Moments change football game
The CMU football team started slow, ugly and as cold as the air it was playing in Wednesday.
The setting was as close to perfect as a game could get — under the 184 stadium lights with a student section as tightly packed as possible.
But everyone at Kelly/Shorts Stadium that night — from the fans, to the players, down to the security guards — was waiting for that one moment.
The moment when the monotony of the back-and-forth start would be broken up and the Chippewas would pull away, as the team’s following has become accustomed to.
The game began steadily – with the teams trading touchdowns – but it ended with freshman Eric Page, Toledo’s top wideout and a potential game-breaker if there ever was one, standing idle at the end of the bench as his team’s defense was being manhandled down the field.
A Bad Beginning
Much like the grind of the season, everyone involved in the Chippewas’ 56-28 win against Toledo had to grind out the opening minutes of Wednesday night’s game.
CMU came out slow and sluggish on its opening defensive series and gave up a touchdown within the first four minutes.
Coach Butch Jones admitted the slow defensive start had the team relying on its offense.
“That’s part of being a team,” he said. “If one side doesn’t start off well, or if something happens, then the other side is there to pick them up.”
Little did he know, at the time, the most unlikely moment would change the course of the game.
The minutes that put it away
Senior quarterback Dan LeFevour was sacked on third down and Central Michigan was forced to punt.
Toledo took possession and cruised down the field for a drive that ended in a touchdown and a 14-7 lead.
That was the moment the game changed to favor the Chippewas.
“I think that we really rallied after that,” said junior linebacker Nick Bellore. “I think we all felt like we could have stopped them there. We had to tightened up our defense and stop their offense from rolling.”
That turning point actually took several minutes.
After LeFevour was sacked and the offense was forced to give up possession, Toledo was moving the ball so fast and so efficiently, the CMU defense was visibily taxed with players’ hands on their hips and their breath showing in the cold air.
After stopping Toledo at CMU’s 1-yard line on third-and-goal, the Rockets decided to go for the touchdown.
They scored on fourth down to take the 14-7 lead.
Central, on the following possession, marched down the field and tied the game with a Dan LeFevour rushing touchdown.
The defense was close to forcing a three-and-out on the next possession but, instead, sophomore safety Dannie Bolden intercepted UT quarterback Aaron Opelt.
LeFevour scored on another rush — a sneak up the middle on fourth down — and the Chippewas had their first lead, 21-14.
From there, nothing let up. The Chippewas rattled off 49 unanswered points and Toledo was held scoreless until the fourth quarter, when it scored twice on second-stringers.
But by the end of the night, with the Chippewas’ point total at 56, it was hard to believe this game started so slowly and was neck-and-neck through the first quarter of play.
