Preview: CMU prepares for matchup against #23 Michigan Wolverines
Central Michigan University football head coach Matt Drinkall gives a speech at the “Fired up to be a Chippewa” event on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the John G. Kulhavi Events Center. Drinkall talked about his time working at Amy West Point and what offense he plans on implementing at CMU. (CM-Life | Mark Hoover)
Central Michigan football hits the road for the third straight week as the team travels down to Ann Arbor for Matt Drinkall’s toughest game yet as head coach of the Chippewas; a road game in the Big House against the Michigan Wolverines.
Central Michigan looks to bounce back after a loss to Pittsburgh last week in which the team struggled to score points against a stingy Panthers' defense while also struggling to contain them on offense.
Coming into the game against Michigan, Drinkall is determined to use what he and the team learned from playing Pitt and apply it to trying to beat the Wolverines.
“I thought there were some areas I did not have the team prepared for as well as they should be as far as handling (the) environment and procedural things,” Drinkall said. “So we've made a seismic shift in practice to address those issues so the kids can be in a better situation.”
This week’s matchup, however, presents a new and bigger challenge for Drinkall and his squad. Michigan is ranked 23rd in this week’s AP Top 25 and are sure to test the Chippewas on both sides of the ball.
Meet the opponent
The Wolverines host the Chippewas, coming off of a 24-13 loss on the road to Oklahoma in which the offense notably struggled more than it did in its week one matchup with New Mexico.
All eyes will be on true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood to rectify last weeks 9-24 passing performance in which he totaled just 142 passing yards against a dominant Sooner defense.
"He is incredibly mature, if you take the word 'freshman' away from his name, you would just treat him like any other incredible football player," Drinkall said. "The other thing you can tell from the small sample size of tape is that he has a great supporting cast and they are really well coached."
Running back Justice Haynes has proven to be among the best of this supporting cast, tallying 125 yards and a touchdown against Oklahoma, leading him to be the fourth in total rushing yards in the nation.
On the other side of the ball, the maize and blue defense has continued to look solid. However, Michigan is already beginning to suffer from the injury plague as starting safety Zeke Berry was knocked out of the contest with Oklahoma, making him the second Michigan defensive back to miss time as Rod Moore continues to suffer from a lingering 2024 ACL injury.
Keys to victory
One of the biggest questions heading into the weekend for CMU is whether or not the Chippewas can handle the environment of the Big House. According to Drinkall, the team struggled in this area last week at Pitt, prompting him to make playing with stadium noise a focus in practice this week.
“We want it to be a constant distraction and new stimuli all the time throughout practice in those team periods so it forces us to focus and communicate,” Drinkall said. “We're gonna get less reps in a practice, but we'll get more reps that simulate how a game operates.”
Senior running back Nahree Biggins, who had a quiet game against Pitt with only 10 rushing yards, echoed his coach’s statements about why it is important to prep with noise.
“It's really us just staying dialed in, locked in with all the noise around and just us bottling out the crowd noise," Biggins said.
As of week two, Michigan ranks 99th in time of possession compared to CMU who ranks 15th. If Central Michigan is able to control the tempo of the game and limit the amount of times Bryce Underwood and the Wolverine offense see the field, the maroon and gold may be able to pull Michigan into a low scoring defensive slog.
"In game two, our game plan when you are going against a Power Four opponent was to really bleed the clock in the first half to get the game into the second half," Drinkall said. "Then play a 30-minute game instead of a 60-minute game."
CMU's ability to control the game depends on how it gets its offense going against the Wolverines. So far this season, CMU has favored a run-heavy offense, utilizing both its running backs and quarterbacks to grind the ball down the field. Against Pitt, however, the strategy didn’t seem to work as well.
Against the Panthers, Central Michigan ran the ball 41 times for a total of 40 yards. The Chippewas' leading rusher, junior quarterback Angel Flores, managed 18 yards on the ground.
The passing game against Pitt was a different story. CMU went 20-for-27 on pass attempts, compiling a total of 177 yards. Senior quarterback Joe Labas led the team in yards with 89 and was followed up closely by freshman quarterback Jadyn Glasser who had 78.
If the Chippewas hope to keep up with Michigan this weekend and the teams they play in the future, they will have to find a way to balance their attack on offense.
