2013 Week 11

It was a bad day to be a defensive coach as the Chippewas and Cardinals lit up the score board. It was the Chippewas who were able to come away with the 47-42 victory over the MAC West leading Ball St. Cardinals. An early CMU turnover proved to be a key moment in the game. With the Chippewas going in for a score on their opening drive, Cooper Rush's pass was intercepted at the 1 yard line. The BSU defender made the wrong choice to try and gain some yards by running back into the endzone where he was tackled for a safety. The Chippewas then drove right down the field after BSU's free kick to take an early 9-0 lead. BSU answered with 14 unanswered points to take a 14-9 lead. CMU was able to head into the half up 26-21 and BSU would not get any closer with CMU escaping with a 47-42 victory after a late BSU TD cut the lead back to 5. "I'm really proud of the guys" said Carlson "we had a lot of time to think about the NIU game, but the guys got it out of their heads after 24 hours and we focused on BSU. We knew we had to win this game if we wanted to remain in the MAC West and we were able to do that."

Zurlon Tipton was a workhorse for CMU finishing with 28 carries for 228 yards and 4 TD's. "I can't say enough about Zurlon. Week in and week out he just get's the job done. He may not have a game like he did tonight every week, but he does everything the right way." Titus Davis continued his hot streak catching 8 passes for 112 yards, but was once again kept out of the endzone. Cooper Rush rebounded nicely from his poor performance against NIU finishing the game 22/29 for 270 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT.

CMU dominated the time of possession, but BSU's up-tempo offense scored fast and caused a lot of issues for Defensive Coordinator Danny Bryant. "I'm happy we got the W, but myself and my guys are disappointed with our performance tonight" said Bryant. "Wenning, Snead and Edwards are a terrific trio, but I thought we should have been better prepared for their offense. I'm glad the boys on offense were able to take advantage of their opportunities and put more points on the board."

With the win over BSU, the Chippewas sit in a three way tie with BSU and NIU all with one conference loss. The Chippewas will most likely need to win their next three games, based on their competition that shouldn't be an issue. WMU, EMU and UMass have combined for three wins this season. However, they could use some help from BSU in their game against NIU next week. A BSU win gives NIU two conference losses. If CMU were to win out they would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with BSU and would represent the MAC West at Ford Field. There will be a lot Chippewas focused on the BSU vs NIU showdown.