Fading Chips: Football drops bowl, must replace star quarterback in offseason
Mixed expectations surrounded the Central Michigan football team coming into the 2016 season.
In the Mid-American Conference preseason poll, college football writers predicted the Chippewas to finish fourth the West Division. CMU fans, on the other hand, felt optimistic with the return of senior quarterback Cooper Rush and the bulk of the nation’s No. 16 defense.
After a wild season, which featured ups, downs, miracles and heartbreaks, the Chippewas finished 6-7 and fifth in the MAC West in Head Coach John Bonamego’s second season.
Roller Coaster Season
Central Michigan could not have looked better to begin the regular season.
After a dominating win against Presbyterian in week one, CMU headed to Stillwater, Oklahoma to face-off against the high-powered Oklahoma State Cowboys, who were ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press Poll at the time. Trailing 27-24 with no time left on the clock due to a controversial penalty on the Cowboys, the heavy-underdog Chippewas were given one last chance.
With fans watching across the country, senior Jesse Kroll caught Rush’s Hail Mary pass and lateraled the ball back to junior Corey Willis, who ran it in for the dramatic win. CMU quickly became the talk of the sports world and “Central Michigan” began trending on Twitter.
Mount Pleasant truly became party central and fans rejoiced over the huge upset.
But the party didn’t last long.
After losing at Virginia two weeks later, CMU returned home to play rival Western Michigan in the “game of the year.” The Broncos, however, rowed the boat straight through Kelly/Shorts Stadium behind quarterback Zach Terrell’s three touchdown passes and came away with a convincing 49-10 victory.
Bonamego was certain the loss wouldn’t break the team’s confidence, but the Chippewas looked like a different team after that. Injuries to Kroll, junior right tackle Derek Edwards, senior safety Tony Annese and junior defensive end Mitch Stanitzek showed the team’s lack of depth, which handicapped the Chippewas for the rest of the season.
CMU ended the regular season losing four of its last five games, including last-second defeats to a lowly Kent State squad at home and a revitalized Eastern Michigan team in Ypsilanti.
Beach Bowl bashing
Following a rough 6-6 regular season, CMU was selected to play in the Miami Beach Bowl against Tulsa on Dec. 19.
The Chippewas were to face another high-scoring offense from Oklahoma in the Golden Hurricane — who entered with the fourth-best scoring offense in the country.
From the opening kickoff, it was evident that Central Michigan was in way over its head as the team couldn’t find an answer for Tulsa’s no huddle offense. Two first half interceptions thrown by Rush stopped any momentum the Chippewas had and the Golden Hurricane pulled away to a 27-3 halftime lead.
Rush and the offense continued to struggle in the second half, while Tulsa pounded the ball and took deep shots on a Chippewa secondary which was missing junior cornerback Amari Coleman, who was out with an injury. UT running backs D’Angelo Brewer and James Flanders finished with 105 and 100 rushing yards on the day, respectively.
Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans threw for a Miami Beach Bowl-record 304 yards and 5 touchdowns and was named the game’s MVP.
The Chippewas season came to an end at 6-7 overall. It was the team's first losing season since the 2011 campaign.
End of a legacy
Rush was up-and-down in his final season under center, in large part due to an offensive line which allowed 38 sacks — second most in the conference. Rush threw a career-high and MAC-leading 16 interceptions in 2016, while only completing 59 percent of his passes after completing 66 percent in 2015.
Rush finished his career as the second highest passer in MAC history (12,905 yards) behind former Chippewa Dan LeFevour. He also finished second in school history behind LeFevour in passing touchdowns (90) and completed passes (1,022).
Rush said before the bowl game that he and the rest of the seniors were “disappointed” they never delivered a conference championship.
The 6-foot-3 Charlotte native will play in the East/West Shrine Game on Jan. 21 in St. Petersburg, Florida and prepare for the NFL Combine on Feb. 28.
Rush is ranked as the 10th quarterback overall, according to cbssports.com. He is projected to go in either the sixth or seventh round in April’s NFL Draft.
Coaching Changes
Following the bowl game, offensive coordinator Morris Watts retired after serving as the play caller since 2013. Running backs coach Gino Guidugli was selected to replace Watts as the offensive coordinator.
Also stepping down from the Chippewas' coaching staff was Mose Rison, assistant head coach and receivers coach. The Flint native had been on the coaching staff since 2012 after various stints with other college teams as well as NFL coaching positions.
2017 Outlook
Only losing 16 seniors to graduation, the Chippewas will enter the 2017 season with a high amount of returning key players.
Running back Johnathon Ward showed promise as a true freshman and could make a quality tandem with redshirt sophomore Romello Ross, who missed all of 2016 with a torn ACL.
At wide receiver, the Chippewas will bring back starters Willis and junior Mark Chapman, along with redshirt freshman Brandon Childress. Junior tight end Tyler Conklin — who caught 42 passes for 560 yards and six touchdowns — also returns.
The only real question on offense is who will start at quarterback. Freshmen Tony Poljan and Austin Hergott, redshirt freshman Jake Johnson and sophomore Tommy Lazzaro will battle for the position this spring.
The defense could be the strength of the team next year with the return of juniors Amari Coleman and Josh Cox at cornerback and sophomore Malik Fountain at linebacker. Junior defensive end Joe Ostman — who led the team with 13.5 tackles for loss and 9 sacks — returns to anchor the defensive line.
A lot of expectations will surround Bonamego in year three as the Chippewas will search for the program’s first MAC title since 2009.
The 2017 season begins Aug. 31 against Rhode Island at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
