Central Michigan makes statement in 41-17 thrashing of Akron: ‘We needed to get this one’
The Chippewas rushed for over 300 yards for the second time this season and showed off a highly-improved pass game (on a relative scale) while the defense shined once more.
Mt. Pleasant — Rush for 300 yards, and you’re probably going to win a football game.
That’s the advice now-Illinois head coach Bret Bielema once gave a young Matt Drinkall, the Central Michigan head coach shared on Saturday after his team steamrolled to a win. And for the second time in three games, Central Michigan has rushed for 300-plus yards, winning both times.
But on Saturday in a bludgeoning of Akron, Central Michigan played a complete, complementary type of football that can power this program to plenty of more wins to come — 300 rushing yards or not.
“If you can run for 300 yards, your team will probably win the game,” Drinkall said. “If they throw for 300 yards, it's 50-50. But if you run for 300 yards, your team is probably going to win the game.”
Central Michigan (3-2, 1-0 MAC) flexed its muscle over the final three quarters in a dominant win over Akron, 41-17, as the Chippewas did rush for more than 300 yards — 332 to be exact — in a dominant, complete win vs. Akron. CMU played lights out defense, got the run game rolling, and eventually even flashed some passing chops on offense as the Chippewas finally clicked fully. Even the special teams showed up, downing a punt at the 1 and blocking an early Akron field goal.
And as Central Michigan starts on the front foot in conference play, Saturday’s performance seems to have brought together the disparate group of returning players and newcomers into something resembling a team that can challenge for a MAC title if it keeps playing like it did Saturday. And it comes at a time where CMU is set to play a three game gauntlet at Ohio, vs. Western Michigan and vs. Miami (OH) in the next three weeks.
“I don't talk to the team about any of this ever,” Drinkall said. “We literally try to, it's not coach talk, like we don't ever talk about, out in the future. But you're damn right, we needed to get this one. The next three are tough.”
The defense carried Central Michigan early as the offense got mired out of the gate, fumbling then going three and out three straight times.
The CMU defense forced a three and out as Akron took the ball to start, then got thrown in a lurch with a short field, after the offense coughed up a fumble.
Akron got to first and goal at the nine, ran for no gain, then CMU blew up the 2nd and goal play for a 14 yard sack. Tack on 15 yards for a personal foul and Akron punted on 4th and goal from the 38 yard after a 3rd and goal pass fell incomplete.
On Akron’s ensuing possession, a 41-yard field goal attempt for the Zips got blocked by Max Van Fleet.
“That was one of those deals where just kind of the ball, like, the ball did bounce our way,” Drinkall said. “They were at 1st and goal after that after the turnover. So that was — and part of it is our defense made it go that way. Like, it looked like they were the aggressors early on and played fast, man. It was, they were dialed in.”
Andrew Graham
Andrew Graham
Akron took a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter, and CMU in turn unleashed five straight touchdown drives to turn a close game into a laugher.
Much of the work came on the ground, as four different Chippewas scored rushing touchdowns: quarterback Angel Flores and running backs Brock Townsend, Jayden Clerveaux and Nick Woodford.
Flores led the Chippewas with 18 carries for 157 yards and the first touchdown, taking a 4th and 1 carry for a career-long 55 yard score. CMU on the season is 10-of-11 on fourth down tries and has made nine in a row.
Clerveaux added 82 yards on 12 carries plus his first touchdown in maroon and gold. Woodford’s touchdown was also his first in his career.
And the run game worked both inside and out today, as the offensive line surged and the backs ran well and the Chippewas played off defensive tendencies well, like Townsend’s touchdown on a freeze option that got him in untouched around the right edge.
“That's our identity,” Clerveaux said. “You know, we're tough, physical, relentless. Like, we're gonna give you everything from the start to the end.”
It worked well enough to finally spring the passing game on Shawn Foster’s score, a 48 yard catch and run down the middle of the field where the safeties had come down hard to guard the outside run looks from CMU.
“They have to take people from the back end and start coming downhill to support, and then when you do that, throw it over their head,” Drinkall said.
And as Foster turned to get upfield, he was surprised to not see any defenders in the 40 yards between himself and pay dirt.
“I definitely thought there was a defender there,” Foster said about turning up field and seeing open space. “Actually, I thought my teammate, Braylen Naves, was a defender. I saw he was running down the field, I was like, ‘Alright, I'm good.’”
CMU added another passing touchdown late, as Glasser flipped a screen wide to the right that Langston Lewis hustled 71 yards to the end zone for an exclamation score.
Flores finished 7-of-14 for 78 yards and a touchdown while Glasser went 1-for-3 for the 71 yard score. All told: 8-of-17 for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Nothing special, but a major improvement in just four weeks.
“Air raid,” Drinkall said, tongue-in-cheek. “Can't even, you don't even know what to do with all these passes.”
And while Akron did squeeze 10 more points out of its offense late, it came as the Central Michigan defense wreaked havoc in the backfield, pressuring Brayden Roggow, a third-string quarterback for Akron, into a harried, hectic performance.
Roggow finished 15-of-32 for 180 yards and two interceptions, plus a late touchdown to make it 41-17 in the final minute. He got sacked three times, all in the early going, as the likes of Jaxon Cherry, Van Fleet and JJ Douglas made life hell on the opposing signal caller for most of the afternoon.
“I feel like we did a pretty good job,” Douglas said post game, “containing him and having him throw the ball in ways we wanted him to throw.”
And entering a stretch of three games before an idle week on Halloween that can define its season, this Central Michigan team showed it has a higher gear it can shift into.
