It took three quarterbacks, ninety minutes of football and a host of offensive plays for Central Michigan University to finally find an offensive rhythm this season. That stretch of confused, seemingly inept football ended in the third quarter of Central's game versus the University of New Hampshire on Saturday, but not before it threw fans through a loop.
The season started with Cody Kater at the helm. Kater, a transfer from Cincinnati who also had extensive experience at Grand Rapids Community College won the starting job in the spring and began the season as the starter. After his struggles in the Michigan game, culminating with his injury, Alex Niznak took the reigns, and seemed to show some promise. Ironically, it was in Saturday's game against UNH where Niznak himself struggled and was replaced with Cooper Rush.
This move, seemingly born out of desperation, was the best possible thing that could've happened to CMU. The Wildcats had come out of the gate with passion and a lethal option based offense, and were busy wiping Central all over the field up to that point. Rush came out poised and confident, and led the offense on four scoring drives, including the game winning field goal with less than 4 minutes left in the game.
What changed for the CMU football team? What allowed a team that was being shut out by an FCS team to mount an improbable comeback in just one half of football?
Obviously, the X factor here was Cooper Rush. He dominated the Wildcats by using play-action passing and finding the open man, typically star wide out Titus Davis. The most dynamic play of the game was a brilliantly thrown catch and run by Rush to Davis that went for a 97 yard touchdown. He finished 19-32 for 326 yards and 3 touchdown receptions.
Rush succeeded in the second half as a result of the play action, which required the effective running of first time starter Saylor Lavalli to keep the defense guessing. Lavalli finished with 93 yards on 24 carries for a 4.7 YPC average. While Lavalli excelled in space on the edges, it was painfully obvious in the first half that the team misses the punch of a solid runner like Zurlon Tipton, who is out indefinitely with a broken ankle. CMU missed several short conversions on 4th down, going for the touchdown in lieu of attempting field goals. This is an issue that could plague the Chippewas all season long, as the team lacks a solid replacement for Tipton's bruiser running style.
The Chippewas defense was stronger in some key areas against UNH where they struggled against Michigan.
In the first half, the Chippewas defense seemed a bit lackluster, and it appeared the game might be headed in a similar direction as the last game. In the 3rd quarter, the defense led a more effective pass rush, and their penetration in the backfield slowed the Wildcat's rushing attack while simultaneously leading to several sacks of UNH QB Andy Valais. The defense also came up with several key turnovers, which led to Chippewa scores.
Overall, the game raised a lot more questions than it answered. Chippewa fans are still unsure of who will end this season as the starting quarterback, or how effective the defense will be at controlling some of the MAC's more potent offenses. We don't know how many games we'll end up winning, or whether the team will return to a bowl game. However at least for me, the most important question for the time being has been answered.
Cooper Rush is, at least for now, the starter at Central Michigan University. And, in case you didn't know, and I'm not saying this is the reason why he was successful, but....
HE'S A GINGER.
Like what you read here? This is part 3 of my weekly series focused on following CMU football. Tune in next week as I recap the Chippewas game against the UNLV Rebels in Las Vegas.
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