Low scoring and turnovers bring questions to football's offensive consistency
Redshirted freshmen Devonni Reed shucks off a Kansas player on Sept. 8 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
The Central Michigan offense didn’t score in the second half against Kentucky in week one. Now after playing Kansas, the Chippewas have only managed one offensive score in the last six quarters.
They lost to the Jayhawks, 31-7, on Sept. 8 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
“I don’t think we overlooked anybody, we just didn’t execute very well,” Bonamego said. “They are hurting right now and we all are, they should be and I want them to feel that way. If they don’t, something would really be wrong.”
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Tony Poljan had no turnovers in week one. In week two he threw four interceptions, one of them was returned for a touchdown. Junior running back Jonathan Ward had 1,017 yards in 2017. This season, he’s totaled 65 yards in two contests.
The Chippewas offensive consistency has yet to find a balance and it’s a combination of problems according to CMU head coach John Bonamego.
“You always want to point the finger at one person saying ‘it’s this’,” Bonamego said. “It’s a lot of things that aren’t quite good enough. Obviously picks go on quarterbacks, I think (Poljan) needs to process a little bit better because he was pressing a little bit in the fourth quarter trying to make something happen.
“He will learn from this, he will be better and we will be a better team for him.”
Bonamego said the running game will get going once the team can throw more down field.
“We have to be able to open some stuff up with vertical passing and then I think we will see that,” Bonamego said. “There safeties were able to stay down in the box.”
The Chippewas only had a total of 36 yards of offense in the first quarter. They had one first down the entire first half. They were 2-of-12 on third down.
This all came against a team in Kansas who had lost 49 consecutive road games dating back to 2009.
“Penalties hurt us and we had some minus plays and we just weren’t in sync,” Bonamego said. “Early in the game they had a good pass rush. Late in the game it felt like we did get some rhythm and were able to execute.”
Junior wide receiver Jamil Sabbagh caught his first-career touchdown in a Chippewa uniform for the teams only score. He said he will never question Poljan’s decision making.
“What they talk about in the quarterback room with their reads is on them,” Sabbagh said. “As a wideout I’m just going to do my job and be where I got to be.”
Sabbagh feels being young as a receiving core is affecting the passing game.
“I think we just need to execute more,” Sabbagh said. “We are in the right positions and making the right play calls. We have to keep the chains moving on third down and keep our defense off the field.”
Kansas controlled the ball for over 36 minutes in the game while CMU’s offense managed to possess for just over 23 minutes.
Senior linebacker Malik Fountain said three and outs will wear any team down.
“Regardless we are conditioned, so we need to play better,” Fountain said. “Both sides of the ball need to play better than they did today.”
