The CMU football team did not have very far to travel during the month of December the past three years.

For three of the past four seasons, the Chippewas have played in the Mid-American Conference Championship game, winning it this season against Ohio, 20-10, after missing out last season.

Also, the previous three seasons, CMU was invited to the Motor City Bowl (renamed the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl).

What those games had in common and made them somewhat significant was both were played at Ford Field in Detroit, a drive that would take around three hours for any interested Mount Pleasant fan.

This season, however, the 11-2 Chippewas — now ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press poll — were invited to the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6 against Troy.

The game is at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala., a field that holds 40,646 fans.
It will be a significant trek for Michigan natives looking to travel to the game as opposed to Ford Field. And for the seniors — win or lose — it is their last game for Central Michigan.

“I think it’s going to be fun,” said senior defensive end Frank Zombo. “It’s going to be my last game, which just means I’ve stayed here as long as possible.”

As for the travel to Alabama and playing his last game far outside the state and out of the region, it did not affect Zombo.

“It’s just going to be something new,” he said.

But senior wide receiver Bryan Anderson addressed the fact that many CMU fans will miss out on seeing the game in person, a fact that bothers Anderson — also playing his final game for the Chippewas — to a certain extent.

“It’s not going to be good for Central fans,” he said. “We don’t know what we’ll get.”
Anderson did mot know the capacity of Ladd-Peebles (40,646 compared to Ford Field’s 65,000), but knew it was not very big.

“We just have to realize that even though friends and family won’t really be able to make the trip, they can still watch it on TV,” he said. “We’ll just have to keep that in mind while we play.”

DETROIT – Before the stands were filled with fans and before the players even had their pads and uniforms on, Butch Jones sat on the bench with his legs stretched out and his arms folded across his chest.

Players from Ohio and Central Michigan mingled on Ford Field, stretching their legs and warming up their arms, keeping the mood light and a bounce in their step.

All the while, Central Michigan’s coach sat stoic and in the moment.

All he wanted was a minute.

“Anytime you get into a championship game, it’s special,” Jones said. “I told our kids all year long to enjoy the journey. I just wanted to take it all in because there is so much effort that goes into getting here.”

“Here” was Ford Field and the Mid-American Conference Championship — the symbol for the Chippewas’ pursuit of perfection and road to redemption.

After the collapse late last season, Central Michigan missed out on its chance to play for a third consecutive conference championship.

Revitalized and on a mission this season, the Chippewas have been a perfect 8-0 before their season culminated in the 20-10 win against Ohio on Friday to capture their third conference title in four seasons.

“Going through what we went through last season,” said senior quarterback Dan LeFevour, “I think we all appreciate this one a little more.”

Not easy

The Chippewas returned to the bench after halftime with an air of confidence — having turned their back on any panic.

It was not the swiftest of wins. For what seemed like the longest time, it was a game of ‘what could have been.’

There could have been a touchdown on the Chippewas’ opening drive, but miscommunication between LeFevour and senior wide receiver Bryan Anderson led to an interception in the endzone.

Ohio wide receiver Terrance McCrae made a tough catch, but landed with the tip of a toe out of bounds and — after further review — negated a 20-plus yard reception.

On their next drive, the Bobcats lost a fumble on a backwards pass and gave the Chippewas the ball on the Ohio 36-yard line.

For the duration of the game, it appeared at times both teams, instead of playing one another, were fighting against themselves.

And that does not include the 15 penalties for 140 yards.

“Today was huge with not letting our heads hang,” said junior linebacker Matt Berning. “And even when we were facing adversity, I think our program is built on that — facing adversity and overcoming it — and clearing our heads and playing the next snap.”

Central was forced to work through that Friday night, but came out clean and on the winning side.

Redeemed

Jones said after the game that it has almost been a year to the day when the team first came together with Dec. 4 and Ford Field in mind.

“The Journey,” as he likes to put it.

With minutes remaining and the Chippewas up by 10, the CMU fight song played throughout the arena.

With seconds remaining, LeFevour took knee and threw the ball in the air in celebration and grabbed his nearest teammate as the others rushed the field.

A bad memory from last season was erased.

This team set out to be perfect. With that in mind, a conference title wasn’t the only thing that was won in Detroit late Friday night.

Butch Jones has seen quite a bit in third season as football coach.

Now he is seeing his first-place Chippewas prepare for the Mid-American Conference Championship game at 8 tonight at Ford Field.

Despite a busy week of practice, Jones took time to look back at the regular season and ahead at the approaching championship game in a conversation with senior reporter Dave Jones.

Dave Jones: How’s preparation for the game going?

Butch Jones: I think the preparation has gone extremely well — it’s basically been kind of a short week for us, so it’s been very fast. But I think our kids have been very focused and I think they know what’s at stake Friday night.

DJ: And even though you guys were picked in the preseason to be in this game and win it, was there any doubt that you guys would make it?

BJ: No, there was no doubt at all. I think that’s a tribute to everyone in our football program. We’ve had the bullseye on our chest each and every week and I think this is the first time in a number of years that a team that was picked to win it has actually ended up in the championship game. And I think people need to understand that we, obviously, don’t sneak up on anyone — everyone always plays their best against us. There’s a little bit more of being the hunted than being the hunter and our kids have responded to date, thus far, very well with one more challenge ahead of us.

DJ: Going back to last season, you missed out on the chance at three championships in a row. Does that just add to the resolve to get back there?

BJ: You know, I think you can never take winning for granted. And sometimes, I think people think it comes easy, and it doesn’t. Our kids were hurt, but they were focused and they were hungry and we started this journey back in January, when we came together as a football team after the bowl game. And every man to a man pledged to each other that they were going to work as hard as they possibly could and, now, that hard work is playing off and now we have to finish it. But for this team to be going back to be playing for a third championship in four years is very special, and I think it takes a very special group of individuals and we’re very excited about the opportunity that we have.

DJ: You’ve had some triumphs on the field this season – some obvious ones. Has there been anything that you feel has gone unnoticed?

BJ: Well, I think all the sacrifices and all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes, with the guys playing hurt and the guys playing injured. People see the product on Saturday or on game day, but they don’t see the progression through the course for the week or the course of the season. I see a team that has really held each other accountable — they’ve taken a responsibility for their actions and their work ethic has been second to none. I think all those things that go into winning on the field on game day — all those little things — have become very special.

DJ: But what has been the hardest part about this season? You’ve mentioned a number of things – the sacrifices, the injuries, the bullseye on your backs since the start of the season. What’s been the most difficult?

BJ: I think it’s been a long season, and it takes resolve and it takes resiliency to be up emotionally for each and every week because you know you’re going to get everyone’s best shot. And even when you go play the Michigan States, the Boston Colleges and the Arizonas, they’re not going to take you lightly and you know what you’re going to get.

And I think our schedule this year, with four out of the five of our games being on the road in October, I think our non-conference schedule in the type of caliber of opponent we’ve had to play and just being up emotionally to play each week, people have doubted this football team. You can go back to Northern Illinois — “they have nothing to play for … they’re not emotionally up.” And then we come out and take care of business and it’s been a business-like approach each week.

Coach Butch Jones addressed the media for the first time concerning the 2009 football season Aug. 18.

From behind his podium in the press conference room of the Indoor Athletic Complex, he made one point clear to anyone and everyone listening — it was not a redemption season.

He made it a point to clarify that the 2009 Chippewas were not playing for any one other than themselves.

The team does not owe anybody anything after losing the last three games of last season and missing out on the chance to play for its third consecutive Mid-American Conference Championship.

But as the Chippewas were preparing for today’s championship game, Jones reiterated that very point.

“Each team is different,” he said Tuesday. “Last year’s team did some great things and we came up a little bit short. Each year, a team takes on its own identity and its own personality.”

Obviously, Jones said it feels pretty good to be back to where the team thinks it belongs — at Ford Field in early December playing for the conference championship. But he made a strong point by saying that missing out on this game last year has nothing to do with it.

“It’s just been a special year,” Jones said. “But in terms of redemption, no. I’m just as proud of last year’s senior class and what they meant and what they brought to our program.”

Just because a team does not set out with an eye for redemption does not necessarily mean that it will not coincidentally stumble upon it along the way.

“I think it will start to feel like that (redemption) once it’s over,” said junior linebacker Nick Bellore.

The team’s defensive captain has not ruled out the notion that this season’s accomplishments — along with the potential for a third MAC Championship in four seasons — might cause students and fans to write off last season as an unlucky break — a fluke.

“At the end of the year, I think we can look back and feel that way,” Bellore said. “But right now, it’s just business. But it’s always there — we’re reminded of it every once in a while. In football, it’s like, ‘What have you done for me lately?’”

Belllore said he hopes this season’s attempt at instant gratification will replace what was missed last season.

“Last year is last year and, obviously, we’re really disappointed in how that went,” he said. “But now we’ve got our shot to do what we wanted to do last year and couldn’t … so we’ve just got to make the best of it.”

It was on Nov. 19 last season when Ball State came into Kelly/Shorts Stadium and changed the Chippewas’ season.

The No. 14 Cardinals defeated CMU, giving the team its first Mid-American Conference loss. The team lost again the following week and missed out on the MAC Championship after an 8-2 start.
The Chippewas are once again undefeated in the MAC. But Ball State is not close to the same team as last year.

Undefeated leading up to last year’s game against CMU, the Cardinals are coming into the 8 p.m. game today at Scheumann Stadium with a record of 1-9 (1-5 MAC).

However, with CMU just one game ahead of Northern Illinois in the Mid-American Conference West Division standings, the Chippewas cannot afford to look past Ball State.

“We kind of reminded ourselves that, last year, this was our turning point, but that’s not what we’re focusing on,” said junior linebacker Matt Berning. “We’re approaching this game like we have every other game this year.”

Different attack

Last season, the Cardinals were led by junior quarterback Nate Davis, who left early for the NFL Draft.

But this season, the team ranks near the bottom of the MAC in passing offense with just 143.7 yards per game. Now the Cardinals depend on their running game, especially since starting quarterback Kelly Page has been out with an injury. It left fifth-year senior Tanner Justice to fill the void.

Justice, in three starts, has attempted 38 passes, an average of just more than 12 pass attempts per game.

But to counter that, CMU coach Butch Jones said the Cardinals have the most complete running back group in the conference.

The Cardinals have averaged 163.2 rushing yards per game while leaning on three running backs ­— MiQuale Lewis, Cory Sykes and Eric Williams ­­— and have implemented different offensive schemes, including the wildcat formation, since Page has been sidelined.

“(Lewis is) playing his best football right now,” Jones said. “It’s the same thing we saw last year — he’s extremely difficult to tackle, elusive in the hole and runs with power. He’s a powerful running back, he can always make the first guy miss.”

Hit by Injuries

Senior cornerback Josh Gordy will miss another game and will be replaced by junior Vince Agnew.
Senior defensive end Sam Williams will miss the rest of the season after suffering a spinal cord injury.

The CMU football team started slow, ugly and as cold as the air it was playing in Wednesday.

The setting was as close to perfect as a game could get — under the 184 stadium lights with a student section as tightly packed as possible.

But everyone at Kelly/Shorts Stadium that night — from the fans, to the players, down to the security guards — was waiting for that one moment.

The moment when the monotony of the back-and-forth start would be broken up and the Chippewas would pull away, as the team’s following has become accustomed to.

The game began steadily – with the teams trading touchdowns – but it ended with freshman Eric Page, Toledo’s top wideout and a potential game-breaker if there ever was one, standing idle at the end of the bench as his team’s defense was being manhandled down the field.

A Bad Beginning

Much like the grind of the season, everyone involved in the Chippewas’ 56-28 win against Toledo had to grind out the opening minutes of Wednesday night’s game.

CMU came out slow and sluggish on its opening defensive series and gave up a touchdown within the first four minutes.

Coach Butch Jones admitted the slow defensive start had the team relying on its offense.

“That’s part of being a team,” he said. “If one side doesn’t start off well, or if something happens, then the other side is there to pick them up.”

Little did he know, at the time, the most unlikely moment would change the course of the game.

The minutes that put it away

Senior quarterback Dan LeFevour was sacked on third down and Central Michigan was forced to punt.

Toledo took possession and cruised down the field for a drive that ended in a touchdown and a 14-7 lead.

That was the moment the game changed to favor the Chippewas.

“I think that we really rallied after that,” said junior linebacker Nick Bellore. “I think we all felt like we could have stopped them there. We had to tightened up our defense and stop their offense from rolling.”

That turning point actually took several minutes.

After LeFevour was sacked and the offense was forced to give up possession, Toledo was moving the ball so fast and so efficiently, the CMU defense was visibily taxed with players’ hands on their hips and their breath showing in the cold air.

After stopping Toledo at CMU’s 1-yard line on third-and-goal, the Rockets decided to go for the touchdown.

They scored on fourth down to take the 14-7 lead.

Central, on the following possession, marched down the field and tied the game with a Dan LeFevour rushing touchdown.

The defense was close to forcing a three-and-out on the next possession but, instead, sophomore safety Dannie Bolden intercepted UT quarterback Aaron Opelt.

LeFevour scored on another rush — a sneak up the middle on fourth down — and the Chippewas had their first lead, 21-14.

From there, nothing let up. The Chippewas rattled off 49 unanswered points and Toledo was held scoreless until the fourth quarter, when it scored twice on second-stringers.

But by the end of the night, with the Chippewas’ point total at 56, it was hard to believe this game started so slowly and was neck-and-neck through the first quarter of play.

The CMU football team returns from a 10-day layoff to Kelly/Shorts Stadium and Mid-American Conference play at 8 p.m. today against Toledo.

The night game against the Rockets is CMU’s first conference game since playing Bowling Green on Oct. 24.

Toledo comes into Mount Pleasant having dropped its last two conference games after beginning 2-1.

CMU, which lost 31-10 to Boston College — its first loss since the season opener on Sept. 5 against Arizona — still holds a perfect conference record through five games.

The team feels no ill effects from the long break, said junior linebacker Matt Berning.

“We’ll come out a little more hungry,” Berning said. “We all sat around on Saturday and watched other teams going to work and you think, ‘That’s usually us.’ So we’re all excited to come back home.”

Toledo also is coming off of a 10-day break, and CMU coach Butch Jones looks past the team which lost its last two to one that is going to be a tough opponent and possesses statistically the MAC’s best offense.

“They’re in the upper echelon of teams in the country in (terms of) their pass offense,” Jones said. “And they’re a team that possesses a lot of weapons.”

The Rockets’ main passing weapon is senior quarterback Aaron Opelt, who has thrown for 1,863 yards and 15 touchdowns with six interceptions in seven games.

Seven of those touchdowns were thrown to wide receiver Eric Page, who averages 101 receiving yards per game (909 receiving yards total).

“I think (Opelt’s) a really good quarterback and I don’t think he gets the respect he deserves,” said junior linebacker Nick Bellore. “Last year, he really tore us up, I thought. But we don’t really think of them as combos. Obviously, that’s his favorite target but, they have a lot of other weapons out there that can hurt you, so we can’t really focus on Page too much.”

Opposite of Page, Stephen Williams has caught 60 passes for 885 yards and five touchdowns. But Toledo running back DaJuane Collins will keep CMU’s defense honest. He has 733 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.

Opelt had missed two games this season after an injury to his throwing shoulder, but Bellore and the Chippewas expect him to be prepared and to spread the ball around.

On offense, Jones said it is going to be critical that the team executes defensively, as the Rockets will show the Chippewas a number of different looks.

“They produce so many different things schematically that we have to make sure that we’re fundamentally sound,” he said. “In our blitz pick-up schemes and our one-on-one matchups in man coverage, it’s going to be critical that we execute, because they’re talented.”

CMU football coach Butch Jones was the first to admit this is a long football season — one that causes a team to grind.

Since the first weekend in September, when the Chippewas flew to the Arizona for their season opener against the Wildcats, they had not gone a weekend without a game through Oct. 31 against Boston College.

And last month saw four of the team’s five games on the road, including a seven-hour trip to Buffalo and a trip to the east coast against BC.

Saturday was the first time this season the team has not played on a weekend, and it comes as part of the 10-day break it had between Boston College and the team’s game at 8 p.m. today against Toledo.

“I think it’s beneficial, especially with us not having a bye week,” Jones said. “And then, I think, playing with the physicality of our schedule. The road games have mounted up and I challenge anyone, in the month of October, if anyone had more road games than our program.”

The grind of the season peaked during the string of road games, Jones said.

“It accumulates over time,” he said. “And it takes it toll on this football team.”

Junior linebacker Matt Berning shared his coach’s sentiment.

“Being this late in the season and not having had a bye week yet, it gives us a little more time to prepare and to rest,” he said. “It’s nice to have, like, two days off and not have football and you can manage your time different and maybe, just one day, to take a day completely off.”

But also for Berning, the time off has revitalized him and has him anxious once again to get back on the field.

“It gets you kind of edgy,” he said. “You just want to go out there and hit somebody again. You get tired of practicing against each other, you want to go out there and hit somebody again instead of your own teammates.”

The break could not having come at a better time, Jones said, as the Chippewas are preparing for their final three games of the regular season with the Mid-American Conference Championship looming in December.

“The next three weeks, we have all our goals in front of us,” he said. “Every game’s critical but, the more you win, the more you set things up. These next three games are important, but not one is more important than the other. And we have to get some individuals back healthy and that’s going to be the critical part.”

After five games in October, the Chippewas play just three games in November, leading into the conference championship Dec. 5 at Ford Field in Detroit. CMU (5-0) is a half-game ahead of Northern Illinois (4-1) in the MAC West division.