2008 Woodie Awards
Title defense tough in MAC
No team has won two championships in a row since 2000
By: Daniel Monson
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Sports
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This season began with a heap of questions for both the Central Michigan and Miami University football teams.
CMU was dealing with the loss of its head coach, Brian Kelly, who had bolted to Cincinnati after leading the team to its first Mid-American Conference title in 12 years. The pressure to repeat was put on new coach Butch Jones, who came back to CMU after a three-year stint as an assistant at West Virginia.
Meanwhile, Miami was coming off its worst season (2-10) in 18 years. The team's youth was a major question mark for third-year head coach Shane Montgomery.
"Starting with our winter workouts in January, we just tried to change the attitude - we didn't want last year to waterfall into this year," said Miami senior offensive lineman Steve Meister. "Starting early in the season with the win at Ball State, and throughout the rest of the year, we had a different attitude, and really let that momentum fling us to the point where we're at now."
Miami finished 5-2 in the conference, and when it beat in-division rival Bowling Green 47-14 on Oct. 13's Ben Roethlisberger Day, there was a sense the RedHawks had returned.
Yet both find themselves in the 2007 version of the MAC Championship Game, one looking to repeat as champions and another looking to win its 15th MAC championship and put another mark on its rich tradition.
Central's turning point came after its 44-14 loss at home to North Dakota State. Afterward, team leaders realized it was time to regroup. It rebounded in its Homecoming Game with a 35-10 win against Northern Illinois and went 6-1 in the MAC.
"After (NDSU) we knew we had to make a decision," said senior linebacker Ike Brown. "We knew at that point we were either going all the way down to rock bottom, or we could work our way back up. There was no in between.
"We were either going to be 1-11, or we could go the MAC Championship. It was either going to go to the worst season in history, or one of the best."
CMU was dealing with the loss of its head coach, Brian Kelly, who had bolted to Cincinnati after leading the team to its first Mid-American Conference title in 12 years. The pressure to repeat was put on new coach Butch Jones, who came back to CMU after a three-year stint as an assistant at West Virginia.
Meanwhile, Miami was coming off its worst season (2-10) in 18 years. The team's youth was a major question mark for third-year head coach Shane Montgomery.
"Starting with our winter workouts in January, we just tried to change the attitude - we didn't want last year to waterfall into this year," said Miami senior offensive lineman Steve Meister. "Starting early in the season with the win at Ball State, and throughout the rest of the year, we had a different attitude, and really let that momentum fling us to the point where we're at now."
Miami finished 5-2 in the conference, and when it beat in-division rival Bowling Green 47-14 on Oct. 13's Ben Roethlisberger Day, there was a sense the RedHawks had returned.
Yet both find themselves in the 2007 version of the MAC Championship Game, one looking to repeat as champions and another looking to win its 15th MAC championship and put another mark on its rich tradition.
Central's turning point came after its 44-14 loss at home to North Dakota State. Afterward, team leaders realized it was time to regroup. It rebounded in its Homecoming Game with a 35-10 win against Northern Illinois and went 6-1 in the MAC.
"After (NDSU) we knew we had to make a decision," said senior linebacker Ike Brown. "We knew at that point we were either going all the way down to rock bottom, or we could work our way back up. There was no in between.
"We were either going to be 1-11, or we could go the MAC Championship. It was either going to go to the worst season in history, or one of the best."
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