Kansas 24, Central Michigan 10: Chippewas fall to 2-2 on season with loss to Jayhawks
Two things were expected by all during Saturday’s Central Michigan University football game at Kansas. The first was a rejuvenated and angry Chippewas team looking to put up big numbers. The second was a vicious lightning storm.
Neither panned out.
CMU (2-2) and Kansas (2-1) entered the fourth quarter tied at 10. Jayhawks quarterback Montell Cozart's 60-yard touchdown pass to Justin McCay put KU up 17-10 early in the fourth quarter. The Jayhawks never looked back, taking the game, 24-10.
The Chippewas running game was able to hold its own without suspended senior running back Thomas Rawls. Six CMU rushers, led by sophomore Martez Walker, combined for 101 yards on the KU defense.
Rawls and senior wide receiver Titus Davis did not travel with the team.
Walker highlighted a seven-play, 75 yard drive, with an 18-yard game-tying touchdown run in the third quarter. He carried the ball for six times on the drive, running for 46 of his 56 yards.
Junior wide receiver Jesse Kroll finished with three catches for 54 yards, second to redshirt freshman wide receiver Corey Willis who caught five passes for 60 yards in his second game as a Chippewa.
Senior Justin Cherocci highlighted the defense, recording a career-high 19 tackles.
CMU struggled to get big plays on offense. Kansas running back Tony Pierson ran for 74 yards and a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.
Three plays accounted for 164 of Kansas’ 369 total yards.
The game was suspended briefly at halftime due to an approaching thunderstorm, but like the Chippewas offense late in the game, the storm never came.
CMU will open the Mid-American Conference Schedule next weekend at Toledo.
