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Leftwich tears CMU in record performance

(10/22/01 4:00am)

HUNTINGTON, W. VA— Byron Leftwich had a memorable homecoming game against the Chippewas. For the second straight week the Marshall quarterback had a career day. Leftwich completed 30 of 44 passes for 471 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Thundering Herd past CMU 42-21. “Marshall dominated us in the second half,” said Head Coach Mike DeBord. Marshall finished with 647 yards of total offense, 359 in the second half. After not scoring in the first quarter, the Thundering Herd scored 42 straight on six consecutive possessions. Up 14-7, at 6:49 of the third quarter Franklin Wallace ran 14 yards for a touchdown, which capped off a 85-yard 14 play drive. Wallace finished with 81 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns. Leftwich hit wide receiver Darius Watts for their next two scores on touchdown passes of 47 and 86 yards. “Leftwich made some great plays against us,” DeBord said. Watts finished with 9 catches for 183 yards. Davis led with 10 catches for 175 yards and one touchdown. DeBord said the Herd’s offensive line did a good job of protecting Leftwich. “Each time we blitzed they picked it up or hurt us with their short passes,” DeBord said. At 9:43 in the fourth quarter, Brandon Carey scored on a one-yard run giving Marshall a 42-7 lead. Tory Humphrey caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Derrick Vickers to give the Chippewas a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Vickers finished with 14 of 31 for 178 yards with one interception at the goaline in the second quarter. The Herd responded with their first score after Wallace scored on a six-yard run, capping a 10 play 91 yard drive. “They switched their coverage,” Vickers said. “I misread the coverage and threw a bad pass.” He said in the second half the offense had too many breakdowns. “Dropped balls, bad throws, all of the things we did not need to happen,” he said. Paul Savich missed a 34 yard field goal wide left at the end of the first half, giving Marshall a 14-7 lead. “It really stung us,” DeBord said. “It always hurts when you can’t miss opportunities to put points on the board.” He said not making the score 14-10 at the half caused the team to loose momentum. “They always stopped us at critical third downs and we could never stop them,” DeBord said. Terrence Jackson ended the offenses drought by scoring on a two-yard run late in the fourth quarter. Jackson for the third straight week had a 100-yard game. He finished with 108 yards on 27 carries. Kenan Lawhorne finished with 100 yards on 14 carries. Rob Turner was the leading receiver with 2 catches for 51 yards. Derek Gorney hit Dante McKnight for a 31- yard touchdown pass as time expired to end the game at 42-21.

https://www.cm-life.com/article/2001/10/leftwichtearscmuinrecordperformance

Chippewas end first year under DeBord with loss

(11/28/00 5:00am)

Jerry HoffmanDEKALB, Ill. -- Rebuilding isn't pretty, but at some point every team in the nation has to do it.On Saturday the Chippewas of the gridiron finished off their rebuilding season with a 40-6 loss to the Northern Illinois Huskies. The loss dropped the Chippewas to 2-9 overall with a 2-6 mark in th Mid-American Conference.The story of the day as the Huskies rolled over the Chippewas was the continued dominance of Ryan Diem, and the NIU offensive line. Behind the Huskie O-line, freshman Michael Turner tallied 281 yards and one touchdown."I look at their offensive line and I see a Big Ten offensive line. They're all outstanding players I could run behind that offensive line and I probably could get a thousand yards," Head Coach Mike DeBord said.The lone time the Chippewas reached pay dirt was on Rob Turner's recovery of an Ira Gooch fumble in the endzone.Also highlighting the day for the Chippewas was redshirt sophomore Vince Webber. Webber, a native of Elgin, Illinois, returned home to face the Huskies. Webber rushed for 113 on 22 carries for an average of 5.1 yards a clip."Last week Vince came of age I thought the ran he ball the hardest he had all year. He ran the ball hard today and he finished this year on a strong note," DeBord said.The 113 yards rushing was a career high for Webber and brought his season team high total to 458 yards in eight games."I've been feeling good the past few games of the season. I wish we could keep playing I can't wait till next year I want to win. I hate losing," Vince Webber said.A portion of the Chippewa squad that struggled early were the special teams. with a mixed extra point, a blocked punt and one punt returned for a touchdown by NIU's Justin McCareins the Huskies scored 10 points off of special team errors."The special teams have been pretty good all year and they broke down today," DeBord said.One glaring area of inefficiency for the Chippewa was the aerial attack. Derrick Vickers and Pete Shepherd combined for seven of 24 passing and a paltry 65 yards.On the defensive side of the ball for the Chippewas it was again the Brian Leigeb show. Leigeb finished the game with 22 tackles on the afternoon to raise his season total to a new career high 143 and his record of career tackles to 486 stops.

https://www.cm-life.com/article/2000/11/chippewasendfirstyearunderdebordwithloss

Chippewas end first year under DeBord with loss

(11/20/00 5:00am)

DEKALB, Ill. - Rebuilding isn't pretty, but at some point every team in the nation has to do it. On Saturday the Chippewas of the gridiron finished off their rebuilding season with a 40-6 loss to the Northern Illinois Huskies. The loss dropped the Chippewas to 2-9 overall with a 2-6 mark in the Mid-American Conference. The story of the day as the Huskies rolled over the Chippewas was the continued dominance of Ryan Diem, and the NIU offensive line. Behind the Huskie O-line, freshman Michael Turner tallied 281 yards and one touchdown. "I look at their offensive line and I see a Big Ten offensive line. They're all outstanding players I could run behind that offensive line and I probably could get a thousand yards," Head Coach Mike DeBord said. The lone time the Chippewas reached pay dirt was on Rob Turner's recovery of an Ira Gooch fumble in the endzone. Also highlighting the day for the Chippewas was redshirt sophomore Vince Webber. Webber, a native of Elgin, Illinois, returned home to face the Huskies. Webber rushed for 113 on 22 carries for an average of 5.1 yards a clip. "Last week Vince came of age I thought the ran he ball the hardest he had all year. He ran the ball hard today and he finished this year on a strong note," DeBord said. The 113 yards rushing was a career high for Webber and brought his season team high total to 458 yards in eight games. "I've been feeling good the past few games of the season. I wish we could keep playing I can't wait till next year I want to win. I hate losing," Vince Webber said. A portion of the Chippewa squad that struggled early were the special teams. with a mixed extra point, a blocked punt and one punt returned for a touchdown by NIU's Justin McCareins the Huskies scored 10 points off of special team errors. "The special teams have been pretty good all year and they broke down today," DeBord said. One glaring area of inefficiency for the Chippewa was the aerial attack. Derrick Vickers and Pete Shepherd combined for seven of 24 passing and a paltry 65 yards. On the defensive side of the ball for the Chippewas it was again the Brian Leigeb show. Leigeb finished the game with 22 tackles on the afternoon to raise his season total to a new career high 143 and his record of career tackles to 486 stops.

https://www.cm-life.com/article/2000/11/chippewasendfirstyearunderdebordwithloss-2

Receiver position in capable hands of Gooch, Hannah

(09/01/00 4:00am)

Despite the loss of its top two pass receivers from last year, this year's Chippewa receiving corps appears to have made a seamless transition. Gone from last year's team are Jammarl O'Neal (59 catches for 1,085 yards) and tight end Mark Swetz (30 catches for 407 yards). The biggest loss is that of O'Neal, who failed to meet NCAA academic requirements and was declared ineligible. O'Neal was going to be the Chippewas outside threat, helping create more favorable matchups for the other receivers. The Chippewas lost Swetz to graduation. Head Coach Mike DeBord said the team has moved on from the surprise loss of O'Neal. "There's hasn't been any type of adjustment," DeBord said. "The other receivers have moved on, worked hard and have prepared to play." Expected to start Saturday against Purdue are senior Ira Gooch and senior David Hannah. Both saw plenty of playing time in 1999, with Gooch also helping the Chippewas at running back due to injuries. Gooch rushed 90 times for 438 yards with two touchdowns and also had 26 receptions for 236 yards. Hannah caught 24 passes for 356 yards and two touchdowns. DeBord believes the two receivers are capable of big things this season. "Gooch has great speed and is a big-play threat," DeBord said. "We have to get the ball to him." "Hannah has worked his rear off this summer," DeBord said. "He has spent a lot of extra time improving his skills. I expect him to have a great senior year." Competing for additional playing time are senior Shelton Lewis, sophomore Rob Turner and freshman Steve Messam. Lewis and Turner saw limited time last season, with Lewis making one catch for four yards and Turner catching 11 for 121 yards and one touchdown. Messam was an all-state selection at Glades Central High School in Florida, helping his team to two state titles. DeBord said Messam's talent and speed will get him some playing time, but gradually. "We need to be smart with him," DeBord said. "With his skills and speed, he should turn out a great career here." "We've got depth and experience," DeBord said. "It's a dependable group with a couple of guys capable of making big plays. These guys worked awfully hard during the summer to get where they're at"

https://www.cm-life.com/article/2000/09/receiverpositionincapablehandsofgoochhannah

Chippewas send Flynn out a winner, 27-21

(11/22/99 5:00am)

CMU was missing the main cog in its offense on Saturday against Ball State. You'd never know it though, as Central topped the Cardinals, 27-21. Quarterback Pete Shepherd was solid for the Chips, completing 20 of 35 passes for a career-high 312 yards and 2 touchdowns in the victory. Although 17 seniors played in their last game for the Chips, the story was freshman sensation Jammarl O'Neal who grabbed 7 passes for 147 yards and one touchdown, all career-highs. O'Neal joined Reggie Allen as the only Chippewas to crack the 1,000 yard barrier in single-season receiving yards. The rookie blew by the old conference mark for freshman receiving yards of 761 yards, set by Western Michigan's Corey Alston in 1997 with 1,085 this season. "I wasn't even thinking about it," he said. "The coaches told me it was going to come. They said just catch it, tuck it and run with it." With starting tailback Eric Flowers at home in New Jersey due to the death of his mother, CMU Head Coach Dick Flynn knew the offense would need help from several areas and they got it. "We missed him today, he's a great player," Flynn said. Flowers' backup, Ira Gooch a converted wide receiver, rushed for a career-best 131 yards and one touchdown on 38 carries. The junior also tallied 33 yards on 3 receptions and 85 yards on nine returns. "Ira's grown accustom to the offense and feels very comfortable in it. They both (O'Neal and Gooch) performed well," Flynn said. It was the defense though that set the tone early in the game as Joe Adam recorded a two-yard tackle for a loss on the first play and the Chippewas recorded two sacks on the Cards' first drive, forcing a punt. The Chips then struck first as Gooch scored on a four-yard scamper on CMU's first possession of the game, the Paul Savich extra point gave Central a 7-0 lead. Ball State came back quickly though. The Cardinals blocked a Jake Kemp punt and took over at the Chips' 38. Seven plays later, quarterback Brian Conn scored on a qb draw from 13 yards out. The Kevin Jennings extra point tied the score at seven with 3:06 left in the first stanza. Ball State's outstanding senior wideout Adrian Reese gave BSU its' first lead of the game with a 30 yard touchdown reception with 8:23 to go in the first half. O'Neal helped CMU regain the lead with a 47-yard touchdown grab with 6:53 left in the second quarter. BSU wideout David Westbrook gave the Cardinals the last score of the half with a 10 yard TD reception from Conn, making it 21-14 BSU at the break. Conn's pass was his second touchdown pass of the half and third total TD of the game thus far. Central struck first in the second off the left leg of Savich. The sophomore's 19-yard field goal was the only score of the third and pulled the Chips' within four at 21-17. CMU's defense was strong in the second half as the Chippewas shutout Ball State after the break. Freshman middle linebacker Darvin Lewis paced Central with 13 tackles. James Westrich also had a strong game, registering 12 tackles, two for a loss, one pass breakup and a sack. Senior defensive lineman Joe Adam had six tackles, five for a loss, and 3 sacks for 20 yards in his last game. Defensive backs Finley Carter and Tedaro France picked off passes in the second half as well. Central's other rookie wideout, Rob Turner, scored his first collegiate touchdown in the fourth. The three-yard catch and extra point gave CMU a 24-21 advantage with 12:40 to go in the stanza. Savich's second field goal of the day, this one from 26 yards out, gave the Chips their final margin at 27-21 with 6:45 left in the fourth. The drive was setup by a botched punt by Reese. The senior dropped Kemp's boot and the Chips took over on the Cardinal's 12. The win was CMU's first win at Ball State since a 10-3 triumph over the Cards in 1991. "It feels great to finally get one here," Flynn said. So as Flynn walked off a football field for the last time, what was he thinking? "It's been a great 22 years," he said. "Walking off for the last time there were about a million thoughts going through my mind." Central ends the season 4-7, 3-5 in the MAC. Ball State ends a dismal season at 0-11, 0-8 in the MAC. Flynn finishes his six year tenure at 30-37, 23-26 in the MAC and with a MAC title and conference coach of the year honors in 1994 to his credit.

https://www.cm-life.com/article/1999/11/chippewassendflynnoutawinner