Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: Sports

Homecoming is not an exclusive tradition - thousands of schools and institutions around the nation celebrate it every year.

But for CMU students and faculty, past and present, the annual event holds a distinct meaning.

It is a day that brings together alumni from across the nation and from every walk of life, all to don the maroon and gold one more time and reflect on their college years once again.

But they all come back for one more common purpose - to watch Central Michigan football at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

"That's what means so much to everybody," said Herb Deromedi, CMU's all-time winningest football coach and former athletic director. "You look around and see all that maroon and gold in the stands from people who came here long ago.

"There's really an effort by alumni and former football letterwinners to come back and identify themselves with this year's football program."

The football team enters its 4 p.m. Saturday game against Temple with three consecutive Homecoming wins and a 53-27-1 all-time record in Homecoming games.

But between the winning and losing, from the emotional escapes to the heartbreakers, Central Michigan Life narrowed down the top five Homecoming games of all time, with help from former coaches and players who were involved.


Oct. 29, 1977

CMU 35, Bowling Green 28 (below, left)

In CMU's first regular season appearance on ABC-TV's regional game of the week, CMU came from behind to beat Bowling Green when Ron Rummel threw his third touchdown pass to Mike Ball with just 23 seconds left.

"I remember it was a tremendous comeback," Ball said. "We were trailing in the game, and then behind Ron Rummel, we ended up tying the game on a touchdown reception by my good friend Brian Blank. Late in the game, I was just lucky enough to catch the last pass that he completed. I think Ron was 10-for-11 that day passing the ball. Not a lot of attempts, but he had only one incompletion."

In days before ESPN, Ball said getting to play on television was a rare experience for Central, which finished 10-1 overall and 7-1 in the MAC, coming in second.

"At that time our program was a fledgling Division I program" he said. "To get exposure on ABC television at the time, there weren't all the cable companies like there are today, that was a pretty big thing for our program. So that was an exciting thing to be a part of that, the first regionally televised game for Central at home."

Continued...

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