Always a great feeling to beat Western Michigan. CMU had to have this game and found a way to win despite having less total yards than the Broncos and being minus-4 in turnover margin. With the win, the Chippewas keep their bowl hopes alive. Here are some of my thoughts.
I'll restate this: WMU outgained CMU, 311-280, and was plus-4 in turnover margin and CMU still found a way to win. I really don't know what to point to. Maybe redzone efficiency. WMU had three trips to the redzone turn into field goals, whereas CMU's turnovers came in their own end and didn't really kill any drives.Have to give the Chippewa defense a ton of credit. The turnovers put them in some rough spots and they still held WMU to only 22 points. Zach Terrell had an awful day: 14-of-35 (40 percent) for 147 yards and one interception. I wasn't sure the Broncos would find a way to run the ball and they did. Fields and Chance combined for 137 yards on 29 carries. WMU just couldn't get their pass attack going.We said that CMU had to find a way to contain Corey Davis. They didn't completely shut him down, but they kept him from making a real impact. Davis had three catches for 40 yards. I saw Greer and Jason Wilson guarding him at times. Both did a pretty good job.Western had a furious finish, outgaining CMU, 107 to 15 in the fourth quarter. CMU didn't help themselves with a couple penalties on the Broncos last drive. That said, the Chippewas got a stop when they had to late in the game to seal the win.Tony Annese played really well at strong safety. Had a pick-six that ended up being the game-winning touchdown and was around the ball all day. The TV broadcasters said he started for Kavon Frazier at strong safety. Interested to see if Enos says anything about it after the game. I know Frazier was in on the last drive. And the broadcasters were getting CMU players mixed up all day (thought Ricketts was Losiniecki twice, after Losiniecki was seen on crutches on the sideline, thought Annese was Kevin King on the pick-six and thought it was Ben McCord that caught a touchdown pass late in the third, when it was actually Mike Kinville).Rush showed flashes of brilliance and looked like a freshman today. He didn't throw an incomplete pass until the second quarter, but struggled with three interceptions, including the last one when he didn't get a throwaway all the way out of bounds.Titus Davis continues to play at another level. He's the best receiver in the MAC (with the possible exception of Willie Snead) and he had another big day today. Nine catches for 121 yards and a couple highlight reel catches. Whenever he leaves, he's getting drafted and he's going to make an impact in the NFL.Certainly have to talk about Zurlon Tipton. A lot of folks just assumed he wouldn't come back this year, but he had a really solid day despite the injury: 29 carries, 110 yards and two touchdowns. Definitely not his best day as a Chippewa, but it wasn't bad by any means and he helped CMU win the time of possession battle.You can never take games for granted, but this win almost guarantees bowl eligibility. CMU will be heavy favorites against UMass and EMU in their last two games, both at Kelly/Shorts. A home loss to either team would be seriously disappointing and I'd be stunned to see that happen. I know that a 6-6 record is disappointing, but the silver lining is that CMU would have a 5-3 conference record despite starting a redshirt freshman quarterback and missing two all-conference talents on offense (Tipton, Olson) for most of the season.
This post was edited on 11/16 4:21 PM by SLivingstonII
I'll restate this: WMU outgained CMU, 311-280, and was plus-4 in turnover margin and CMU still found a way to win. I really don't know what to point to. Maybe redzone efficiency. WMU had three trips to the redzone turn into field goals, whereas CMU's turnovers came in their own end and didn't really kill any drives.Have to give the Chippewa defense a ton of credit. The turnovers put them in some rough spots and they still held WMU to only 22 points. Zach Terrell had an awful day: 14-of-35 (40 percent) for 147 yards and one interception. I wasn't sure the Broncos would find a way to run the ball and they did. Fields and Chance combined for 137 yards on 29 carries. WMU just couldn't get their pass attack going.We said that CMU had to find a way to contain Corey Davis. They didn't completely shut him down, but they kept him from making a real impact. Davis had three catches for 40 yards. I saw Greer and Jason Wilson guarding him at times. Both did a pretty good job.Western had a furious finish, outgaining CMU, 107 to 15 in the fourth quarter. CMU didn't help themselves with a couple penalties on the Broncos last drive. That said, the Chippewas got a stop when they had to late in the game to seal the win.Tony Annese played really well at strong safety. Had a pick-six that ended up being the game-winning touchdown and was around the ball all day. The TV broadcasters said he started for Kavon Frazier at strong safety. Interested to see if Enos says anything about it after the game. I know Frazier was in on the last drive. And the broadcasters were getting CMU players mixed up all day (thought Ricketts was Losiniecki twice, after Losiniecki was seen on crutches on the sideline, thought Annese was Kevin King on the pick-six and thought it was Ben McCord that caught a touchdown pass late in the third, when it was actually Mike Kinville).Rush showed flashes of brilliance and looked like a freshman today. He didn't throw an incomplete pass until the second quarter, but struggled with three interceptions, including the last one when he didn't get a throwaway all the way out of bounds.Titus Davis continues to play at another level. He's the best receiver in the MAC (with the possible exception of Willie Snead) and he had another big day today. Nine catches for 121 yards and a couple highlight reel catches. Whenever he leaves, he's getting drafted and he's going to make an impact in the NFL.Certainly have to talk about Zurlon Tipton. A lot of folks just assumed he wouldn't come back this year, but he had a really solid day despite the injury: 29 carries, 110 yards and two touchdowns. Definitely not his best day as a Chippewa, but it wasn't bad by any means and he helped CMU win the time of possession battle.You can never take games for granted, but this win almost guarantees bowl eligibility. CMU will be heavy favorites against UMass and EMU in their last two games, both at Kelly/Shorts. A home loss to either team would be seriously disappointing and I'd be stunned to see that happen. I know that a 6-6 record is disappointing, but the silver lining is that CMU would have a 5-3 conference record despite starting a redshirt freshman quarterback and missing two all-conference talents on offense (Tipton, Olson) for most of the season.
This post was edited on 11/16 4:21 PM by SLivingstonII
