Central wins the battle for the cannon

Despite the best efforts of CMU QB Cooper Rush to throw the game away, the Chippewas pulled off a pivotal win in Kalamazoo yesterday, beating Western Michigan 27-22.

Central managed to win a game in which they committed five turnovers, including three terrible Rush interceptions, allowing a 14-0 lead to slip away and facilitating all of Western's 22 points.

The game was all Central in the first quarter, as Zurlon Tipton ran wild through the Broncos defense and scored a pair of touchdowns to put the Chippewas in control early. However, the Chippewas inexplicably shifted their focus from the successful run game to forcing passes by Rush into bad situations, resulting in multiple passes to Western defenders.

Tipton ran 29 times for 114 yards and the two touchdowns, carrying the team for most of the game.
Yes, the Chippewas won the game, but there was a lot of sloppy play to sort through, so here's the breakdown for each unit.

Passing Game: After experiencing pretty solid success against Ohio, NIU and Miami (OH) by using primarily short check down passes, Rush looked every bit the inexperienced freshmen quarterback yesterday, throwing horrible passes and making poor decisions in game management. Rush, for his efforts, managed a paltry 167 yards passing on 16 completed passes. While his chemistry with Titus Davis is evident (9 rec. for 122 yards), the lack of a second receiving presence makes the Chippewas incredibly predictable.

Running Game: The Chippewas bread and butter continues to be their run game, as the games where they run well are the games they win. The return of Tipton helps the team in a big way, as we saw shades of the 2012 campaign yesterday. However, his return has exiled Saylor Lavalli to relative obscurity, which is  a hell of a way to utilize a player who stepped up for this team in a big way this season. Enos needs to stop giving up on the run game so quickly in  games, especially when it is far and away the most successful facet of the offense.

Defense: All things considered, I thought the defense played pretty well yesterday. They had the tall order of stopping Western several times after bad CMU turnovers and managed to hold the Broncos to field goals three times, which proved to be very crucial. Blake Serpa continues to be a surprise here, but the line continues it's somewhat erratic play.

Special Teams: Speaking of erratic, the days of faith in the kicking game are long gone, as Ron Coluzzi doesn't inspire confidence on any kick longer than 35 yards. Another missed field goal AND a blocked PAT provide a steady stream of facepalm moments for Chippewa fans. As far as kick returns, Jerry Harris had some real nice returns mixed in with one very boneheaded move, which was luckily wiped away by a penalty. It was nice to see the Chippewas starting drives past the 20 yard marker, hopefully that will continue to be a theme.



No one is more excited about this win than me. A win yesterday means I will end my Chippewas career with something to hold over that school of horse lovers. It also backs up all the teasing that the country has had at the expense of Western and their "row the boat" theme. It also means the Chippewas postseason hopes are still alive, so continue to tune in from week to week as I break down the Chippewas games here on my blog.