A stroke of good luck
If you would have told me before the season started that the Central Michigan University football team’s matchup with Miami (Ohio) would have come down to the final play of the game, I would have laughed in your face
Then again, if you told me CMU was going to lose to Kansas and Ball State, I would have done the same.
In what has been an up-and-down season for this team, Saturday’s victory proved that the Chippewas are capable of winning a tight ballgame. That’s a positive.
What is not so promising is just how tight that game was.
CMU was on the opposite side of a close contest two weeks ago, when BSU’s last-second field goal killed any hopes of a Mid-American Conference Championship the Chippewas had left.
As the team continues to cling to bowl eligibility, a sizeable and nerve-racking task is before them: beating MAC West frontrunner Western Michigan.
Despite what Head Coach Dan Enos says, senior running back and undeniable hardest runner Thomas Rawls is not close to 100 percent.
Had Rawls been healthier and Enos used Rawls as much as I‘m sure he would have liked to, CMU fans would likely still have the fingernails they lost in the final moments against MU on Saturday.
Quarterback Andrew Hendrix was the best pocket passer the Chippewas have faced this season. He challenged CMU’s secondary for most of the game, making long passing plays look effortless in some cases.
Meanwhile, CMU senior wide receiver Titus Davis continued to do what he does best: Put a losing team on his back and give it a chance to a win a game it ultimately deserves to lose.
Without all three of Davis’ scoring grabs, MU probably runs away with Saturday’s game and ends CMU’s bowl game aspirations.
Confident freshman Devon Spalding had a good game against the RedHawks, though he would not have gotten the opportunity to do so had Rawls been healthy.
It was fitting that the game fell on the shoulder pads of the nation’s 12th best defense, which wears maroon and gold.
Enos called the Chippewas most recent victory “ugly.” I’d say that is putting it lightly.
CMU gave Hendrix and the MU offense more than one chance to tie the game. A dropped pass was the only reason MU did not send Saturday’s game to overtime.
If CMU plays like it did against MU next weekend when Western Michigan comes to Kelly/Shorts, the result won’t be pretty.
But then again, some wins aren’t as attractive-looking as others.
Just ask Coach Enos.
