MAKING THE GRADE

Patrick Siller

It’s a typical year for the CMU football team through seven games – it won every game it was expected to win and lost every game it was expected to lose.

Position-wise, however, there are several surprises and disappointments thus far in 2008. Here’s a look at all the storylines with five games to go:

QUARTERBACKS A-

Let’s face it – we haven’t seen the best of junior Dan LeFevour yet. But what he has done, prior to his right ankle injury on Oct. 11 against Temple, is run a stable offense that scored when it had to and barely turned the ball over. Through six games, he completed 65 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns compared to three interceptions, two of which were tipped. It’s not always pretty, but it’s about winning and LeFevour does that better than anyone else in the Mid-American Conference. Plus, his backup, senior Brian Brunner, provides excellent value at the No. 2 position. The offense didn’t miss a beat with him the last two weeks.

RUNNING BACKS C

The good news: freshman Bryan Schroeder is on the rise at this position. He gave CMU its first 100-yard performance by a running back last week against Western. But seniors Ontario Sneed and Justin Hoskins, thus far, are letdowns. Sneed was great against EIU and Buffalo, but why he ran for less than 2.5 yards per rush in the other four games he played is a mystery. Hoskins, to be fair, has not had much of a chance to play, but may see more playing time after a couple of big plays last week.

WIDE RECEIVERS B+

This is a difficult unit to grade because sometimes it depends on the quarterback giving them opportunities. Junior Bryan Anderson and sophomore Antonio Brown showed signs of brilliance over the first seven games, but it may take a few more to see whether they can consistently put up great performances like last year. Guys like senior Joe Bockheim and sophomore Kito Poblah are stepping up, too, giving LeFevour and Brunner even more reliable options. Junior Jean Pitts, prior to his injury, had several spectacular catches as well.

OFFENSIVE LINE A-

More often than not, offenses work simply because they have great offensive lines. And while CMU’s line was banged up with sophomore center Colin Miller out and junior guard Jeff Maddux missing a game, it consistently played well over the first half and limited the number of holding calls. Senior tackles Andrew Hartline and Greg Wojt provide great leadership while covering the ends well. The only negatives were allowing three sacks to Temple’s Junior Galette and four to Purdue’s front seven.

DEFENSIVE LINE B

The entire unit plays extremely well if the defensive line plays well. Last week was the perfect example. WMU quarterback Tim Hiller threw all over the field because he faced little pressure from the defense. But led by junior end Frank Zombo (2.5 sacks), the line finally got to him and he couldn’t move the ball downfield. This group, is playing much better as of late, with excellent defensive performances against Purdue, Buffalo and Temple. But if it can’t get pressure to the quarterback, watch out.

LINEBACKERS A-

This group is the most underrated. Sophomore Nick Bellore doesn’t always get the credit he deserves because he’s not the guy intercepting passes or sacking the quarterback. Make no mistake – he is all over the field this season (70 tackles). Another player not getting enough recognition is sophomore Matt Berning (36 tackles).

SECONDARY C+

Opposing quarterbacks rack up a lot of yardage at times and seem to find wide open receivers all over the field. But for the most part, the defensive backs are playing much more aggressively in the past few games, especially safety Eric Fraser and cornerback Bobby Seay. But they need to create turnovers more often – CMU has intercepted four passes, and three of them came against Temple.

SPECIAL TEAMS B

This unit played like Jekyll-and-Hyde to begin the year. The good: Kicker Andrew Aguila (8-for-10 on field goals), returner Antonio Brown (24.4 yards per punt return, first in the nation, and one touchdown) and punter Brett Hartmann, who lately has had a knack for pinning opponents inside their 20-yard line. The bad: Kick return coverage was poor at times, especially in critical situations at Purdue and against Buffalo, when the Bulls recovered an onside kick and nearly upset CMU.

COACHING A-

We don’t always like some of the calls coach Butch Jones makes, but at 4-0 in the Mid-American Conference, the results speak for themselves. His call of the year was going for two at Purdue instead of tying the game at 25 with an extra point. Morale is high for the CMU football team, and that’s thanks in large part to the coaching staff.

OVERALL A-

Had things gone a little differently at Purdue, the Chippewas would sit at 6-1 and could be looking at a possible Top 25 ranking down the road. But they won every game they were expected to win, and last week’s 38-28 rivalry win over a strong WMU team was huge.

The biggest challenge is still ahead. The team faces another three-game road stretch against Toledo, Indiana and Northern Illinois before coming back home for No. 22 ranked Ball State. One thing is for certain – there’s a long way to go.

sports@cm-life.com

bmanzullo@cm-life.com