ago in a 28-21 win at Akron, started against the Falcons but left with an injury after carrying seven times for 16 yards.
Myles Bailey, who was the co-No. 2 running back along with Lukes, missed the game with an injury he sustained at Akron. The Chippewas were also without another injured running back Christian Brown, who saw action last week at Akron.
When Lukes left Saturday's game, redshirt freshman Jake Tafelski who, like Brown, had played almost exclusively on special teams throughout the season, stepped into the role.
"Next man up, as coach always says," Tafelski said. "Today was an opportunity to step up and do your job. … Your time comes, you know what you should be able to do."
Starting defensive back De'Javion Stepney, another redshirt freshman who played running back a year ago, also took snaps at running back in the second half against the Falcons.
In short, running back personnel – once perhaps the deepest position on the team – has been severely hampered. Tafelski carried three times for four yards and caught four passes for 37; Stepney caught one pass for two yards and had two nice runs, but both were erased by penalties.
"I felt Tafelski did a great job," McElwain said. "Both of those guys did a hell of a job. They certainly weren't the reason for our missteps.
"We'll see where we're at. (Stepney) can play both ways. He came up after the game and gave me a big hug and thanked me for trusting him. That tells you what kind of kid he is. He was playing really good on defense as well. I'm proud of him. Pretty cool to see. He stepped up and came in there and did some really good things for us."
Tafelski's TD was the first of his career.
"Not too much emotion on my part, but I was happy," he said. "I was just worried about winning the game. That's where my thought was."
On the Receiving End
Tight end Joel Wilson continued to be productive for the Chippewas with eight catches for 75 yards. His TD catch was his team-high fifth of the season.
Wilson, a junior, has a team-high 41 catches and ranks second on the team with 412 receiving yards. He entered the game with 33 receptions, the third most among tight ends in the nation.
The Defense
The Chippewas recorded six sacks one week after posting nine at Akron.
LaQuan Johnson recorded two sacks while Thomas Incoom accounted for 1 ½.
Linebackers Kyle Moretti and Justin Whiteside led CMU with seven tackles apiece.
"I thought, at times, they played lights out," McElwain said of his defense, adding "any time you lose a game it's a team loss. Doesn't matter. In the end it points to me not doing a good job as a head coach. That's the bottom line."
Special Teams
CMU's Marshall Meeder booted a 52-yard field goal in the first quarter. It was 1 yard shy of his career long.
The Chippewas averaged 30 yards per kickoff return, including a 35-yarder by Sam Hicks to open the second half.
CMU punter Luke Elzinga averaged 41.2 yards on four punts with a long of 54. Elzinga ranks second in the MAC with an average of 43.2 yards per punt.
Next
NIU, CMU's next opponent, is 2-6, 1-3 after dropping a 24-17 decision at Ohio on Saturday.
Team Stats
BGS
CMU
Total Yards
358
306
Pass Yards
223
204
Rushing Yards
135
102
Penalty Yards
146
44
1st Downs
16
17
3rd Downs
3
4
4th Downs
2
1
TOP
33:32
26:28
1st Quarter
BGS 7, CMU 0
BGS - Fannin Jr.,Harold 1 yd run (Lawler,Mason kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:12
BGS 7, CMU 3
CMU - Meeder,Marshall 52 yd field goal 7 plays, 21 yards, TOP 03:05
2nd Quarter
BGS 10, CMU 3
BGS - Lawler,Mason 38 yd field goal 7 plays, 20 yards, TOP 03:38
BGS 17, CMU 3
BGS - Broden,Tyrone 11 yd pass from McDonald,Matt (Lawler,Mason kick) 6 plays, 50 yards, TOP 02:22
3rd Quarter
BGS 17, CMU 10
CMU - Tafelski,Jake 3 yd run (Meeder,Marshall kick), 3 plays, 35 yards, TOP 01:07
4th Quarter
BGS 20, CMU 10
BGS - Lawler,Mason 19 yd field goal 5 plays, 26 yards, TOP 02:22
BGS 27, CMU 10
BGS - Hardamon,Demetrius 45 yd fumble recovery (Lawler,Mason kick)
BGS 27, CMU 18
CMU - Wilson,Joel 8 yd pass from Bauer,Jase (Carriere,Carlos pass) 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:36
BGS 34, CMU 18
BGS - Broden,Tyrone 31 yd pass from McDonald,Matt (Lawler,Mason kick) 4 plays, 36 yards, TOP 01:51
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
18
TD
1
YDS
185
INT
1
CMP
3
TD
0
YDS
19
INT
0
Players Mentioned
RB
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RB
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WR
/ Football
P
/ Football
DL
/ Football
RB
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K
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LB
/ Football
RB
/ FootballQB
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DB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
TE
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