Fire Up Chips!

Tonight, my alma mater, Central Michigan University, played Western Kentucky University in the 2012 Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl at Detroit's Ford Field. it was an exciting game filled with tons of big offensive plays and even a few defensive gems, with my Chippewas defeating the Hilltoppers, 24-21.

The game was lower scoring than I (and most pundits) thought it would be. (I think the vast majority assumed scoring somewhere in the half-century mark vicinity ... for both teams.) It came down to the final drive, Western Kentucky marching down down the field. With less than a minute remaining in regulation, and a fourth-and-two from the CMU 19, Hilltoppers quarterback Kawaun Jakes' pass to Jack Doyle was incomplete, giving the Chippewas the ball. (A field goal would have tied it, but the Hilltoppers went for the win.) CMU ran out the clock and earned the victory.

It was the second gutsy fourth-and-short call in the quarter, one by each team. Midway through the fourth, the Chippewas - trailing 21-17 - failed to re-take the lead when they turned the ball over on downs after a fourth-and-goal call from the one. (It looked as if the Chippewas' Zurlon Tipton scored on a pitch play. But after replay, Tipton's knee was determined down, leaving CMU less than a yard short.)

But CMU got the ball back in excellent field position (the WKU 26) about a minute later, after partially blocking a WKU punt from the end zone. What resulted was a short drive which culminated in 11-yard "no doubt about it" touchdown pass from CMU quarterback Ryan Radcliff to Cody Wilson with 5:11 remaining.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, both Central and WKU struck early. Radcliff complete a 69-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Flory less than five minutes into the game. Less than 90 seconds later, WKU tied the score on a 77-yard drive that included a 70-yard flea-flicker from Jakes to receiver Rico Brown. CMU re-took the lead before the end of the quarter on a 29-yard Radcliff-to-Flory strike, and added a record-tying David Harman 50-yard field goal to extend its lead early in the second quarter. The Hilltoppers responded midway through the second, and the game went into the locker room at halftime with a 17-14 CMU edge.

But the second half - or, at least, the third quarter - saw fewer fireworks. WKU took a 21-17 lead late in the stanza after a 16-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with a 1-yard Kadeem Jones score (where he fumbled the ball away just after breaking the plane of the goal line). That led to the exciting conclusion, where both teams took chances that can define a coach and a team.

To say Central Michigan, with its less than stellar 6-6 overall regular season record, amazingly porous defense, and interestingly-designed new uniforms (which all said "CHIPPEWAS" on the back where names often appear) was a surprise entry in the 2012-13 bowl season is putting it mildly. The Chippewas were destroyed by Michigan State in September, 41-7. They lost to arch-rival Western Michigan - at home. Their last four wins were against teams that had a combined record of 8-40. Yes, Central Michigan scored at least 30 points in nine of 12 games; but the Chippewas also allowed at least 30 points in eight.

CMU was ... um ... painful to watch this year, to be honest. The Chips began the season 2-5, with losses to Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Navy and Ball State by an average of 22 points. Basically only an upset of Iowa (if it was possible to "upset" Iowa this year) by scoring nine points in the final 45 seconds to win in Iowa City made it a decent season. (To many, it was shades of CMU's 2009 victory at Michigan State, when it recovered a last-second onside kick and won on the last play.)

To Chippewa Nation faithful, a 24-21 final was surprising. CMU made four straight bowl games from 2006-2009, including three Motor City Bowl appearances. In two of those four contests, Central scored more than 40 points - and went 1-1. The Chippewas defeated Troy in the 2009 GMAC Bowl, 44-41, in double overtime, and lost to Purdue in the 2007 Motor City Bowl 51-48, when the Boilermakers' Chris Summers kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired. In the GMAC Bowl, Troy and Central Michigan combined for 1,122 yards of total offense and quarterbacks Levi Brown and Dan LeFevour combined for 782 yards passing, while CMU receiver Antonio Brown had 402 yards of total offense, including a 95-yard kick return for a touchdown that helped the Chippewas overcome a 31-19 fourth-quarter deficit.

The CMU marketing geniuses pushed the LCB with the clever slogan, "C you in the D." The only "D" that was evident most of the year was the Olde English "D" that reps Detroit. But when push came to shove, CMU's "D" held its own, and the Chippewas brought a "W" back to Mt. Pleasant.

I have not attended any of the Chippewa bowl games in person, instead having coordinated alumni watch parties in southeast Florida to watch the maroon and gold take the gridiron. The last actual CMU football game I attended was in October 2007, when Central Michigan traveled to Clemson, South Carolina - a mere 11-hour drive from West Palm Beach.

It was a last minute decision; the Monday prior to the game, I realized my debate team had no tournament that weekend (October 19-21) - a rarity in my line of work. So I did a quick check online, discovered reasonably priced tickets were still available, and by the end of the day has a ticket and hotel room in Clemson.

My students had all sorts of questions for me. "Are you going with anyone?" (No, driving myself.) "Will you know anyone there?" (Probably not.) "Why are you going to a football game 11 hours away when you won't know anyone?" (It's the experience. Some day, you'll be in college, and you'll understand the idea of a road trip!") I chose not to take that Friday off from work, so my travels to Clemson started around 3:30 pm. I pulled in to the hotel in the early hours, then woke up early Saturday to partake in the CMU Alumni Association tailgate experience. (It should be noted Clemson's football stadium was about a 30-40 minute drive from my hotel.) It turned out I was right; I knew no one at either the tailgate or in the CMU section. But I thought nothing of this; I was ready for some football excitement!

Central Michigan started out strong, taking a 7-0 lead on the opening drive. Then I blinked, and the next thing I knew, the Tigers had put 42 unanswered points on their scoreboard, and were well on their way to a 70-14 victory over the visiting Chippewas.

See? No "D" there, either!

Ah, well.

Despite the final score, I had nothing but respect for the Clemson fan base, who were very friendly and curious about why a high school teacher would drive 11 hours from home to watch a college football game. Of course, having already answered the basic questions earlier in the week to a group of teenagers, I was well-versed in the replies. [I think their friendly demeanor was aided by (a) dominating the scoreboard, (b) not being a conference opponent, and (c) not being their arch-rivals from the University of South Carolina.] In fact, when one very nice couple left the game at the start of the fourth quarter, I thanked them for their hospitality, adding, "As a gift, I offer you 63 points!"]

It was an exhausting drive back to Florida, taking me 13 hours (I had to stop on the return a few times to rest my eyes), but in the grand scheme it was well worth the experience. I'm still waiting for the Chippewas to visit Florida for a contest; sadly, the closest venue in the neat future appears to be at North Carolina State next September 14 - a mere 737 miles from West Palm Beach (or, in layman's terms, about 30 miles further than Clemson is from my home).

Sounds like another road trip in the making!