Football wins on Homecoming despite offensive line woes
With 1:37 left to play in the game Saturday, Ball State had a chance to deliver Central Michigan football its third straight loss.
Then, Amari Coleman sealed the win for the Chippewas.
Scores from around the MAC
Ohio 30, Bowling Green 24
Akron 35, Miami 13
Toledo 35, Eastern Michigan 20
Kent State 44, Buffalo 20
Western Michigan 45, Northern Illinois 30
With the Cardinal's down 24-21 and driving inside CMU's redzone, BSU’s quarterback Riley Neal dropped back and threw a jump ball into the end zone. Coleman reached up and intercepted the pass to secure CMU's 24-21 victory on Homecoming.
“I just tried to highpoint it and catch the ball,” Coleman said. “The wind was blowing the other way, so the wind kind of took it.”
The win snapped a two-game losing streak and put the Chippewas' record at 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the Mid-American Conference.
After losing back-to-back games, including a 49-10 loss to rival Western Michigan last weekend, the Chippewas were eager to prove they were still a conference contender.
“We had that bad taste in our mouth and we wanted to get rid of it,” said senior quarterback Cooper Rush. “We couldn’t wait for today. It felt good to come out on the right end.”
Despite giving up five sacks, the Chippewas were able to rack up 422 yards of total offense.
Rush completed 21 of his 32 passes for 269 yards and one touchdown. He moved into seventh place all-time in career passing yards in MAC history.
Junior running back Devon Spalding ended the game with 157 rushing yards and one touchdown on 23 carries, including a 52-yard rush which allowed CMU to run out the clock after Coleman's interception.
“We’re still in the thick of (the conference race),” said head coach John Bonamego. “It’s early. We just have to keep our focus on the next opponent.”
Front-Line Struggles
For the second consecutive game, Cooper Rush spent a lot of time on the ground beneath an opposing defender Saturday.
The senior quarterback has been sacked 13 times in the last two games and 23 times this season — the second most of any Mid-American Conference quarterback.
"I'm not happy with Cooper Rush getting hit as many times as he did," head coach John Bonamego said. "We have some work to do."
The Chippewas entered the season having to replace two starters in center Nick Beamish and tackle Ramadan Ahmeti on an offensive line that finished seventh in the MAC last season.
Through the first five games of 2016, the offensive line is on pace to surpass last season's sack total in its next two games. The line is surrendering 4.6 sacks per game, which would tally at least 50 sacks allowed at the end of the season at this current pace — nearly double last season's total.
CMU also struggled to block on running plays last season, finishing last in the MAC in rushing offense.
After averaging 3.1 yards per carry in 2015, the Chippewas have not faired much better this season, gaining 3.9 yards per carry thus far. In its game against Ball State on Saturday, more than 100 of the team's 153 total rushing yards came on two long runs by junior running back Devon Spalding.
Outside of Spalding's 63-yard run in the second quarter and 52-yarder in the fourth, CMU gained 38 yards on 35 attempts, averaging just 1.1 yards per carry.
Following the win against Ball State, Spalding said a running back can't expect a big play to happen every time they touch the ball. Rush put some of the blame for the five sacks on himself.
If the Chippewas want to remain MAC contenders, they need to be able to rush for more than one yard per play. No matter how good Rush can manage CMU's passing offense, winning without a respectable rushing threat is tough to do at any level.
CMU can't set up a play-action pass to keep defenses honest and get receivers open downfield if it can't establish a running threat.
What's Next
The Chippewas' offensive line will have an opportunity to settle in next Saturday as the team travels to DeKalb, Illinois to play Northern Illinois.
The Huskies are ranked 11th in the MAC in rushing defense, allowing 227.3 yards per game. They are ninth in the conference in sacks with nine.
After Saturday's win, CMU is third in the MAC West Division standings behind Western Michigan (6-0, 2-0 MAC) and Toledo (4-1, 1-0 MAC).
