The CMU football team went through a wide range of emotions during its first three games.

It won its first season opener since 2002, was dismantled against the No. 3 team in the nation and stole a down-to-the-wire victory in its Mid-American Conference opener.

But there is one common theme amongst those three games – slow starts. The Chippewas were outscored 24-3 in the first quarter in those games, scoring their only three points on their first drive of the season against Eastern Illinois.

“If you’ve got an answer, tell me,” said coach Butch Jones of the sluggish start. “I knew we were ready to play. We had a great week of preparation, I could see the look in the kids’ eyes.”

Last Saturday, Ohio scored touchdowns on two quick drives to go ahead 14-0 in less than seven minutes while keeping junior quarterback Dan LeFevour and the CMU offense in check.

“I think maybe we were a little overanxious, a little overzealous,” Jones said. “But we settled down.”

And it did – CMU scored 24 unanswered points en route to a 31-28 victory in Athens, Ohio. It marked their fourth win since 2007 after falling behind after one quarter.

Sophomore wide receiver Antonio Brown contributed in a big way, returning a third-quarter punt 75 yards for a touchdown that gave CMU a 17-14 lead.

“(We’ve got to) keep our focus, keep chopping wood,” Brown said. “Keep chopping wood until it’s all said and done.”

The trend isn’t new for CMU football – the team was outscored 147-109 in the first quarter last season and went 3-6 in games in which it faced first-quarter deficits.

CMU’s next opponent, Purdue, contributed to two of those losses.

The Boilermakers opened a 24-0 lead over the Chippewas after just one quarter in their 45-22 win on Sept. 15, 2007. They almost repeated that effort during the Motor City Bowl on Dec. 26, 2007, in Detroit, where they led 21-6 after the first quarter.

Heading into its game at noon Saturday, LeFevour said it is going to take a better opening to obtain its first Bowl Championship Series win since 1992.

“We’ve got to start faster,” he said. “It did take us a few reps to get going (against Ohio), but it shouldn’t.”

bmanzullo@cm-life.com

Slow beginnings

The CMU football team has had mixed results when losing after the first quarter during the Butch Jones era:

Date, team Deficit Result

Sept. 1, 2007 at Kansas 14-0 L, 52-7

Sept. 8, 2007 vs. Toledo 14-10 W, 52-31

Sept. 15, 2007 at Purdue 24-0 L, 45-22

Sept. 22, 2007 vs. NODS 3-0 L, 44-14

Nov. 6, 2007 at WMU 7-0 W, 34-31

Nov. 16, 2007 vs. EMU 14-10 L, 48-45

Nov. 23, 2007 at Akron 7-0 W, 35-32

Dec. 26, 2007 vs. Purdue 21-6 L, 51-48

Sept. 6, 2008 at Georgia 7-0 L, 56-17

Sept. 13, 2008 at Ohio 14-0 W, 31-28

E-mail the author: Brian Manzullo