Chippewas Get Defensive in Taking Homecoming Victory

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – It wasn't a work of art. It rarely is when it's put in the hands of the defense.

Central Michigan held Akron to under 200 yards in total offense and the Chippewa offense did just enough on Saturday as CMU defeated the Zips, 17-10, in a Mid-American Conference game on homecoming on Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

The Chippewas improved to 4-3, 2-1 MAC and bounced back from a 37-13 loss last week at Buffalo. They are tied for second place in the MAC West, one game behind first-place Toledo.

CMU goes to Ball State (1-6, 0-3) on Saturday, Oct. 21.

"I think you could argue that maybe it was the best overall defensive performance that we've had since I've been here," said fifth-year CMU coach Jim McElwain. "Now it's, what did we do well and let's keep doing it."

The Chippewas threw two interceptions against the Zips after committing four turnovers last week at Buffalo.

The difference against the Zips was that CMU made two interceptions, the second of which came on Akron's first drive of the third quarter and put the Chippewas at the Zip 30-yard line.

Four plays later, quarterback Jase Bauer scored on a 5-yard run to put the Chippewas in front, 10-3.

CMU went up 17-3 with 1:01 to play in the third quarter when Myles Bailey scored on a 2-yard run to cap an 18-play, 75-yard drive that milked more than nine minutes off the clock.

"I felt like we had a pretty good plan going in," McElwain said. "When you looked at it there for awhile, I think they had about 12 yards of offense and we had about 130. It's the turnovers. It's a whole different thing if we don't (commit) the turnovers."

It was CMU's longest drive of the season in terms of possession time, and it tied its longest drive of the season for number of plays.

On the day, the Chippewas held the ball for nearly 16 minutes longer than did the Zips and had 21 first downs to the Zips' 10.

"I wish I had the magic words or whatever," McElwain said of his team's ability to produce offensively in the third quarter. "It was just, 'Go play one play at a time.'

"That was kind of the whole message offensively, and on defense, it was just make sure we kept the ball in front of us and we did that. We did a really good job."

Akron drew to 17-10 when quarterback Jeff Undercuffler, who relieved starter Tahj Bullock in the second half, tossed a 14-yard TD pass to Alex Adams early in the fourth quarter.

But the Chippewa defense clamped down after that, holding Akron to just 43 yards in total offense and two first downs the rest of the way.

"Another great defensive performance," McElwain said. "That's two weeks in a row. Our defense last week gave us an opportunity to win the game; this week, it definitely won the game."

Akron seized a 3-0 lead on a 40-yard field goal midway through the first quarter.

The Chippewas tied it – and got a shot of momentum – when redshirt junior Tristan Mattson booted a program- and stadium-record 58-yard field goal with 58 seconds to play in the half.

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Team Stats

Jase Bauer

Players Mentioned

Myles Bailey

Jase Bauer

Tristan Mattson

Players Mentioned

Myles Bailey

Jase Bauer

Tristan Mattson