Middle Tennessee (7-5) vs. Central Michigan (9-4)
Dec. 26th,
7:30 pm, ESPN
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Motor City Bowl Player
Profile: Central Michigan DE Dan Bazuin, history & more
That sound you heard a few weeks ago was
a muffled scream coming from Motor City Bowl representatives when
Middle Tennessee lost to Troy meaning they couldn't take a 6-6
Kansas, Arizona or Pitt to play MAC champion Central Michigan.
The Blue Raiders might not generate much interest on a national
scale, but the Sun Belt rarely gets any time in the sun and to get
two teams into bowl games is a really big deal for the conference.
With national respect next to impossible for the conference to come
by, a good showing in what should amount to a Central Michigan home
game is vital to the growth of the league.
The Chippewas throttled Ohio 31-10 to win the title, and now they
return to Ford Field with a shot at their first ten win season since
1979, but they'll do so with a key element missing.
|
|
National
Rankings |
|
Central Mich. |
Middle Tenn. |
|
Total Offense |
|
31st 380.23 ypg |
105th 282.67 ypg |
|
Total Defense |
|
69th 343.23 ypg |
53rd 325.67 ypg |
|
Scoring Offense |
|
24th 29.62 ppg |
61st 23.50 ppg |
|
Scoring Defense |
|
63rd 22.92 ppg |
58th 22.58 ppg |
|
Run Offense |
|
68th 127.85 ypg |
57th 137 ypg |
|
Run Defense |
|
54th 131.54 ypg |
38th 117.83 ypg |
|
Pass Offense |
|
19th 252.38 ypg |
108th 145.67 ypg |
|
Pass Defense |
|
77th 211.69 ypg |
71st 207.83 ypg |
|
Turnover Margin |
|
38th 0.38 |
16th 0.67 |
|
Central Michigan
Boston Coll L 31-24
at Michigan L 41-17
Akron W 24-21
at EMU
W 24-17 OT
at Kentucky L 45-36
at Toledo W 42-20
Ball State
W 18-7
Bo. Green
W 31-14
at Temple
W 42-26
WMU W 31-7
at No. Illinois L 31-10
at Buffalo
W 55-28
MAC Championship
Ohio W 31-10 |
Middle Tenn.
FIU W 7-6
at Maryland L 24-10
Tenn. Tech W 44-0
at Oklahoma L 59-0
at No Texas W 35-0
Louisville L 44-17
at UL Mon. W 35-21
at UL Laf. W 34-20
Fla Atlantic W 35-14
at Ark St W 38-10
at S Carolina L 52-7
Troy L 21-20 |
|
Position
Ratings
relative to each
other |
|
CM |
5
highest
1 lowest |
MT |
|
4.5 |
Quarterbacks |
3 |
|
4 |
RBs |
4 |
|
4 |
Receivers |
3.5 |
|
4 |
O
Line |
3 |
|
3.5 |
D
Line |
3.5 |
|
3.5 |
Linebackers |
4 |
|
3.5 |
Secondary |
3 |
|
3.5 |
Spec
Teams |
3.5 |
|
3 |
Coaching |
3.5 |
|
It was just a
question of when and not if Central Michigan head man Brian Kelly
was going to be off to another job. One of the hotter names out
there after turning the program from an afterthought to a champion,
Kelly jumped ship to Cincinnati in what's not going to be the last
stop for the talented young coach. In his place will by Jeff Quinn,
an assistant who'll get an audition for the head job. The offensive
coordinator shouldn't have any problem keeping the offense moving,
but can he handle the work of being the head man?
This has been a tremendous year for CMU, even in defeats, setting
the tone early on with a good showing in a 31-24 loss to Boston
College and with a good battle in a loss to Kentucky. Losing to
Michigan is nothing to be ashamed of, while the 31-10 loss to
Northern Illinois came after the MAC West title had already been
wrapped up. When the team absolutely needed a win, like against
Western Michigan to decide the division title or in the MAC
championship, it played its best.
After several disappointing seasons, Middle Tennessee finally got a
Sun Belt title after Rick Stockstill took over, but it was a bit
hollow. Seemingly on the way to an unbeaten conference season
needing to just get by Troy to go off to the New Orleans Bowl, the
Blue Raiders blew a late 20-7 lead and technically finished as
co-champions. The Sun Belt season wasn't a problem, but playing the
better teams was an issue getting rocked by Oklahoma, Louisville and
South Carolina by a combined score of 155 to 24.
Living off an aggressive defense and just enough of a rushing attack
to get by. This isn't an explosive Blue Raider offense by any
stretch and this has the potential to be one of the ugliest of the
bowl games if CMU gets up early, but the Chippewas can't be
overconfident.
Middle Tennessee will be jacked up to be on national television in a
winnable game. Central Michigan will try to prove that there's life
after Brian Kelly and the machine can keep on running clean and
smooth. If nothing else, each team will try and the effort will be
there on both sides. Will that be enough for you to care about
Middle Tennessee vs. Central Michigan if you're not a fan of either
team? It's the only bowl game of the day, so it's possible.
Players to watch: Can J.K. Sabb get his groove back?
The Middle Tennessee star linebacker hasn't been the same since
injuring his ankle midway through the season and was relegated to a
backup role late in the year. When healthy, he's a dangerous
all-around playmaker who can get into the backfield on a regular
basis and is a sideline-to-sideline run stopper. He's 100%, appears
to be back to normal after a good regular season finale against
Troy, and should combine with Justin Rainey to try to keep
the CMU running game in check. It'll also be vital to keep Chippewa
mobile quarterback Dan LeFevour from taking off.
Stepping in after the second play of the season, LeFevour became the
MAC's best quarterback with an accurate arm, enough running skills
to score six touchdowns and run for 452 yards, and dangerous enough
to throw for 25 touchdowns and only ten interceptions. While he'll
turn the ball over and occasionally gets away with throws he
shouldn't make, he makes far better overall decisions than a
freshman quarterback should.
While LeFevour has been CMU's star, sophomore RB Ontario Sneed
still needs to be paid attention to on every play. His workload
has been significantly reduced since last season, but he's remained
a steady receiver with 46 catches for 367 yards and six touchdowns
while being a home-run hitter as a runner with three 100-yard games
when he's been able to tear off big plays.
Middle Tennessee needs its own lead runner, senior Eugene Gross,
to get going or it doesn't have any shot of winning. The passing
game is non-existent, and outside of a layup win over an overmatched
D-IAA Tennessee Tech, the Blue Raiders are 6-0 when Gross runs for
75 yards or more and 0-5 when he's under 75. Therefore ...
Central
Michigan
will win if...
it stops the Middle Tennessee
ground game. Even with veteran quarterback Clint Marks, the Blue
Raider passing game has rarely been effective going for over 200
yards just three times. There's little to no overall explosion, so
if the Chippewas get up early, hold the Middle Tennessee ground game
to under 200 yards, and gets its own passing game going against the
average Blue Raider secondary, this should be a blowout.
Middle Tennessee will win if... it does all the
little things better than Central Michigan. The Blue Raiders likely
can't win straight up, so they have to win the turnover battle, keep
the penalties to a minimum, and get more out of the special teams.
Getting to the quarterback and getting into the backfield hasn't
been a problem for the MT defense, and it has to hit LeFevour early
and force him to make throws that aren't there. The secondary might
not be all that great, but it'll make big plays from time to time.
The offense has to take advantage of every opportunity.
What will happen: If CMU could hold Ohio to 87 rushing yards
and keep Kalvin McRae to 76, it should have few problems with Middle
Tennessee's rushing attack. The Blue Raiders will hang around early,
but the offense won't be there to keep pace. LeFevour will spread
the ball around too effectively and use all his weapons with a few
long second quarter drives. Marks will try to bomb away to get back
in the game, but to no avail. The Chippewas will usher in the Jeff
Quinn era with a big, easy win.
Line: Central Michigan -11 ... CFN Prediction:
Central
Michigan 34 ... Middle Tennessee 14
Motor City Bowl Player
Profile: Central Michigan DE Dan Bazuin, history & more