COLUMN: Count on Cooper
CMU quarterback Cooper Rush warms up before the Chippewas clash with Western Kentucky in the inaugural Bahamas Bowl. (Photo Courtesy Nick Wagner)
It has often been said the quarterback is unequivocally the most important position on any professional or college football team.
Passers like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are regarded by many as personifying hallmarks of the sport’s nature: Toughness, poise under pressure and strategic intelligence.
At Central Michigan University, we are fortunate enough to have a sure-handed option in this prime category: Cooper Rush.
The Chippewas’ red-haired, gun-slinging signal caller with a ceiling that continues to get higher before our very eyes.
Rush’s performance in Saturday’s annual Maroon vs. Gold scrimmage was reassuring. For the first time in his entire career at CMU, Rush entered the offseason as CMU’s starting QB.
But it has not come easy to Rush, who enters his junior season this fall and has had somewhat of a bumpy ride on the road to the starting gig.
Think back to the fall of 2012 when Rush was redshirted and was the third-string quarterback heading into the following season.
After two CMU passers went down with injury during Rush’s first year in pads, he was thrust into the Kelly/Shorts Stadium spotlight.
Leading a comeback against Division II New Hampshire was Rush’s first notable accomplishment behind center. It was a taste of what the budding star would eventually be capable of.
Much like the team as a whole that fall, Rush was painfully mediocre in 2013, throwing 15 touchdowns and 15 interceptions while CMU finished 6-6 and missed the postseason.
After winning the starting job over senior Cody Kater in training camp that spring, Rush had his best season last year.
Standout offensive weapons like Titus Davis and Thomas Rawls helped Rush’s numbers and more importantly, his confidence.
Rush’s most recent validating act came in the inaugural Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, a game during which the kid from Charlotte threw seven touchdowns on the tiny island on which CMU’s comeback effort came up short.
Saturday was a reminder of how far Rush as come, and all the things he has experienced along the way.
Davis and Rawls are gone. So is the coach that recruited Rush.
Under first-year Head Coach John Bonamego, there are many uncertain factors surrounding this largely unproved and inexperienced team.
In a sense, a good football team is a carefully constructed and incredibly complex riddle that Bonamego still has four months to solve.
Thankfully, the Chippewas already have the most important piece of the puzzle in place.
