Central Michigan Chippewas

Chippewas Win Orange Bowl 27-14, Complete Undefeated Season

January 1, 2015

Game Report Posted: November 23, 2013 03:55  

There weren't many people who thought that the Chippewas would be able to hang with ACC Champion Florida State, but Coach Carlson had his boys ready to play as CMU looked to win their first ever BCS Bowl. Both teams entered the game with stout defenses ranked in the Top 10 nationally. The two teams traded TD's during the first half and went into halftime tied at 14-14. Whatever Coach Carlson said to his guys at halftime worked. The defense buckled down and the offense was more effective. The Chippewas outscored FSU 13-0 in the 2nd half on their way to a 27-14 victory in the Discover Orange Bowl. It was a monumental victory for Carlson and CMU, "This really is a dream come true for us," said Carlson. "It's not a National Championship, but no MAC school has ever won a BCS game. To be the first school to do so is really special. I really don't have any words to express how happy we all are right now."

Neither team could get much of a run game going and essentially abandoned it completely. The two teams combined for only 39 yards rushing. Cooper Rush was terrific for the Chippewa offense, completing 26 of 33 passes for 309 yards, 3 TD's and 1 INT. WR Titus Davis lead all CMU receivers en route to breaking the CMU record for receptions in a season. Davis caught 11 passes for 130 yards and 1 TD. WR Anthony Rice hauled in 7 catches for 115 yards.

It's hard to believe how fast CMU has risen back to the top of the MAC. It's clear AD Dave Heeke hit a homerun with his hire of Carlson. The success Carlson and his staff have had in two short years will mean that there is plenty of interest from other schools. There have been numerous rumors about other schools being interested in Carlson, Defensive Coordinator Danny Bryant and Offensive Coordinator Steed Lobotzke. It will be interesting to see if this staff can remain intact.

The Chippewas finish the season 14-0 (9-0) and ranked #4 in the nation.

Chippewas Defeat Bulls, Win 2nd Consecutive MAC Championship

December 5, 2014

Game Report Posted: November 23, 2013 03:50  

The Chippewas made the short trip from Mt. Pleasant to Detroit looking to capture their 2nd consecutive MAC Championship. The Bulls entered the game looking for some revenge for last season's lost, unfortunately for them, history repeated itself again.

The Bulls were able to move the ball against the CMU defense all game, but consistently ran out of steam in CMU territory. CMU jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Buffalo could only manage to put three FG's on the board in the first half as CMU entered halftime with a 21-9 lead. Buffalo would score the first TD of the the 3rd quarter to cut the lead to 21-16. That was as close as Buffalo would get. CMU would answer with a TD of their own to increase their lead back to 12 at 28-16. The Chippewas added two 4th quarter FG's to bump their lead to 34-16. The Chippewa defense took over the 4th quarter shutting Buffalo down and securing the 34-16 win and the 2nd consecutive MAC Championship for Central Michigan. "I'm just extremely happy for the guys," said Carlson. "Our goal was to finish the season undefeated, win the MAC Championship and play for a National Championship. We have accomplished two of those goals, we will have to wait and see about the third one."

Offensively, the Chippewas were led by Cooper Rush who completed 14/19 passes for 252 yards, 2 TD's and 2 INT's. Rush's favorite target, Titus Davis, caught 7 passes for 147 yards and 1 TD. Saylor Lavallii led all rushers with 75 yards on 17 carries and scored 2 TD's.

The win improved Carlson's record to 24-3 and his team has now won 19 games in a row. There is no doubt that he will be a hot commodity in the coaching carousel, but he refused to talk about that after the win. "I don't have a lot to say about any of that stuff right now. There will always be rumors, but I have stated many times my goal is to win a National Championship at CMU. We were close this year, but it doesn't seem like that will happen. I'm going to enjoy this win with my team and look forward to whatever BCS game we end up in." The BCS projections currently have CMU playing the winner of the ACC Championship game between Georgia Tech and Florida State.

The #5 Chippewas will enter their BCS game with a 13-0 (9-0) record. This will be the first ever appearance for CMU in a BCS game and only the 2nd appearance for the Mid-American Conference. Northern Illinois lost to Florida State in the 2013 Orange Bowl.

Chippewas Overcome Snow, Slow Start, Defeat RedHawks 35-6

November 29, 2014

Game Report Posted: November 22, 2013 21:09  

The Chippewas entered their game against Miami looking to complete a perfect 12-0 regular season, however, mother nature wasn't going to make it easy for CMU. A late November snow storm dropped multiple inches of snow on the field prior to game time and the snow remained consistent throughout the game. Due to the snowy conditions, both teams struggled to move the ball in the first half. CMU headed to the locker room with a 7-6 halftime lead.

The Chippewas regrouped at halftime and were able to over come the weather conditions outscoring Miami 28-0 in the 2nd half en route to a 35-6 win. "Not much better than a game in the snow," a sarcastic Carlson said. "It's always tough to get things going when you play in those types of conditions and it was clear we needed to change things up in the 2nd half. We always try to be balanced and Saylor did a good job for us on the ground. Due to the snow, we decided we needed to shorten up our pass routes to make it easier on Cooper and his WR's. They all did a great job with the adjustments and it allowed us to control the 2nd half today."

Saylor Lavallii led the way offensively rushing for 143 yards and 3 TD's on 26 carries. Cooper Rush completed 19/22 passes for 231 yards and 2 TD's. WR Titus Davis continued his campaign for the Biletnikoff award, catching 10 passes for 149 yards and 2 TD's. Davis had already broken the CMU single season records for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns and only needs 18 more receptions to break the CMU record of 110 receptions in a season.

The #5 Chippewas finish the regular season with a perfect 12-0 (8-0) record. They will travel to Ford Field for the MAC Championship game against Buffalo. This will be the 2nd year in a row these teams have faced each other for the MAC Championship with CMU coming away with a 28-18 victory last season.