As the CMU football team readies for a three-game road swing, the effects of a trip to Buffalo two weeks ago still linger.

After playing Western Michigan on the road Saturday in Kalamazoo, CMU plays Bowling Green and Boston College in consecutive weeks.

Coach Butch Jones said he worries more about the how fatigue will set in later in the season from the trips to Buffalo and the impending road trip.

“We have five games in the month of October and only one is at home,” he said. “So it adds up over a point of time. You got to know when they’re getting tired and when they’re worn out, when to back off.”

Despite beating Eastern Michigan 56-8 on Saturday, junior linebacker Nick Bellore said it took time to get back to normal after the trip to Buffalo, where CMU won 20-13.

“(Coaches) want to push you, but they also understand that the Tuesday practice is not going to be probably as sharp, as energy-packed as if we would have just had a home game,” Bellore said.

The team also is without a bye week this season, which could add to the fatigue.

Long trip

While many outside the football program view the trip to Tucson, Ariz., as the team’s longest and toughest travel to overcome, Jones disagrees.

He said the cross-country trip to Arizona, which includes loading and taking a bus to the airport to go along with the flight, was between five and five-and-a-half hours.

But traveling to Buffalo, between the actual driving time and getting stopped at Customs, was nearly nine hours.

The game started at 3:30 p.m. and went through two lightning delays. The team did not make it back to Mount Pleasant until past 4 a.m. Sunday.

“Mentally and physically, that was the equivalent that we feel, and talking to our trainers, that was the equivalent of playing two football games,” Jones said.

He said the team tries to maintain a normal pregame routine despite being on the road. The team had meetings throughout Friday in Buffalo and met at 9 p.m. to go over the “Keys to Victory.”

Saturday morning, the pregame breakfast was followed by a walkthrough and a series of meetings.

Bellore said the trip to Buffalo took its toll on his body. Flying to Tucson, Ariz., was not a problem though.

E-mail the author: Andrew Stover