Central
Michigan Chippewas
Preview 2007
By
Pete Fiutak
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2007 CMU Offense Preview
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2007 CMU Defense Preview
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2007 CMU Depth Chart
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2006 CFN Central
Michigan
Preview
Central Michigan was knocking on the door of doing some really
big things under Brian Kelly, and then the program kicked it in
winning the MAC title with a dominant season thanks to an
explosive, creative offense led by freshman quarterback Dan
LeFevour while the defense was more than solid when it had to
be.
Now Kelly’s gone to Cincinnati and Butch Jones, an assistant
from West Virginia and former CMU offensive coordinator, comes
in to take over the MAC’s best team in an attempt to keep the
momentum rolling with his version of the spread offense.
Head coach: Butch Jones
1st year
Returning Lettermen:
Off. 18, Def. 21, ST 2
Lettermen Lost: 13 |
Ten
Best CMU Players
1.
QB Dan
LeFevour, Soph.
2. RB Ontario Sneed, Jr.
3. WR Bryan Anderson, Soph.
4. DT Steven Friend, Sr.
5. OT Andrew Hartline, Jr.
6. LB Red Keith, Sr.
7. P Tony Mikulec, Sr.
8. SS Curtis Cutts, Sr.
9. FS Calvin Hisson, Soph.
10. OG Eric Tunney, Sr. |
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2007 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 8-4 |
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Sept. 1 |
at Kansas |
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Sept. 8 |
Toledo |
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Sept. 15 |
at Purdue |
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Sept. 22 |
North Dakota State |
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Sept. 29 |
Northern Illinois |
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Oct. 6 |
at Ball State |
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Oct. 13 |
Army |
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Oct. 20 |
at Clemson |
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Oct. 27 |
at Kent State |
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Nov. 6 |
at Western Michigan |
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Nov. 17 |
Eastern Michigan |
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Nov. 23 |
at Akron |
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2006
Schedule
CFN
Prediction:
5-7
2006 Record:
10-4
Preview
2006 predicted wins
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8/31 |
Boston College L 31-24 |
| 9/9 |
at Michigan L 41-17 |
| 9/16 |
Akron W 24-21 |
| 9/23 |
at East Mich
W 24-17 OT |
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9/30 |
at Kentucky L 45-36 |
| 10/7 |
at Toledo W 42-20 |
| 10/14 |
Ball State
W 18-7 |
| 10/19 |
Bowling Green
W 31-14 |
| 11/4 |
at Temple
W 42-26 |
| 11/10 |
Western Mich W 31-7 |
| 11/17 |
at No. Illinois L 31-10 |
| 11/24 |
at Buffalo
W 55-28 |
| 11/30 |
MAC Championship
Ohio W 31-10 |
| 12/26 |
Motor City Bowl
Middle Tenn. W 13-14 |
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However, LeFevour isn’t a normal spread quarterback. While he can
run, his emergence as a passer, which started after the season’s
first play from scrimmage when starter Brian Brunner got knocked out
against Boston College, was the difference in the championship
season. He has all the throws in the book and isn’t afraid to take
his shots down the field. He’ll have the weapons to keep firing to
go along with the talent in the backfield to hand off to.
With a rushing punch of Ontario Sneed and Marcel Archer, along with
Notre Dame transfer, Justin Hopkins, top receiver Bryan Anderson
returning, and a decent offensive line, even without tackle Joe
Staley, there’s no reason to expect anything less than another
title.
The secondary could stand to be tighter, getting to the quarterback
will be a bit tougher without Dan Bazuin, and the return game could
use a bit of an upgrade, but those are all fixable if everything
else is going right. LeFevour and Jones will be good enough to make
sure the offense makes up for any of the team’s shortcomings. Which
mean the spotlight is now squarely on Jones.
Jones knows the school, he knows the offense, and he knows what it
takes to put together a winning program after being tutored by Rich
Rodriguez. Now he has an almost no-win situation of winning the MAC
championship or the season will be seen as a failure. The team is
that good, even with its head man in Cincinnati.
What to watch for on offense:
More of the same. LeFevour was
tremendous over the second half of last year showing a great command
of the offense, and now he’ll likely run a little bit more (after
gaining 521 yards and seven touchdowns last year) even though the
backs are good enough to carry the load. Jones coached receivers at
West Virginia and won’t be afraid to make sure LeFevour gets the
ball in the hands of his weapons to avoid taking too many big shots.
What to watch for on defense: Improvement in the secondary.
All the defense has to do is not stink it up and the team will be
fine, and this one should at least be average. A major question
mark throughout last year, the defensive backs should be a strength
if corner Josh Gordy and free safety Calvin Hissong keep improving.
Finding defensive ends to replace Bazuin and Mike Ogle will be a
major problem, but the tackles should be excellent.
The team will be far better if … someone can return a kick.
The Chippewas averaged a mere 5.33 yards per punt return and 18.79
yards on kick returns. The returners had bad years, but the blocking
wasn’t quite helping the cause. The kicking game should be
excellent, so if Jones and his staff can get a little more pop out
of the returns, the special teams will be a plus.
The Schedule: If the defending MAC champions are going to
repeat, they’re going to have a tough road to do it, literally. The
Chippewas have to go on the road for four of the final five games,
with the one home game the easiest of the bunch against Eastern
Michigan. The end, along with only playing seven conference games,
might mean they have to own the first half of the season, especially
against MAC teams getting Toledo, and Northern Illinois at home.
Best Offensive Player:
Sophomore QB Dan LeFevour. After generating a big buzz in off-season
practices, LeFevour took over early on last year and became a star,
playing like a seasoned veteran, leading the team to the MAC title. Now
he'll be asked to throw more, run less, and win a second straight
championship.
Best Defensive Player: Senior DT Steven Friend. Playing next to
Dan Bazuin, Friend never quite got all the attention he deserved, even
though he earned second-team All-MAC honors. With good size at 6-2 and
294 pounds, and tremendous quickness, he can do it all. He'll be the
star on a defense that should be even better than last year's title
winning group.
Key player to a successful season: Junior OT Greg Wojt and
redshirt freshman C Colin Miller. Wojt replaces Andrew Hartline, who
moved from the right side to the left to replace NFL first round draft
pick, Joe Staley. Miller is stepping in at center to replace all-star
Drew Mormino, but if he struggles, Mike Decker might move over from
guard and throw the entire line off. Wojt has to hold his own and has to
give LeFevour time to operate.
The season will be a
success if
... CMU wins the MAC title again. With a tough non-conference schedule
facing Kansas, Purdue and Clemson on the road, a big record isn’t as
important as coming up with another good conference season. It’ll take a
few key wins on the road, but the team is good enough to do it.
Key game:
Nov. 6 at Western
Michigan. This game decided the MAC West last year and could go a long
way to doing it again. The Chippewas will have already faced Northern
Illinois and Toledo at home, the two man contenders for the division
crown, so if all goes well, a win over the Broncos could seal a second
straight trip to the title game.
2006 Fun Stats:
- Interception return average: Central Michigan 20.1 – Opponents 8.5
- Field goals: Central Michigan 12 of 20 – Opponents 7 of 14
- First quarter scoring: Central Michigan 93 – Opponents 66