Building each week: Central Michigan continues to win under Jim McElwain
Central Michigan coach Jim McElwain paces the sideline against New Mexico State Oct. 12 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
Jim McElwain's nose was red, but he was calm.
A red nose from a chilly, windy afternoon in Mount Pleasant where McElwain was on the sideline, the only one wearing the color gray.
A calm demeanor from an adequate performance.
The weather was typical for a mid-October football game, and McElwain wore a white turtleneck under his sweatshirt to keep warm.
His team didn't need extra layers. Instead, the Central Michigan football players used explosive runs, big moments from the defense and a simply executed game plan to keep their body temperature high.
The result was a 42-28 victory over New Mexico State, an Oct. 12 game at Kelly/Shorts Stadium that improved the Chippewas to 4-0 at home and 4-3 overall.
It was also a win that defined Central Michigan is improving each week – the current matchup always building off the last one.
Even though McElwain described his Chippewas as "light years" ahead of the 2018 season after a 42-16 win against Eastern Michigan last week, he wanted more.
McElwain wanted back-to-back wins, something that hadn't been done since the 2017 team put together five straight from Oct. 21 to Nov. 24 to finish 8-4 overall and qualify for a bowl game.
"You've got to go out and prove if it's the turn of a corner," McElwain said after the 26-point win against the Eagles. "To me, hopefully, our guys answered some questions of ourselves, and we can build on that as we move forward.
"I believe in this team."
When asked if his players delivered on the expectations set forth, McElwain cocked his head and shifted his hands on the lectern.
"You know, uh, yes," McElwain responded. "From the standpoint of getting wins, that's what it's all about."
But wins aren't always pretty, and this one wasn't like that dominant takedown of an in-state rival a week ago.
Nonetheless, the Chippewas never panicked and didn't allow New Mexico State to creep back in. When the Aggies made it a seven-point deficit to end the first half, Central Michigan responded with two field goals and a defensive shutout in the third quarter for a 34-21 lead entering the fourth.
Then, to open the scoring in the final stanza, quarterback Quinten Dormady made the score 42-21 on a 7-yard completion to tight end Tony Poljan in the end zone.
The Chippewas finished with 22 first downs, 486 total yards and one turnover
"They aren't pretty all the time," McElwain said. "We still had pretty good numbers. I think there are some things we can take from it."
As for New Mexico State senior running back Jason Huntley, the star of the team, he only had 10 carries for 67 yards and one touchdown.
His score was on a 37-yard run that included two spin moves and four broken tackles.
"I felt our guys on defense, at times, were just trying to shoulder tackle rather than wrap up, which is what good teams don't do," McElwain said. "We let the guys out a couple times, which we shouldn't. We've got to get better this week at tackling."
From the first-year coach's evaluation of the 14-point win against the 0-7 Aggies, it's safe to say he thought the program took another step in the right direction.
Again, it's about consistently winning.
The explosive plays were there, just ask running backs Kobe Lewis and Jonathan Ward. The duo combined for 328 total yards and three touchdowns.
"That puts a lot of confidence in us, and it gives the coaches confidence in the offense," Lewis said. "That's some we admire about our team."
Lewis had 57- and 20-yard touchdown carries, while Ward had one from 75 yards.
The first score of the game was a 44-yard reception from slot receiver Kalil Pimpleton on a toss in the breadbasket from Dormady.
"Our explosive plays, for the second week in a row, set the tone," McElwain said. "That was good to see."
McElwain was also quick to credit New Mexico State. Even though it's a winless program in 2019, he was adamant about its rigorous schedule that featured Washington State and Alabama early in the season.
The Aggies also played close games against New Mexico (55-52), Fresno State (30-17) and Liberty (20-13) and are ranked No. 59 in the country in passing yards per game (250.6) under seventh-year coach Doug Martin.
"Take a look at how hard they play, that team's a little better than people think," McElwain said. "He does a heck of a job there."
Getting back to Mid-American Conference play against Bowling Green on Oct. 19 presents a new challenge, especially since the Falcons recently took down league powerhouse Toledo, 20-7, under new starting quarterback Grant Loy.
After official benching senior Darius Wade, Bowling Green turned to Loy, a 6-foot-5, 223-pound dual-threat junior, at the signal-caller spot.
Against the Rockets in a conference upset, Loy was 14 of 21 passing for 185 yards, one touchdown and one interception. However, he scooted on the ground 19 times for 137 yards and a score.
"The team we're playing next week inserted a new type of quarterback, a guy that's a running and throwing threat," McElwain said. "We've got our work cut out for us going into the next week."
Central Michigan remains winless on the road, losing to Wisconsin (61-0), Miami (17-12) and Western Michigan (31-15). Three of the remaining five games of the schedule are away from Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
Finding a way to leave road games victorious is the next part of the building process.
"We've got to learn how to play on the road," McElwain said.
The Chippewas are 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the MAC, only behind 2-0 Ball State and 2-1 Western Michigan for the top spot in the West Division. If the Broncos were to also finish conference play with one loss, they would take the West due to the tiebreaker – a head-to-head win over CMU.
A trip to Ford Field for the MAC championship is up for the taking. For Central Michigan to occupy one of the two spots, it needs to do what McElwain has preached.
Just win football games.
