Home » Sports » Football »

Philadelphia Fail: CMU loses, 13-10, against Temple in overtime

By on September 10, 2010 6:00 am in Football / 12 comments

 
email

PHILADELPHIA — There was nothing Nick Bellore could do about it.

The senior linebacker suffered an ankle injury in the second half and was forced to watch as the Central Michigan football team suffered a 13-10 overtime loss Thursday night at Temple.

The Chippewas would start with the ball in overtime and picked up a first down before sophomore quarterback Ryan Radcliff was intercepted by junior defensive back Kee-ayre Griffin in the end zone.

Temple would pick up a first down with three straight runs before McManus hit a 30 yard field goal to win the game and improve Temple’s record to 2-0 on the season.

“(It’s great) that we’re staying together and finding a way to win,” said Temple head coach Al Golden. “Obviously, you have an organization that scores 33, 34 and 35 points a game and, in five quarters, they score 10. I think that is probably the most pleasing.”

With freshman kicker Paul Mudgett struggling, missing his fourth field goal of the young season, redshirt freshman backup kicker David Harman came on and made a 31-yard field goal with 1:11 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 10.

The Chippewas, after recovering a fumble, botched a snap that took them out of field position and into overtime, where the missed opportunities proved to be too much.

Bellore injury

With about 10 minutes to go, Bellore injured his ankle and played sparingly throughout the rest of the second quarter. Head coach Dan Enos said Bellore will be reevaluated and is currently day-to-day with an ankle sprain.

The lone Temple touchdown in the first half came when Bellore was on the sideline.

“I think we played with a great effort today,” said senior linebacker Matt Berning, who led the team with 11 total tackles. “Even with Nick out that just shows how good of a defense we are going to be this year as a unit even though we lost it excites me.”

Meanwhile, the CMU offense was fairly ineffective throughout, converting four out of seven third down attempts in the first half, but failing to score any points.

The Chippewas’ only scoring threat of the first half was stopped when junior running back Paris Cotton was hit in the backfield on fourth and inches from the 25 yard line, failing to get the first down.

“If we were real confident in our kicking game we probably would have kicked it there,” Enos said. “That’s a decision we had to make we thought we had a good play and we thought we could make it.”

CMU would find the end zone in the second half when sophomore receiver Cody Wilson took a pass over the middle from Radcliff for 70 yards down to the one yard line.

Cotton crossed the goal line on the very next play evening the game up at seven points a piece.

Temple went on to take the lead right back from the Chippewas on its next drive with an 11-play, 66-yard drive that lasted 5:28.

Sophomore kicker Brandon McManus made a 31-yard field goal to give Temple a 10-7.

The Chippewas got the ball back with 8:42 in the fourth quarter and drove all the way down the field before being halted for a field goal attempt.

Junior defensive end Kashawn Fraser had a strong game after coming off of suspension last week, forcing a fumble with junior John Williams giving CMU a chance to win.

“Defense did a great job flying around, Kashawn Fraser was a factor,” Enos said. “We still hurt ourselves with penalties, but we thought the defense played very well.”

Radcliff was stripped on the ensuing series, but redshirt junior Rocky Weaver recovered as time ran out sending the game to overtime.

CMU travels to Ypsilanti on Sept. 18 to play in-state rival Eastern Michigan.

 

Tags

, , ,

Related Posts

 
  • CMU Alum, '78

    You could describe the Chippewas performance last night in one word: ugly. They were unfocused, undisciplined…stupid penalties…missed field goals. At times I thought I was watching a high school team rather than last year's MAC Champs. I hope Coach Enos tears them apart as they watch the film from the game. Defense did play well despite losing Bellore; the offense needs to remember that THEY KNOW when the ball is going to be hiked, so there is NO REASON to be off-sides! grrrr….but still and always a loyal Chippewa!

  • andrew_

    What the heck was that game all about? Maybe I've gotten spoiled by the last few years, but good lord. Haphazard much? Central was looking more like green and white than maroon and gold. Ack.

  • Centmich77

    The last two Thursday night games have been extremely disappointing and I can only attribute the poor performance of CMU's football team to someone who is not ready to be a college head football coach! Every time the camera showed Dan Enos, he was looking down at his play sheet, like “Gee, that play didn't work. I wonder what we should do now?” Dan has not shown the emotion or intensity on the sidelines that Butch Jones showed! My question is, how long will he be allowed to take down the team and the reputation of CMU's football program that took six years to be built back up after the DeBord years?

  • Venom

    The 'wildcat' is a formation I never want CMU to run out of again! Absolutely terrible offensive play calling for the majority of the game. I've never seen a screen play fail so many times. Our offensive minds are going to have to learn real quick that the defense can't bail them out all the time, and start getting more downfield plays going to get some points on the board.

  • Venom

    Offensive play calling blew this game. I never want to see 'the wildcat' ran out of ever again by CMU. The idea is to keep the defense guessing, and to put them in an uncomfortable position on a 2nd and 3rd and short as far as their coverages are concerned. Running a screen play 80% of the time won't give a team many more points than we had at the end. We needed to look further downfield, and when we did it usually panned out. Our offensive minds are going to learn real fast that our awesome defense can't bail them out the entire game. We are again the most talented team in the MAC, I look forward to our rematch with Temple in Detroit.

  • Macde1cm

    I transplanted to Philadelphia 4 years ago, and I couldn't hardly wait to see my Chips! Unfortunately, I wish I had gotten to see them under better circumstances. The defense looked stellar, stopping Temple on a number of red zone drives. The shoe-string tackle in Temple's first play from scrimmage was terrific. However, the offense looked anemic. The run game never got going and the young QB made too many rookie mistakes, including the disastrous OT interception which never should have been thrown in the first place, and the awful regulation-time expiring fumble. Not to mention the botched no-timeout just before said fumble. They had at least 2 shots at the endzone, they nearly had it won. Oh the satisfaction that could have been walking out of Lincoln Financial Field with all those disillusioned Temple fans. Oh well, maybe I'll get to see them again in 4 years.

  • Chip84

    ..The Chips looked alot like the MSU teams they have beaten over the years..predictable..boring..mistake prone..unispired..haphazard…and waiting for the basketball season to begin. Why did we hire a “not ready for prime time” coach from a horrible football school?

  • CMICH '99

    Terrible offensive game plan. The Wildcat is ok a few times a game, but my lord. Temple has a terrible defensive backfield and the coaching staff kept going back to the Wildcat. The kids showed emotion which is great, but the coaching staff did not have any intensity. At least thats what it looked like on tv. Radcliff looked to show good poise, a few mistakes, which will happen. A lot of dropped balls. Coaching staff needs to sharpen up.

    I hope the kids keep playing with emotion we saw on Thurs. . Should be an interesting year.

    FIRE UP CHIPS!

  • FireEnos

    Terrible play calling and inexperience. The Wildcat may have worked if you ran more than one play out of it. It should be run as an offense to catch the defense off guard, not once a drive. For the screen play at the end of the game. It had to be the worst call I have ever seen. You need at least a solid 15 yds. to get into field goal range and that play hadn't worked all game, plus they don't get out of bounds, which leads to an inexperience quarterback and offense taking a sack/fumble ultimately losing us the game. This is what Heeke gets for bringing in a coach with a whole new offense, mass confusion.

  • ThinkandThin!

    Wow, we're calling for Dan's head after one game here? This was a tough fought defensive game without our best defensive player for the second half. Who are you blaming for inexperience here? We just finished off the best 4 year run in school history with the best class plus junior Antonio Brown.. I really don't want to be associated with a group like that.. Does anyone remember the “horrible play calling” against Boston College.. yeah that was Brian Kelly and yes, he's a Notre Dame.. and how'd the last Heeke hire work out… Oh yeah, when he was hired you all hated him too.

    Don't be haters. Just go away.

  • CE

    Who said anything about “hate?” YOU DID! Everyone on here has a right to criticize, and justifiably so! Enos got schooled, mismanaged the clock, where we could have easily won in regulation. You don't like the complaints? Go to Notre Dame, ThinonThinking!

  • E-no (s)

    CE…well said. ThinkonThinking just does not know CMU football.

    This was the perfect post that I found…

    When will we learn that we should NEVER hire a ex Big Ten assistant coach? They just don’t understand the MAC and the team looks confused and slow to get plays in (just look at the last 35 seconds when we had a chance to win) couple with an unimaginative offense. All this results in is the turnovers and penalties that we saw. Getting back on Big Ten coaches at the MAC, how quickly we forget about the DeBord era! Unfortunately last night remined me of his teams during his era, which I think we won a total of seven games in four years. I know one game does not make a career, but all the mistakes were inexcusable. By the way, spike the ball and stop the clock next time…I don't blame Radcliff or the center for any of this, the ball should have been spiked and that would have given them time to set up a real play. Also, the coaches put Radcliff in way to difficult of a position by insisting on running of first down every time. I don't care who you are, it is a tough position to always be facing 2nd and 10 every start. Come to think of it, sould like Big Ten coaching to insist on running on every first down.

    I hope DeBord…I mean Enos figures this out in a hurry as this will be a long season otherwise.

    I will like to hear from ThinonThinking in a year or two when the program is put back because of Enos.