COLUMN: Friday night disappointment
Coming home from a three–game road trip, I was really expecting CMU to put together a better performance Friday.
It was a nationally televised game on ESPN2 and the first time the team has been home in a month.
But Navy outplayed the Chippewas in pretty much every aspect on the field.
CMU virtually had no answer for the Navy triple–option offense. Almost every run, it seemed like the Midshipmen would gain at least four to six yards. The Chippewas were not able to get any penetration at the line and could not limit the Navy offense to short gains.
The Midshipmen routinely had short second and third down attempts, and, even if CMU was able to hold them on third down, Navy was 5-for-5 on fourth–down attempts.
The Chippewa defense knew the Midshipmen would run the ball a majority of the time, but they also needed to be wary of the big pass play; they weren’t.
Navy had just six completions but for 134 yards and three touchdowns. It entered the game with just one touchdown pass this season.
On offense, CMU was not able to find any rhythm. The offensive line gave Ryan Radcliff and Cody Kater ample time to throw, but they were not able to do much with it. Although the Chippewas had just 4:59 minutes of possession in the first quarter, Radcliff was limited to eight passing yards.
Yes, it was cold, but the wind was mild compared to most games at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
There are no more excuses left for the Chippewas. They just need to play better.
The remarkable comeback victory against Iowa on Sept. 22 is becoming a distant memory.
Once again, fans are beginning to give up on this football team, and the only way to prevent it is to put tallies in the win column.
And with the schedule it has left, there is no reason why CMU should not be able to do that.
Ball State is the only team with a winning–record, and Akron, Eastern Michigan and Massachusetts are a combined 1–18 this season.
CMU needs to go at least 4-2 in that stretch to finish with a .500 record.
Anything less than that will be considered another disappointing season ... for the third–straight year.
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