Central Michigan 2012 Recruiting

Central Michigan Chippewas 2012 ... Head Coach: Dan Enos

Central Michigan Chippewas

2011 Record: 3-9

Sep. 1 SC State W 21-6
Sep. 10 at Kentucky L 27-13
Sep. 17 at Western Mich L 44-14
Sep. 24 at Michigan State L 45-7
Oct. 1 Northern Illinois W 48-41
Oct. 8 at NC State L 38-24
Oct. 15 Eastern Mich L 35-28
Oct. 22 at Ball State L 31-27
Oct. 29 at Akron W 23-22
Nov. 4 at Kent State
Nov. 10 Ohio
Nov. 18 Toledo L 44-17
Nov. 26 OPEN DATE

2010 CFN Prediction: 7-5
2010 Record: 3-9

Sept. 2 Hampton W 33-0
Sept. 9 at Temple L 13-10 OT
Sept. 18 at Eastern Mich W 52-14
Sept. 25 at Northwestern L 30-25
Oct. 2 Ball State L 31-17
Oct. 9 at Virginia Tech L 45-21
Oct. 16 Miami Univ. L 27-20
Oct. 23 at NIU L 33-7
Oct. 30 Bowling Green L 17-14
Nov. 5 Western Mich W 26-22
Nov. 13 at Navy L 38-37
Nov. 26 at Toledo L 42-31
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The Entire 2012 Recruiting Class

Top 5 Central Michigan Recruits To Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. S Jordan Fields
6-1, 180, Scout.com 43rd ranked, three-star safety. Good athlete with good speed and change of direction. Smart, heady kid who always seems to be around the ball. Great ball skills and knack for making plays. Covers a lot of ground and smarts keep him from getting beat. A striker who will come up and hit, he is on the thinner side and he will get even more effective in run support once he gets bigger and stronger, because he definitely has the willingness and aggressiveness as a hitter.

2. QB Cooper Rush
6-3, 225, Scout.com 78th ranked, three-star quarterback

3. RB Saylor Lavallii
5-10, 205, Scout.com 90th ranked, three-star running back

4. OG Kelby Latta
6-3, 293, Scout.com 92nd ranked, three-star guard

5. QB Cody Kater
6-4, 230, Scout.com two-star JUCO transfer

The 2012 Class Was Heavy On... The secondary needs a lot of help. Head coach Dan Enos has struggled in his first few seasons and needs as many options as possible to battle for jobs right away. This is a huge class with a little something for all spots, but safety will be the strongest position and the offensive line will get a big boost. The receiving corps is apparently set with just a few prospects coming in.

Team Concerns For 2012: The Chippewas have to start getting more out of an inconsistent offense, and it should happen with nine starters returning. However, a good running back has to step in for Paris Cotton, and tight end David Blackburn is a key part gone. The defense loses two starting linebackers – Mike Petrucci and Armond Staten – and corner John Carr.

Looking Ahead To The 2012 Season: The Dan Enos era isn’t exactly rocking and rolling with two straight awful seasons. This might be the payoff with QB Ryan Radcliff leading a veteran attack that gets everyone back up front and returns most of the top targets. The defense might have been among the worst in the MAC, but the entire line returns and most of the secondary is back. Linebackers Mike Petrucci and Armond Staten will be missed.

The 2011 Class Was Heavy On … Tight ends. Apparently, head coach Dan Enos thinks the team needs more options for the offense with four tight ends coming in to go along with Jason Wilson and some nice wide receivers. Ben McCord, Blake Serpa, and Ben Randle are good pickups, but there should be some moving around of positions. The spotlight, though, will be on QB Alex Niznak, a 6-4, 225-pound passer who could get a long, long look right away. Defensive tackle was a target led by 6-1, 300-pound Shafer Johnson.
 
2010 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 112. That Class Was Heavy On ... The defensive front seven. New head man Dan Enos had roughly ten minutes to work, and it showed with a mediocre class that will need some developing. The one positive area was up front on defense with Kevin Henry a near-certain all star end with the potential to bulk up into a tackle. Caleb Southworth is a nice speed rushing prospect, while linebackers Tyler Lombardo, Andy Phillips, and Nores Fradi will be a big deal in three years.

2009 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 75. That Class Was Heavy On ... Running backs. The idea is to get as many good athletes as possible and find positions for them, and the Chippewas have brought in four good backs, led by the small, but speedy, Malek Redd, along with two good receivers in Cody Wilson and Ronny Kennedy who aren’t all that big, but can be used in a variety of ways.

Nov. 19 Toledo 44 … at Central Michigan 17
(AP) MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Adonis Thomas rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns and Terrance Owens passed for two scores as Toledo kept its Mid-American Conference title hope alive with a 44-17 victory against Central Michigan on Friday night.

Both of Owens' TD passes came in the second half as the Rockets (7-4, 6-1) broke the game open. Toledo sits atop the MAC West Division with Northern Illinois, but the Huskies own the tiebreaker thanks to their 66-63 win when the teams met on Nov. 1.

Next week, Toledo visits Ball State, needing a win and a Northern Illinois loss at home against Eastern Michigan to advance to the conference title game.

Ryan Radcliff was 20 of 37 passing for 233 yards and two touchdowns for the Chippewas (3-9, 2-6).

The Rockets led 14-10 in the second quarter before Jeremiah Detmer padded the lead with two field goals before halftime. Owens threw 39 yards to James Green for a TD early in the third quarter, and his 51-yard scoring toss to Bernard Reedy in the fourth quarter made the score 37-10.

Owens was 24 of 32 for 275 yards passing, and he added a 5-yard TD run with 1:17 remaining.

Nov. 5 at Kent State 24 … Central Michigan 21

Nov. 12 Ohio 43 … at Central Michigan 28

Oct. 29 Central Michigan 23 … at Akron 22  

Oct. 22 at Ball State 31 … Central Michigan 27
CFN Analysis: The Northern Illinois win now seems like it was ten years ago. The passing game is strong and the offensive line is doing a decent job, but the defense isn’t coming up with any timely stops and the special teams continue to be a problem. For a team with so many struggles, the No. 1 thing to work on is turnover margin after once again being on the wrong side. Ryan Radcliff threw for 436 yards, and David Blackburn was fantastic, catching nine passes for 194 yards and two scores, but the offensive explosion was halted by three turnovers. Ball State only lost the ball once. 

Oct. 15 Eastern Michigan 35 … at Central Michigan 28
CFN Analysis: The defensive front has been a problem all year, especially when it comes to getting to the quarterback, but losing to Eastern Michigan at home in the final minute was particularly galling since Ryan Radcliff seemingly had the game won late. The Northern Illinois upset seems like years ago, and now after losing what was supposed to be the home layup, there’s no margin for error. Going on the road for three games might seem daunting, but going to Ball State, Akron, and Kent State aren’t that bad. Even so, this game is going to hurt.

Oct. 8 at NC State 38 … Central Michigan 24
CFN Analysis: Ryan Radcliff was terrific, all except for his four interceptions. He kept pressing and kept pushing the deep throws, spreading the ball around well and connecting on four plays of more than 20 yards, but outside of a late 77-yard touchdown run from Paris Cotton, there wasn’t enough of a ground game to help calm the offense down. The offense is all around Radcliff, and if he’s screwing up, CMU can’t win. Turnovers have been a problem, and over the next four games with winnable games against Eastern Michigan, Ball State, Akron and Kent State, the only way the Chippewas don’t win all four is by losing the turnover battle. 

Oct. 1 at Central Michigan 48 ... Northern Illinois 41
CFN Analysis: There’s the Central Michigan offense that’s been missing ever since Dan Enos took over. Ryan Radcliff started bombing, and while he did his share of short-to-midrange throws, he was at his best on the deep ball throwing for 387 yards and four scores with big play after big play. The defense did its part for three quarters, and even though NIU staged a furious rally, it was all cosmetic. CMU took the early lead and never let it go the rest of the way because the O came out of its shell. Expect more of the same from here on. It might not always work, and there’s no consistent running game to take the heat off, even with the 176 yards this week, but Radcliff will be doing more and more.  

Sept. 24 at Michigan State 45 … Central Michigan 7
CFN Analysis: The CMU offense can’t be this bad, even against a defense as good as Michigan State’s. Last year was supposed to be about rebuilding, and this year was when things were supposed to start working. Instead, the offense went absolutely nowhere. The four turnovers were bad, the inability to push the ball down the field was worse, and the lines were terrible. Considering MSU didn’t come up with a great pass rush, 21 rushing yards is inexcusable. Finally, the Chips are back home next week, but they haven’t shown anything to suggest they can stay with a team as good as Northern Illinois. 

Sept. 17 at Western Michigan 44 … Central Michigan 14
CFN Analysis: The CMU defense couldn’t get off the field. WMU connected on its third down plays, CMU didn’t. Ryan Radcliff has yet to find his stride this year and has yet to hit on any deep plays, partly because his receivers aren’t helping him out. The yards after the catch are at a minimum, but the passing game is spreading around the wealth. With Michigan State coming up next, the Chippewas have to be strong on third downs, have to eliminate turnovers, and have to run well after coming up with a decent 147 yards against the Broncos. That’ll all be easier said than done. 

Sept. 10 at Kentucky 27 … Central Michigan 13
CFN Analysis: Central Michigan was in the game, but points have been too hard to come by. Ryan Radcliff bombed away for 295 yards on 45 attempts, but he didn’t get any help from a running game stuffed by the UK linebackers all game long. The defense did its part for the second straight week against the pass, and didn’t allow the Wildcats to do a thing thanks to a steady pass rush. The front did a good job of getting into the backfield on a regular basis, and it’ll have to do even more to try to keep down Western Michigan and Michigan State. The offense has to find more firepower, and it has to start with getting more from the ground game.  

Sept. 1 at Central Michigan 21 … South Carolina State 6
CFN Analysis: It wasn’t exactly the type of blowout CMU might have wanted, and the offense only came up with 256 yards, but it was an easy double-digit win that got everyone’s feet wet. Ryan Radcliff was okay, not great, barely completing half his passes, but Zurlon Tipton came up with a nice game running the ball with 73 yards on 18 carries. Kentucky’s offense isn’t exactly great out of the gate, so if the Chippewas can be a bit better on the ground, and if they can get the ball down the field a little more effectively, they might have a chance to pull off the upset if the defense plays as well as it did in the opener.