Football opens spring practice with focus on fundamentals, teamwork


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CMU football players run through drills and plays at practice March 31 in the Indoor Athletics Complex.

With the first regular season game of 2015 five months away, the Central Michigan University football team has spent the last two weeks working on fundamentals and gaining its identity during spring practice.

In preparation for the annual Maroon vs. Gold Scrimmage, set for 1 p.m., April 25, and led by first-year Head Coach John Bonamego, the Chippewas practiced Tuesday in pads for the first time this season.

“I know it feels great for these guys to be able to get back out here and play football again,” Bonamego said. “(The night before the first practice) I was so excited I could barely sleep. I think we’ve got a really good team to work with here.”

The Chippewas will be led on offense by junior quarterback Cooper Rush, whose two seasons behind center have earned him the trust of his teammates and offensive coordinator Morris Watts.

“I just let (Rush and Watts) do their thing,” Bonamego said. “Coach Watts has done this a long time. We’ve talked in general terms about how we’d like the offense to look. That’s not something that’s broke, so why go fix it?”

Rush threw for seven touchdowns and 493 yards in CMU’s last game, a 49-48 loss to Western Kentucky in the inaugural Popeyes Bahamas Bowl.

He said the rudiments developed in “spring ball” are just as important to the team’s veterans as they are CMU’s freshmen.

“It helps me, it helps everybody really,” Rush said. “(The two quarterbacks behind me) are working hard and trying to get better. They’ve got a lot to learn, but every time they see a play they are gaining knowledge and experience.”

Bonamego said Rush and the Chippewas will at times run a more up-tempo no huddle offense this fall; they call it “NASCAR.”

“It’s been going well communication wise,” Rush said. “We’ve been working at it. We’ve got to keep practicing it and it’ll get better.”

While not much has changed schematically for the Chippewas on offense, the CMU defense has gotten a facelift.

Newly-hired defensive coordinator Greg Colby has implemented a 4-3 defense, forcing veteran defensive back Tony Annese to play toward the field’s boundary as a free safety.

“It’s a little different, having to play in some tighter space,” Annese said. “I can play both positions. It won’t be hard.”

As his unit learns a new system, Annese said cutting down on mental errors and general laziness is essential to executing Colby’s gameplan correctly.

“This is the time to make mistakes because we can fix them,” he said. “We’re just getting the hang of it. We love to compete. That’s what it’s all about for us.”

Inter-squad competition is healthy for any college football team, Bonamego said.

“It never stops,” he said. “We are always trying to find ways to win, even at the smallest level. Great competitors never take a play off. If you’re keeping score, then we are trying to find a way to win.”

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About Dominick Mastrangelo

Dominick Mastrangelo is the Editor in Chief of Central Michigan Life. Contact him at: editor@cm-life.com 

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