Football Notebook: Special Night for Chippewas, Award-Winner Darrell Bryant

CMU Football vs. Sac State (November 11, 2026)

Photo by: Addison Glascock '29 - @aglascock.photography

CMU Football vs Sacramento State University November 11, 2026

Photo by: Matthew MacPhee '28 - @mattsvisuals_

CMU vs Sacramento State University University, November 11, 2026

Photo by: Matthew MacPhee '28 - @mattsvisuals_

Photo by: Addison Glascock '29 - @aglascock.photography

Photo by: Katrina Shammami - @mediabykat

Photo by: Katrina Shammami - @mediabykat

11/12/2026 3:59:00 PM | Football

Matt Drinkall Post Game Press Conference Justin Taylor Post Game Press Conference Jayden Clerveaux Post Game Press Conference Game Recap

CMU plays perfect complementary football in second straight dominant win

By: Andy Sneddon

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – It was a big night for Central Michigan Football.

An ESPN audience on a Wednesday night MACtion game saw the Chippewas play their final home game of the season, a dominant 28-7 victory over Sacramento State that has the Chippewas 5-5, 3-3 Mid-American Conference and one win away from bowl eligibility.

It was also a big night for Chippewa safety Darrell Bryant Jr., an army veteran who earlier in the week was named the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Military Award winner. The prestigious award annually goes to an individual or group with a military background who has made the biggest impact in college football.

Bryant, a native of Hampton, Va., who is in his fifth year of college football, is the first Chippewa to win the award.

Bryant, who served in the army as an infantryman from 2019-23, was the Chippewas' flag bearer as they entered the field prior to kickoff, and he served as one of the team captains.

"This is the cool part about being the head coach of Central Michigan," second-year CMU coach Matt Drinkall said. "We have a premier game on ESPN that the whole country gets to see. We get to roll out awesome guys, led by one of them being a former military member on Veterans Day, (a guy) who does everything right, great leader.

"You get a win, and you honor our veterans, you honor the school.

"This is a great thing for Central Michigan, across the board; for our guys, for our country, and for Darrell, who is such a great representative of our institution and of our program, because he represents what we're about.

"He's a guy who's kind of an underdog. I mean, we sign him from a Division II (school), he's a little bit older, he's all about serving other people, and he has been such a tremendous leader for us."

Offensive Domination
The Chippewas rolled up 424 yards in total offense including 331 on the ground. It was their second highest total of the season and their third highest rushing total.

It was also CMU's second straight dominant performance as one week earlier in a 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan, the Chippewas finished with 418 total yards including 235 on the ground.

Telling about how dominant CMU was are three other stat categories: first downs, offensive plays, and time of possession. The Chippewas had 24 first downs to the Hornets' 10; they ran 75 plays to Sacramento State's 45; and CMU held the ball for nearly 40 minutes, while the Hornets held it for just over 20.

Defense Comes Alive
Coaches continually use the phrase "complementary football" when describing an ideal game plan.

The Chippewas did exactly that for the second straight week as the defense held Sacramento State to 211 total yards and just one touchdown, that coming on a 37-yard run in the second quarter.

"That's how you win football games in any league," CMU safety Justin Taylor said. "You have to play complementary football -- special teams, offense and defense, and that's exactly what we did today."

Taylor made a tone-setting play in the first quarter when he intercepted a pass at the CMU 5-yard line, stopping a Sacramento State scoring threat and keeping the Chippewas in front, 7-0.

CMU's Coen Ali met the intended receiver just as the ball arrived and the ball squirted loose to the right-place-at-the-right-time Taylor, who tucked away his team-leading fourth pick of the season.

"Shout out to Coen," said Taylor, who shares the MAC lead and is tied for sixth in the nation in interceptions. "Without Coen, that play would have not been made. Coen makes an amazing break on the route. He forces it up, and next thing you know, the ball was just kind of right there. It's a gift from God, to be honest."

The Chippewa defense has surrendered one TD in each of its past two games. A week ago, Eastern Michigan scored in the final minute against CMU backups to spoil the Chippewas' shutout bid.

CMU enters the final two weeks of the season with the second-ranked defense in the MAC.

Conversions
The Chippewas converted on three of their four fourth-down tries, raising their season total to 21, a program record. The Chippewas are 21-for-30 in such situations, ranking third in the MAC at 70 percent.

Kicking Game
CMU punted just twice in Wednesday's game, and both came in the fourth quarter and helped the Chippewas protect their two-touchdown lead.

Declan Duley averaged 35 yards, and both of his punts were downed inside the Sacramento State 20-yard line.

Turnover Streak
The Chippewas committed one turnover in the game, a fumble by Jayden Clerveaux in the third quarter. That ended a streak of 10 consecutive quarters that the Chippewas had gone without committing a turnover.

Their last came on an interception on the final play of the game of a 21-14 loss to Western Michigan on Oct. 17.

Bowl Eligibility
The Chippewas need one more win to become bowl eligible. They go to Buffalo on Wednesday, Nov. 18, and to Ball State on Saturday, Nov. 28.

The Bulls are 7-3 and are in a four-way tie for first place in the MAC at 5-1 with Toledo, Ohio and Western Michigan. They have won five straight games since a 20-17 loss to Western on Oct. 3.

"We talked one time, a couple weeks ago, about all the long-term goal setting and stuff like that," Drinkall said. "Other than that, we're not going to talk about that stuff ever again.

"We're just going to go one at a time. It's, What's the next thing we've got to do? What's the next thing? The next thing? What's the task at hand right now? So that's all we're talking about. (The players are) smart, they can do math. They know the next one gets us a bowl game.

"And to me, the No. 1 thing about getting a bowl game is getting your (final-year players) one more game. We have a huge task because Buffalo is a really good team that is really well coached.

"Our guys will just keep plugging along. That's really who we are: One play at a time and the next snap and see how it goes."