COLUMN: Football's bench-clearing brawl perfectly caps off embarrassing season
To cap off the worst season in Central Michigan football history, the Chippewas decided to fight with Toledo players despite being down 31 points.
After a play, players from both teams got in a scuffle. It escalated, and punches were thrown. Both benches stormed the field to join in.
Jacorey Sullivan ran onto the field without a helmet on and kicked a Toledo player. Two CMU players, George Douglass and Kobe Lewis, were disqualified for fighting. Everyone on CMU’s roster was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Imagine being players on the worst CMU team in history. It is the last game of the season, down by more than 30 points, and they decide to start ripping the other team to the ground in between plays.
CMU (1-11) was not competitive the entire game. It was an embarrassment — just like the entire season.
The Chippewas spent the whole season with one of the worst offenses in football and did not beat a Football Bowl Subdivision team. With one more game to go, the Chippewas became the losingest team in school history against BGSU. It couldn’t get any worse that it was this season.
Central Michigan could have gone out with some class. The Chippewas could have just taken their expected loss and moved on. But they couldn’t keep it together. It is obvious that head coach John Bonamego lost the locker room at some point this season, and now there was a free-for-all fight on the field to prove it.
That moment might have been the most entertaining the Chippewas have been all season. Fans were interested in what CMU was doing on the field for once. The unfortunate part is that they were not playing football.
After the fight was broken up, Toledo had no problem marching down the field and scoring another touchdown — extending the lead to 37 points. And another one on the next drive, making it 44-0.
The Chippewas went on to lose 51-13. The only fight they showed all season was a physical one sure to embarrass anybody who was watching.
