Bitter Night, Bitter End

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Winter doesn't officially arrive, on the calendar, for another month.

Mother Nature delivered a winter storm to Mount Pleasant on Wednesday and it put a chill on the Central Michigan football team's late-season upward surge.

Western Michigan kicked a 25-yard field goal with under two minutes remaining to hand the Chippewas a bitter 12-10 Mid-American Conference loss on snow-covered Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

The loss ended CMU's modest two-game win streak and put an end to the Chippewas' bowl aspirations. CMU is 4-7, 3-4 MAC and closes the season on Friday, Nov. 25 at Eastern Michigan.

"You go back to work, pick yourself up," said CMU coach Jim McElwain after the loss to the Chippewas' bitter rival. "Obviously this isn't the book any of us wanted to write and yet sometimes the endings and some of the chapters in between aren't really what you wanted.

"You've got a chance to go and write the ending and let's go out and do it to the best of our ability. We'll see how we respond."

Heavy snow blanketed the field, turning Wednesday's game into a tight ground battle where a handful of plays would make all the difference.

Those plays came in the fourth quarter, and all went in favor of the Broncos (4-7, 3-4), who recaptured the coveted Victory Cannon that the Chippewas had held since last season's 42-30 win in Kalamazoo.

The first game-changing play came with 3:57 remaining when CMU quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr. was tackled in the end zone for a safety, cutting the Chippewas' lead to 10-9.

Western Michigan took over after the ensuing free kick at its own 35-yard line. On third-and-11 from the Western 34, quarterback Treyson Bourguet hit Corey Crooms for a 34-yard gain to the CMU 30.

Speedy and elusive running back Sean Tyler carried on the next play to the CMU 10 and then Palmer Domschke kicked the game-winning field goal with 1:52 remaining.

Tyler's run proved pivotal after the Chippewas had held him in check throughout most of the second half. He finished with 177 yards rushing, 153 of which came in the first half and his only significant run in the final 30 minutes was the back-breaking 20-yard gain that set up the game-winning kick.

"I thought our defense played really well in the second half except the last drive," McElwain said. "They beat us and it's my responsibility to win these games and I didn't get it done."

The Chippewas finished with 253 yards in total offense, 159 of it on the ground. Emanuel, who ran for 293 yards and three touchdowns last week in CMU's win over Buffalo, had 93 against the Broncos.

Sixty of that came on a first-half touchdown run.

"They had a great plan to handle Bert and we didn't do a good job getting it adjusted," said McElwain, who refused to blame the snow-covered field for the Chippewas' inability to gain sustained offensive traction. "Both teams had to play in it. They made plays when they needed to."

The Defense
Linebacker Kyle Moretti led the Chippewa defense with eight tackles and defensive end Thomas Incoom registered a sack among CMU's 10 tackle-for-loss.

Incoom has 10 ½ sacks on the year and 18 ½ tackles-for-loss (he was credited with 2 ½ TFLs against the Broncos).

Incoom has at least one TFL in 10 of the Chippewas' 11 games this season and entered Wednesday's game sixth in the nation and first in the MAC in TFLs. He was first in the MAC and third nationally in sacks.

Cornerback Donte Kent was credited with three pass breakups, giving him a MAC-best 15 on the season.

Block No. 6
CMU's Donte Kent blocked a Domschke 22-yard field goal attempt with 58 seconds remaining in the first half to keep the game tied, 7-7.

It was CMU's sixth blocked kick of the season. The Chippewas have blocked four punts and one point-after attempt.

They entered the game first in the MAC and third nationally in blocked kicks.

The Weather
The heavy snow that blanketed the field made for difficult footing. Traditional wisdom dictates that such conditions make it difficult on offenses, particularly the passing game.

That philosophy held as the teams combined to complete just 13 passes on 30 attempts for a total of 196 yards.

But field conditions can also affect defensive players' footing. Incoom and McElwain refused to blame field conditions, however, for the Chippewas' inability to slow Tyler in the first half, when he scored on a 53-yard run to give Western a 7-0 lead.

Less than a minute later, Emanuel bolted 60 yards to even the score.

"You've just got to play," Incoom said. "At the end of the day … you've just got to adjust to the run and make corrections. There were a lot of missed tackles, slipping and stuff, and we've just got to adjust to that."

Next
The Chippewas will close the season at Eastern (7-4, 4-3), which has won two consecutive games and five of its last seven.

"We're still not done, the season's not done," Incoom said. "We're still in the right mind set. We'll go play, get this sour taste out of our mouth, get a win and finish the season strong."

The Series
CMU is 40-52-2 all-time against the Broncos and Western has won the last six meetings in Mount Pleasants. The Chippewas last defeated Western in their home stadium in 2010.

Wednesday's point total, 22, was the lowest since CMU defeated the Broncos, 10-0, in 1979.

Next Event

Team Stats

Jase Bauer

Bert Emanuel, Jr.

Players Mentioned

Thomas Incoom

Donte Kent

Kyle Moretti

Players Mentioned

Thomas Incoom

Donte Kent

Kyle Moretti