2008 Woodie Awards
Armed and Dangerous
Chippewas parlay seven turnovers into 26 points in non-conference win
By: Daniel Monson
Issue date: 10/15/07 Section: Sports
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Dan LeFevour totaled six touchdowns - tying the school record for the second straight week - while setting up the school record for career touchdown passes in the process in Saturday's 47-23 win over Army.
Needing two touchdown passes to break the record, LeFevour found junior running back Justin Hoskins on 15-yard screen pass in the second quarter to vault him into Chippewa lore.
"I thought he'd be good (when I recruited him), but I also thought he had a chance to be real special because of all the intangibles that surround him," said CMU coach Butch Jones. "He's a great competitor, he's a great leader and he's extremely bright and intelligent. He's just an individual who's taking advantage of his opportunity."
The defense forced five turnovers in the first half, including four consecutive. Three of the miscues netted touchdowns for CMU.
And it didn't take LeFevour long to take advantage, leading five scoring drives that lasted less than three minutes.
Central forced seven turnovers and never allowed Army's offense to possess a consistent rhythm. Sophomore Carson Williams and senior Kevin Dunn split time at quarterback for Army, but neither could escape CMU's malicious defense.
Williams threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted three times - twice by sophomore cornerback Josh Gordy. Gordy also picked off Dunn to become only the second player in school history to intercept three passes in one game.
"In practice we're working more on stripping balls and getting turnovers," Gordy said. "If you work on it in practice, it just becomes ingrained in you and when you get to the game it's just like second-nature."
The turnovers plagued the Black Knights all day, who came into the game with a plus 0.7 turnover margin.
"We didn't play nearly well enough to win," said Army coach Stan Brock. "We are probably lucky that CMU only scored 47 points."
Army senior wide receiver Jeremy Trimble became Army's all-time receptions leader with a first-quarter catch. He finished with 11 receptions for 169 yards and two touchdowns.
Army (3-4) gained some early momentum in the first quarter after Tony Mikulec's punt was blocked by Army's Rod Murray when the snap sailed over Mikulec's head. The ball caromed out of the end zone for a safety.
On the ensuing Army possession, Williams found senior wide receiver Corey Anderson in the end zone to put the Black Knights on top, 9-7, after the extra point.
It would be Army's only lead. CMU went on to score on three consecutive possessions and took a 33-16 lead into halftime.
"We practice under controlled chaos. When you learn how to adapt to those situations, you can do anything," Jones said. "Over the last couple weeks, I think our team has shown they can do that."
Three weeks ago, CMU (4-3, 3-0 Mid-American Conference) was looking for answers after a 44-14 loss to North Dakota State.
"Our backs were against the wall - we were 1-3," said LeFevour, who finished with four rushing touchdowns and two passing. "We realized all the support that we needed was within that locker room - that's all we needed to get by. We stuck together, and we've done some things since then."
CMU travels at noon Saturday to Clemson, S.C., to face the Tigers.
"I think (our confidence) is pretty high," LeFevour said. "It's important at this point to remember how we got there. We got there by working hard, and we can't lose sight of that because things could turn around the other way."
sports@cm-life.com
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