SB Nation - Dan LeFevour

If College Football Had a Playoff: #14 Central Michigan Chippewas @ #3 Cincinnati Bearcats

Jeremy Mauss — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:00:34 -0000

More photos » by Tom Uhlman - ASSOCIATED PRESS

Before we get to game the next game the previous matchup of Boise State vs. Virginia Tech came down to the end with the second upset of the playoff with Virginia Tech gathering their troops to defeat Boise State.

This last game of the first round features MAC champion Central Michigan facing off against Big East champ Cincinnati. This game will see a lot of fireworks since both teams will be looking to throw the ball a lot, and with not much defense being played a combined score above sixty should be expected. This would not be a push over win for Cincy.

Using the simulator What if Sports the projected final outcome would be 55-38 in favor of the Bearcats. Not an unexpected outcome since Cincy allows a lot of teams to score points. Both quarterbacks would have very good days but throwing for multiple scores, but the difference came down to Cincinnati being able to run the ball on the Chips.

Now it is time for the fan vote to decide who moves on, yes that is you. Check back daily at 12 PM eastern time to vote for the next matchup, and voting is only for 24 hours. As they say in Chicago vote early and vote often.

Central Michigan Stats

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
Dan LeFevour	13	103.0	285	400	71.3	3043	234.1	7.6	27	6	175	702	54	4	14	-	-
Ryan Radcliff	5	30.0	10	21	47.6	115	23	5.5	0	2	6	48	9.6	8	1	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Antonio Brown	13	40	328	25.2	8.2	2	97	1020	78.5	10.5	9
Paris Cotton	8	58	220	27.5	3.8	1	8	77	9.6	9.6	1
James Falls	0	3	13	0	4.3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dan LeFevour	13	175	702	54	4	14	1	24	1.8	24	0
Tim Phillips	4	10	57	14.3	5.7	1	3	25	6.3	8.3	0
Ryan Radcliff	5	6	48	9.6	8	1	0	0	0	0	0
Bryan Schroeder	10	87	486	48.6	5.6	5	31	270	27	8.7	3
Carl Volny	9	81	388	43.1	4.8	3	7	54	6	7.7	0

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
Bryan Anderson	13	57	700	53.8	12.3	6
David Blackburn	9	11	109	12.1	9.9	2
Antonio Brown	13	97	1020	78.5	10.5	9
Paris Cotton	8	8	77	9.6	9.6	1
Jerry Harris	2	2	13	6.5	6.5	0
Ronnie Kennedy	2	3	14	7	4.7	0
Tim Phillips	4	3	25	6.3	8.3	0
Kito Poblah	13	50	631	48.5	12.6	4
Bryan Schroeder	10	31	270	27	8.7	3
Sean Skergan	3	3	25	8.3	8.3	0
Carl Volny	9	7	54	6	7.7	0
Cody Wilson	9	20	186	20.7	9.3	2
Jeremy Wilson	1	1	10	10	10	0

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
Andrew Aguila	13	-	-	-	-	-	12	17	70.0%	52	54	100.0%	88

Cincinnati Stats

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
Chazz Anderson	3	80.0	5	6	83.3	33	11	5.5	0	0	8	27	9	3.4	0	-	-
Zach Collaros	9	113.0	93	124	75	1434	159.3	11.6	10	2	57	344	38.2	6	4	-	-
Brendon Kay	2	100.0	2	2	100	27	13.5	13.5	0	0	4	24	12	6	0	-	-
Travis Kelce	3	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	24	8	4.8	2	-	-
Tony Pike	9	93.0	184	293	62.8	2350	261.1	8	26	6	24	18	2	.800	2	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Chazz Anderson	3	8	27	9	3.4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Zach Collaros	9	57	344	38.2	6	4	0	0	0	0	0
Mardy Gilyard	12	5	16	1.3	3.2	1	80	1150	95.8	14.4	11
John Goebel	2	11	33	16.5	3	0	1	11	5.5	11	0
Quentin Hines	1	2	5	5	2.5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scott Johnson	1	2	35	35	17.5	1	0	0	0	0	0
Brendon Kay	2	4	24	12	6	0	0	0	0	0	0
Travis Kelce	3	5	24	8	4.8	2	1	3	1	3	0
Isaiah Pead	12	114	765	63.8	6.7	9	19	194	16.2	10.2	2
Tony Pike	9	24	18	2	.800	2	0	0	0	0	0
Jacob Ramsey	10	68	421	42.1	6.2	4	16	129	12.9	8.1	2
Darrin Williams	7	16	42	6	2.6	0	4	14	2	3.5	0
George Winn	1	5	12	12	2.4	0	1	19	19	19	0

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
Kazeem Alli	6	11	150	25	13.6	1
Marcus Barnett	4	10	95	23.8	9.5	1
Armon Binns	12	56	859	71.6	15.3	10
Mardy Gilyard	12	80	1150	95.8	14.4	11
John Goebel	2	1	11	5.5	11	0
Ben Guidugli	10	22	342	34.2	15.5	3
Jamar Howard	2	3	50	25	16.7	0
Charley Howard	3	2	52	17.3	26	1
Lynell Payne	1	1	8	8	8	0
Isaiah Pead	12	19	194	16.2	10.2	2
Jacob Ramsey	10	16	129	12.9	8.1	2
Adrien Robinson	6	10	174	29	17.4	1
Darrin Williams	7	4	14	2	3.5	0
George Winn	1	1	19	19	19	0
D.J. Woods	11	47	594	54	12.6	4

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
Jake Rogers	12	-	-	-	-	-	12	18	70.0%	60	62	100.0%	96

Poll

Who wins?

Central Michigan

16 votes

Cincinnati

48 votes

64 votes | Poll has closed

16 Team Playoff There is No Reasont to Not Have One

Jeremy Mauss — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:00:20 -0000

by Mark Humphrey - AP

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No one can argue that college football has the best regular season, but they also have the worst post season in all of sports - maybe for soccer but at least they settle it on the field. Time to make my case for a college football playoff and how it would look. My version would be a sixteen-team playoff that includes all conference champs with five at large spots - sorry Notre Dame unless you join a league you will need to be ranked high enough, I heard the MAC wants a 14^th team maybe you could go there win there.

This model would give each and every league a legitimate chance to play their way to a national title instead of deciding it on paper. Now realistically the champion will come from the current BCS leagues 95% of the time, but who knows what would have happened to the two Utah teams or the 2006 Boise State squad that won their BCS games with not a sniff at the national title.

Besides having four great weeks of college football there would be more competitive teams since there would be a trickle down effect of talent similar to NCAA hoops where some players rather go to a school where they can play early. Now, that will not mean the Sun Belt will start getting four and five star talent, but a talented player here or there may go to a ‘lesser' school for early playing time.

There will be those people that will say this water downs the regular season, but I disagree because like the current BCS teams must win their league to get in. Plus, with the pressure to not have to go undefeated to get to the national title game the paying season ticket holders may no longer have to suffer through playing Tennessee Tech, Liberty, or insert your directional tech FCS school, and replace them with possibly an intersection game feature two ranked teams.

BCS advocates may counter that the end of the season rivalries may not mean as much if teams have a playoff spot locked up and rest their players in that game. However, the difference between a three seed and four seed is playing the C-USA or MAC champ that if ranked would be in the 20's or playing at-large Pitt or LSU. So, yes the regular season integrity would still be intact.

As for those five at-large spots they would still primarily go to the bigger leagues with more deserving teams with an occasional second bid to the Mountain West. The first round would have some blowouts with a #1 vs. #16, #2 vs. #15, or #3 vs. #14 but this year Central Michigan would be a #14 seed and could give TCU all they could handle with Dan LeFevour and the Chips passing offense. Who would not want to see a George Mason run to the final four of a college football playoff?

The arguments that the season would be too long as the BCS reminds us that these football players are first student and athletes second (yeah right). Then why is Alabama shutting down the university for three days when the team is in Pasadena for the title game, or ask why Florida State closed school from Wednesday to Friday for Thursday night games. That argument that the players would miss too much school time is a crutch; baseball players leave nearly every Wednesday through Friday during the season to travel, and play till late June if they make it the College World Series. What about the NCAA hoops tournament where the players are missing classes from Wednesday through Friday for at least one week and sometimes two if they make it to the second round.

Last time I checked football was played on Saturday's and if a playoff games would be on a Friday and Saturday for the first two weekends. The scheduling is an issue that people complain about with too many games being played, but Texas high school football teams can play up to 16 games if they make it to the state championships. Start the college season the last week in August and it is football so people will attend and then have championship weekend end the same as it is now in the first weekend of December.

The playoffs could start the following week with higher seeds hosting the first two rounds, which is obviously a competitive advantage and rewards the higher seed which are better teams, and then the semis and finals could rotate between three bowls each year. That also would make sure games are full and give fans a chance to see their team without having travel to multiple sites like the NCAA hoops tournament.

One item that is being ignored is that the Presidents have not been presented with any type of a playoff, but instead are fed that it is not possible. However, if a chart of how much money could be made by hosting games and a television deal could change their mind. Below is what a 16 team playoff would look like. Ah very, very nice. This was set up by Yahoo's Dan Wetzel, also go check out his lengthy article on his playoff plan a must read.

Also, here on the site we will use this bracket and have a fan vote to see who advances if there was an actual college football playoff. Stayed tuned for that shortly.

A 31-45 loss to the deserving West Champs leaves the Huskies wanting more

Mike Breese — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:46:52 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Dan LeFevour. Enough said.

Browse more photos »

I'd just like to say that I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving weekend. It was pretty exhausting for myself, but it was a great time and got to see some relatives on the west coast I had not seen in a while. Although I did miss the game on Friday as I was busy traveling, I watched the replay on ESPN360.com. I had seen some negative comments on the message board, but overall I thought it was a hard-fought game against the best team in the conference on a short week on the road.

Hats off to QB Dan LeFevour, RB Bryan Schroeder and the rest of the Chippewas. The best QB in the MAC was absolutely unstoppable and is reaching the apex of his season. He could do nothing wrong passing for 255 yds and 3 TDs. The Chips ran right at the Huskies, as Schroeder powered through for 128 yds and 2 TDs on only 9 carries and caught 4 passes for 41 yds and a TD. LeFevour is a sure-fire NFL prospect and proved it today. His pocket awareness is untouchable and was a pro at running the same offense he has been running for 4 years now.

The Huskies did what they could on offense and defense, but silly mistakes put the Huskies down too much early as they tried to make a furious comeback at the end of the game. The stat of the game was 3rd down conversions. NIU was 4 of 12 (33%) whereas CMU was 12 of 18 (67%).

The ball didn't bounce the right way for the Huskies on Friday, but they put up a tremendous effort. It must have been tough facing both the East (Ohio) and West Champs in consecutive weeks. For a team that was predicted to finish in the bottom half of the West, I was impressed.

Here's a positional breakdown of what I saw against the Chips in Mt. Pleasant:

Quarterback

It's clear that Chandler Harnish was not in a groove the entire game. First of all, you could clearly tell that his knee hasn't healed completely. He didn't look confident in the pocket and didn't have full speed on his runs. Another thing that messed up the offensive rhythm is the times that DeMarcus Grady filled in at QB. It was so painstakingly obvious that he was going to run the ball. We could have been more creative putting either one of the QBs in motion and sending them out wide or in the slot. Just keep Harnish behind center, especially early in the game when you're trying to get your footing.

Chandler had trouble handling snaps from Adamski at a couple different parts of the game. Sometimes, Harnish just held on to the ball too long. This could be accredited to Harnish himself, the offensive line protection or the wide receivers not getting open. He threw two interceptions late, which again could have just been miscommunications or bad throws. Looked like he was just trying to force it too much and needs to work on feeling out the blitz.

Running Back

This game reminded me of how much I love it when Chad Spann runs the ball. He started the game because Me'co Brown was out with an ankle injury. Are we seriously going to have to kidnap Me'co Brown to get Spann more carries next season? We should nickname him Mr. September, because the smaller back seems to breakdown come the latter part of the season.

Even though Spann looked awesome running the ball, you could clearly tell that his shoulder was not 100%. He had a critical fumble and then a dropped pass late in the game. A healthy Spann doesn't make those mistakes. More awesomeness from the postgame notes:

***Chad Spann scored his 19th rushing touchdown of the season (and 20th overall) to tie the Northern Illinois single season record for rushing scores. Spann tied the record owned by Stacey Robinson (1989 and 1990) and Michael Turner (2002). He also moved up to tie Turner for second on the Huskies' list for single season touchdowns with 20, trailing only Garrett Wolfe's 21 in 2004. Spann's 120 points on the year are also tied for second in a single season.

Wide Receivers

As a whole, way, way too many drops. I'm including the TEs and RBs in the passing game. Outcome would have been a lot different had they been able to catch everything thrown to them.

Martel Moore is an absolute beast. He made 3 highlight reel catches for 61 yds and almost a 4th that got knocked down. AND HE'S ONLY A TRUE FRESHMAN! He will be a future MAC star.

Landon Cox looked worn out in this game. Maybe being the only reliable WR all season finally caught up to him. He caught a TD pass early, but later on the game he had a couple drops and left the field with an injury.

Marcus Lewis was all over the place in his last regular-season game as a Huskie. He starts off the game as the go-to guy, catching 3 passes. The end of the 1st, he goes all alligator arms and doesn't catch the pass in his vicinity. Then comes the offensive pass interference. In the 4th quarter he had a SICK crack-back block on a Harnish scramble for a first. And in the final offensive drive for the Huskies, he scores the touchdown. Crazy, crazy game for the 4th year senior.

Offensive Line

It took all season, but the lack of depth really started to show as Panan Tense made his first start of his career for Adam Kiel at RT. There was just way too much pressure on Harnish the entire game. OL has to be a major focus this offseason to improve through recruiting. Joe Pawlak is a little trigger happy.

Defensive Line

Nobody could really get any pressure on Dan LeFevour, but who really can? Got cut up in the rushing game giving up 6.3 ypc to the Chippewa rushers. CMU just ran it up the middle with Schroeder. Same with the O-Line, the depth on this side of the ball has been severely depleted especially with Brian Lawson's late season hand injury. Jake Coffman had 6 tackles and Bice finished with 3 tackles and a sack.

Linebackers

Just a whole lot of meh. The starters looked like their feet were in ice blocks. A lot of overpursuing, which gave CMU the chance to execute screen passes. The only bright spot I saw was Tyrone Clark making a couple of big hits. He also was the player that tipped the ball up so that Patrick George could return the ball for a TD late in the game. The true freshman has been making great plays all season long. Both Schiller & Hanson had 9 tackles a piece and #53 was accredited with the forced fumble.

Defensive Backs

Senior David Bryant started at FS in his last regular-season game, but the rust from being sidelined most of the season was very evident. Dan LeFevour's stiff arm of him was highlight reel stuff. He did, however recover the fumble late in the game. SS Tracy Wilson racked up his 10 tackles a game average in this one.

CB Chris Smith IS A MAN. He played out of his goddamn mind in this game. Just awesome, hard tackles the entire game long. He's the best tackling CB we've had in a long, long time. Not bad for a JUCO transfer in his first year.

One thing I didn't get was all the soft coverage by the CBs on 3rd downs. It was just ridiculous. A player only has to go so far to get a 1st down and you're backed up even further than that. Yes, Kiaree Daniels I'm looking at you. 12 of 18 on 3rd downs is just ridiculous. Tommy Davis had some trouble in the tackling department as a backup. PG didn't have a stellar game either, but did return that INT for a touchdown late.

Special Teams

F*CK RUGBY PUNTS

This is not a personnel problem, this is a coaching problem. Sure, the Mike Salerno's 9 yard punt was into the wind but seriously... Josh Wilber and his monster leg hasn't played since Akron. Talk about under-utilized.

Coaching

These Huskies never gave up, right until the bitter end. Talk about getting this team up to play when they're down 10-38. There was a distinct difference in terms of talent and personnel between both teams, but I felt that the coaches did a decent job of switching things up. An offseason favor: No more 9 yard punts.

So what's next?

We wait, and then we wait some more. The MAC Championship is this Friday and bowl invitations will be sent soon after that. Navy doesn't take on Army until December 12th, so we may not know who our opponent will be in our potential bowl game until then. So now the most important thing to do is heal the bumps and bruises, hit the recruiting trail and keep in game shape. There's a bowl game on the horizon.

Up Next: Central Michigan

BoilerTMill — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:00:14 -0000

The key to stopping Central Michigan Saturday will be containing perhaps the best player in MAC history, Dan LeFevour...

Sorry about that. I guess over the past few years I am used to seeing Central Michigan on the schedule and thinking about Dan LeFevour. In a way, it may be a good thing we missed out on a bowl game. Otherwise we would possibly see him again in Detroit. This time the men's basketball team will be facing the Chippewas. They don't have The Clippers' Chris Kaman to help them now, so we'll exact some revenge after they eliminated our women's soccer team from the NCAA tournament.

Jordan Bitzer is Central Michigan's #2 scorer at 14 points per game.

Record: 2-3

2008-09 Record: 12-19 (lost to Ball State in MAC Tourney)

Blog Representation: The Central Word (More of a message board, but still solid)

Series with Purdue: Purdue leads 5-1

I actually have a bad memory about Thanksgiving and the one loss we have had to Central in the series. It was early in my junior year and we played Central Michigan on the night before Thanksgiving break began. I attended the game, then left at halftime to get home to Kokomo because it looked like we had the game in hand. During the drive back the Chips made a furious comeback. Purdue led by one in the closing seconds and had the ball with the shot clock winding down. Central played good defense, forced a bad shot, and got a long rebound. The rebound started a 3-on-1 break the other way that led to an easy layup and a stunning 67-66 win for the Chippewas. I managed to catch this final play on TV just as I walked in the front door of my parents' house. The Chips have not visited Mackey Arena since, though we did play them at Conseco Fieldhouse in 2003. That game was a dominant 80-39 Boilermaker victory.

That game during the 2000-01 season was the harbinger of Gene Keady's downfall. Though we made the Elite 8 the season before, we would fall to the NIT that season. Keady would have just one more tournament.

This year's contest will likely fall more along the lines of that meeting in 2003. Purdue is currently ranked 6^th in the nation, while Central Michigan has beaten Ferris State and Illinois-Chicago. The three losses have come to Princeton, Fairleigh Dickenson, and Wright State.

Central Michigan is a relatively deep team. They have a nine man rotation with two players averaging in double figures. 6'1" senior guard Robbie Harmon is the team's leading scorer at 16.4 points per game. He is a legitimate deep threat who has twice had a game this season where he made six 3-pointers. He accomplished this feat against Princeton and Illinois-Chicago, so we will need to make sure he doesn't get loose on the perimeter.

Fellow guard Jordan Bitzer is also a senior and is second in scoring at 14 points per game. He is currently shooting better than 50% from beyond the arc, hitting 13 of 22 attempts through five games. 6'8" forward Chris Kellermann is also a senior and he averages 9.6 points per game. He can also step outside and hit the three, but his shooting percentage from the field is under 35%.

Junior College transfer Jalin Thomas has been a promising addition through five games. He had a season high 16 in the win over Illinois-Chicago and is averaging nine points per game. Thomas also leads the team in rebounds at 7.4 per contest. 6'9" junior forward Marko Spica is the only other player averaging over seven points per game at 7.2. He is playing after missing all of last season due to injury.

The statistics fall off quite a bit outside of these top five. William McClure, Finis Craddock, Brandon Ford, and Tyler Brown provide depth, but they don't do much scoring.

Though Central Michigan is an experienced team, turnovers can be a bit of an issue. They average more than 14 per game while only dishing out 10 assists. They are a decent rebounding team, but it is more by committee than anything. We won't be overwhelmed with their size. They prefer to play out on the perimeter with only Jalin Thomas doing a lot of work inside.

The final factor to consider is that they are struggling this year without having played anyone even close to the talent level we have. Fairleigh Dickenson beat them for their only win in six games. Wright State is probably their best opponent. The Raiders could challenge Butler in the Horizon League.

Honestly, this is a game we should have little trouble in. Central Michigan is not one of the better teams in the MAC even though they are experienced. It is a bit of a trap game falling in between Tennessee and Wake Forest, but I don't think we'll be looking ahead. Matt Painter need to say one word: Wofford, if we start to look ahead. We must see this as another chance to get our freshmen like Patrick Bade and Kelsey Barlow some experience against live competition. Purdue 77, Central Michigan 57

Northern Illinois @ Central Michigan: The Mental Edge

Mike Breese — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:15:21 -0000

So Central Michigan, you've wrapped up the MAC West title. What's up next for you?

2006 - A 7-3 CMU clinches the West with a victory over Western Michigan.

The next week: a 10-31 loss to a 5-5 Northern Illinois in Dekalb

2007 - A 6-4 CMU clinches the West with a victory over Western Michigan

The next week: a 45-48 loss to a 3-8 Eastern Michigan at home

If CMU doesn't have a title to play for, they're simply not going to show up. Look at what happened last year:

2008 - An 8-3 CMU eliminated from title contention after loss to Ball State

The next week: a 52-56 loss to a 2-9 Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti

After Ball State ripped away all their hopes and dreams, the Chippewas laid down and let Eastern Michigan roll up on them.

So what DOES Central Michigan have to play for? 10 wins. Undefeated in-conference. Senior night/LeFevour stat-padding night. Doesn't sound that exciting, because it isn't. I honestly don't think that Butch Jones has the capability to get this team ready for Friday. It's just natural instinct to play less hard now that they've already clinched. Part of the players psyche.

Plus it's Thanksgiving weekend. The players minds might be elsewhere. The stadium will be nowhere near full capacity as most students will be home.

So what does NIU have to play for?

The game last year in Dekalb went to OT where Harnish threw a pick and we lost 30-33, so there's the revenge factor.
CMU is the best team in the West and it would feel good to win the last game of the regular season, much unlike last year's fiasco against Navy.
Definitely would like to put a sour taste in the Chips mouth on senior night. Would definitely enjoy to see Dan LeFevour cry, but I think that's impossible because he's not human therefore he has no tears.
8 wins puts us in a better bowl position than 7 wins. 8 wins may even help us leapfrog Ohio into a MAC-affiliated bowl game. It sure as hell guarantees us a spot over a potentially 7-win Bowling Green. Nothing is for sure people, we're fighting to keep this season alive!

You can go on and on about stats and whatnot, but so far this season stats don't mean bull. Statistically, we should have beaten both Toledo and Ohio, but we didn't. So what do you turn to? The psychological edge that Northern Illinois has over CMU. We've both played the same terrible MAC teams and mediocre Big 10 teams, so there can't be a mountainous difference between the two squads. It's whoever gets out there, puts effort into their playing and executes will win the game.

In order to counteract that notion however, CMU has been working on their 6th sense skills:

Special powers?: Toledo coach Tim Beckman, fresh off losing, 56-28, to Central Michigan, said Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour reminded him of some of the quarterbacks he saw in the Big 12 South as Oklahoma State’s defensive coordinator like Texas’ Colt McCoy and Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford.

"They don’t just beat you with their arms or their legs, they beat you with their minds by making plays," Beckman said.

Whatever you do Huskies, just make sure you don't stare directly in to the eyes of Antonio Brown on Friday and you'll be fine...

MAC Title Still In Reach For Huskies

Jerry Burnes — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:30:33 -0000

DeMarcus Grady didn't have to do much when Chandler Harnish went out, but he posted some pretty numbers in those spots.

View full size photo »

When the 2009 season began the Northern Illinois Huskies were projected to finish third in the Mid-American-West behind Western and Central Michigan.

Now 10 games into the season the Huskies (7-3, 5-1 MAC) will be no worse than the No. 2 team in the MAC West. With a win this coming Saturday over Ohio in Athens, NIU will head into its game at Central Michigan with a trip to Detroit hanging in the balance.

The Huskies did what they needed to do these past four games with wins over Miami (OH), Akron, Eastern Michigan and Ball State. Those teams entered the Huskies' four-game stretch with a 1-25 record and enter this next week 4-37. Any losses would have been devastating for a MAC team fighting for a bowl.

But masked in the impressive season NIU is putting up is the disappointing one Western Michigan has put up. The Broncos have struggled on defense and on the offensive line. Star quarterback Tim Hiller hasn't had nearly the time to throw which was evident against NIU. Their record (5-6, 4-3) record lingers as shocking.

NIU has waded through an injury to quarterback Chandler Harnish. How? With the run game that starred in the three games Harnish did not play, but struggled some against Ball State. Redshirt junior Chad Spann has been without doubt the Most Valuable Player of the Huskies team. Spann has 16 rushing touchdowns, which is tied for fourth in the nation, and has 17 total scores. He also has 830 yards and will look to become the first Huskie under Jerry Kill to rush for 1,000 yards.

The Huskies will have their hands full with Ohio (7-3, 5-1) before heading to Central Michigan (8-2, 6-0) and All-World quarterback Dan LeFevour. The win over Ball State has all but clinched a bowl game for the second straight season. A win over Ohio makes NIU the No. 3 team in the entire MAC, that will be a bowl game.

A win over Ohio sets up a MAC West title battle with CMU, for a chance at the first MAC title since 1983. That season Bill Mallory led the Huskies to a MAC Championship and the California Bowl. NIU's last appearance in Detroit was in 2005 when Akron upset the Huskies on a last second hail mary to Domenik Hixon.

History is in the hands of the Huskies. They control their own fate. It would not be a good time to have a lapse and put the MAC title out of reach before getting a shot at LeFevour.

Poll

If NIU faces CMU for the MAC West title, can they beat the Chippewas?

No. Why? Two words: Dan LeFevour

21 votes

Yes. The team is on a roll and will continue it.

37 votes

58 votes | Poll has closed

Headlines: Eagles 31, Chippewas 10

Brian @ BCI — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:29:02 -0000

More photos » by Michael Dwyer - AP

Thomas Claiborne is very excite!! (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

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Due to a DVR malfunction (or was it a regional blackout?), Jeff didn't get to watch this week's Central Michigan game. So you are left with my thoughts on the game.

10/31/2009 - Boston College 31, Central Michigan 10 - 6-3 (3-2 ACC)

"Bend but don't break." It has been the calling card of the Frank Spaziani era at Boston College. The Eagles defense did just that in the first half and bought the offense enough time to wake up and put some scoring drives together in the second and third quarters. At halftime, it appeared that Central Michigan was going to give BC all it could handle. Chippewa Dan LeFevour finished the first half going 17-of-27 for 135 yards. The Chippewa offense crossed the 50 yard line three times in the first half only to punt the ball away shortly thereafter. It seemed like the Eagles defense ceded LeFevour some yards through the air in favor of keeping him contained in the pocket and limiting the damage LeFevour could inflict on the ground. LeFevour gained only 24 yards on 9 carries at half.

I thought the defense put in a solid performance on Saturday. Luke Kuechly continues to impress and put in another double-digit tackle day. As a unit, two statistics immediately jumped out at me during the ESPNU telecast. One was that the Eagles are 2nd in the country with the most interceptions by a defense since 2000. The Eagles have intercepted the ball 177 times, second only to Virginia Tech (185) and 5 ahead of Oklahoma. That is some fine company to be in. The other statistic is that the Eagles haven't allowed the opponent to score in the third quarter for three consecutive games going back to the NC State game. While a lineup of NC State, Notre Dame and Central Michigan isn't necessarily a murderers row, these teams have enough offensive weapons to consider this a pretty fine accomplishment. Whatever Spaz and McGovern are telling this team at halftime, it seems to be working.

On offense, it took a half of football to cure the Notre Dame hangover and really get the ball moving. Shinskie had trouble hooking up with wide open receivers on long routes early in the game, including missing a wide open Justin Jarvis, Colin Larmond Jr and Clyde Lee III. All three routes could (should?) have ended with touchdown passes. Shinskie's decision making is slowly getting better, but as Spaz likes to point out, the offense is still very much a "work in progress." Rich Gunnell had another huge day, catching 8 balls for 134 yards and a touchdown. Hopefully, Shinskie can spread the ball around more and find other receivers in the Eagles final three regular season games. No other receiver had more than 2 catches. Montel Harris responded well to the departure of Josh Haden, finishing with 136 yards and 2 touchdowns in the victory. He hit the holes well and the Bazooka formation was also effective.

Finally, from the department of overplayed story lines. While I am happy for Steve Aponavicius for breaking the BC all-time scoring record (his 267 points breaks PK Brian Lowe's career mark of 262 (1986-89), to make this the lead-in for this game recap would be missing the lead. Besides, these type of records usually always go to kickers, and as circumstances would have it with stud recruit kickers flaking or being kicked off the team, Aponavicius has had the opportunity to be the Eagles field goal kicker for the last 3 1/2 seasons. Again, congrats to Aponavicius, but the overall takeaways from this game should be the Eagles defense limiting LeFevour and the Chippewa offense to 10 points, and Shinskie, Harris and Gunnell keeping the offense humming for an impressive 31-10 victory.

The Eagles have the week off to regroup, get healthy and prepare for the final ACC push, starting with a trip to Charlottesville on November 14.

A Look At How Our Opponents Fared: Week 8

Brian @ BCI — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:53:45 -0000

More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP

North Carolina's Greg Little (8) does his best Jumpman impersonation as he dives into the end zone for a touchdown against Florida State. UNC dropped their third straight ACC game on Thursday night, losing to Florida State 30-27. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

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First, a couple of programming notes. Jeff is traveling back from Austin after completing the Livestrong Challenge today. As a result, we'll have our thoughts on the 20-16 loss to the Irish as well as our weekly blogpoll ballot up late Monday or Tuesday morning.

It wasn't a good weekend for BC's remaining 2009 opponents. Our remaining ACC opponents went a combined 0-3, including two home losses by Virginia and North Carolina. The only winner this weekend was Central Michigan, who is 5-0 in conference and continues to roll in MAC play.

Let us take a trip around the box scores of our upcoming opponents in week 8.

Central Michigan 24, Bowling Green 10. Another MAC tilt, another victory for the surging Chippewas. Quarterback Dan LeFevour completed 16-of-27 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns as well as rushing for a game-high 128 yards in the CMU victory. Antonio Brown caught both touchdown passes, while Carl Volny rushed for 74 yards on 11 carries. Central Michigan pushes its record to 7-1, 5-0 MAC and is one step closer to representing the MAC West in the MAC Championship for the third time in four seasons. Central Michigan has remaining MAC games with Toledo (2-2) and Northern Illinois (2-1) at home, and with punchless Ball State (1-3) on the road. Central Michigan travels to BC this weekend with one win over a BCS conference opponent already under their belt this year.

Georgia Tech 34, Virginia 9. The Yellow Jackets broke an 8 game losing streak in Charlottesville, defeating UVA 34-9 to keep pace in the ACC Coastal Division race. 'Hoos quarterback James Sewell threw for 168 yards on 18-of-32 passing. Vic Hall caught five of those passes for 51 yards. Virginia's only points on the day came from the leg of Robert Randolph who was good from 49, 19 and 30. On a rain soaked afternoon, the Virginia rush attack only managed 30 yards total rushing on 12 attempts. Georgia Tech dominated Virginia in time of possession too, holding onto the ball for 42:43. Virginia (3-4, 2-1 ACC) stays home this week and hosts Duke before traveling to Coral Gables to face Miami (Fla.).

Florida State 30, North Carolina 27. It was a tale of two halves for the UNC Tar Heels. North Carolina went into the locker room at halftime with a 17-6 lead. The much-maligned North Carolina offense could only manage 10 more points in the second half, and saw the defense cough up an 18-point lead late in the second half to hand Florida State it's first victory in conference play this season. The vaunted Tar Heel defense surrendered 438 total yards of offense, including a career high 395 yards passing to FSU quarterback Christian Ponder. UNC quarterback T.J. Yates threw for a mere 64 yards on 12-of-25 passing, as the Heels seem to desperately miss their standout wide receivers from a season ago. Greg Little led all North Carolina receivers with 60 yards on 6 catches. In addition, Little scored on a 5-yard run. Running back Shaun Draughn eclipsed the century mark on the ground, rushing for 126 yards on 23 carries. North Carolina (4-3, 0-3 ACC) searches for its first ACC win of the season this weekend when they travel to Lane Stadium to take on the Hokies.

Duke 17, Maryland 13. Maryland managed to hand Duke the program's first back-to-back ACC victories since the 1994 season with a 17-13 loss to the Blue Devils. Turnovers once again doomed the Terrapins as they turned the ball over twice in the game's final four minutes - on a fumbled punt return and an interception - to seal another ACC loss. Maryland ranks 117th of 120 nationally in turnover margin this season as they are already -12 in turnovers through 8 games. How did this team beat Clemson again? Maryland QB Chris Turner was 16-of-23 for 182 yards and a touchdown in the loss. The Maryland offense clearly is feeling the effects of not having Da'Rel Scott on the field, as the Terps only managed 67 yards on the ground. Davin Meggett paced the Terps in both receiving and rushing, catching 2 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown as well as rushing for 38 yards on 9 carries. Maryland (2-6, 1-3 ACC) now faces an extremely uphill battle to even make the postseason or make any noise in the Atlantic Division race. The Terps would have to win their four remaining ACC games - at NC State, Virginia Tech, at Florida State, BC - to make a bowl. Even in the remote chance this happens, Maryland would need some help (in the form of another Clemson loss) to win the ACC Atlantic Division. So in all likelihood, it looks like the Terrapins will be playing for pride and Ralph Friedgen's job the rest of the way out. Maryland has a bye week this week before finishing up their 2009 campaign with four straight ACC games.

The 11 Most Important Plays in the Big Ten So Far, Part 1

grahamfiller10 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:39:25 -0000

I guess I didn't want the first half of the Big Ten season to get lost in the upcoming scramble for BCS bowls and conference titles. So I compiled the most important plays from the Big Ten so far, plays that changed the course of seasons and made stars or goats out of 20 year old men. Here are #11 through #7...

I realize some lesser known plays would technically and logically be more "important" (for instance, Pryor getting sacked against USC late in the 4th quarter, forcing a punt instead of Buckeye points, is pretty damn important)...But I picked some plays that were a bit more highlight reel friendly. Sorry, I'm a product of the Sportscenter generation.

#11 - Eric Decker's Bloody TD Catch v. Cali

Impressive against Syracuse, it seemed Weber to Decker would be a force to be reckoned with early this year. That notion was solidified when Decker skied to pull in a touchdown and was obliterated by a Cal safety. The image of blood dripping down his face as he sat stunned on the sideline was timeless. White receivers everywhere rejoiced, knowing they could still compete on a D1 level. Not only did Decker give these poor souls hope, he instantly created a highlight to submit to the Biletnikoff Award committee.

Make sure to go back and submit your picks for Week 8 of the Obligatory Predictions Contest. Weekly winners get a chance to write 500 words on the site. NEW this year is our season long competition - win the whole damn thing and we send you something amazing.

#10 - Ray Fischer and Jeremiha Hunter Preserve Big Ten Dignity With Clutch Defensive Plays

Indiana almost began its season with a loss to FCS contestant Eastern Kentucky. In the fourth quarter, the EKU quarterback was stumbling towards the endzone to score a go-ahead touchdown. Out of nowhere, the speedy and hard nosed Fischer smacked the ball carrier, causing a fumble and ending the Colonials last threat. Phew.

Iowa almost started its season the same way. As Northern Iowa lined up for ANOTHER game-winning field goal, thousands of Iowa City citizens held there breath. Never fear, said Mr. Hunter as he pawed away the field goal. And now the Hawkeyes sit at #6 in the country. That's what I call an impact play.

#9 - Tate Forcier Beats ND, Hyperbole Machine Revs Up to Tebow-esque Heights

A 30 yard touchdown run on 4th and short, complete with Playstation juke on linebacker? Yes sir. A cold as ice game winning drive in said players third collegiate game? Check.

#8 - A Perfect Onside Kick Breaks the Natural Order of Things in Mid-Michigan

I was sitting in the West bleachers watching the CMU kicker line up his onside kick. Down 27-26, the Chippewa's would need a miraculous recovery, which is exactly what they got. I've talked to many people who were there and 90% of them swear they've never seen a better onside kick. The ball skipped low on the turf, end over end, until it hopped perfectly over the Spartan hands team into the waiting arms of a Chip. MAC POTY candidate Dan LeFevour predictably led Central into field goal range and the game winner threw the Maroon clad section into hysteria. Michigan State, the media's choice for third best Big Ten team, had picked up an early season defeat and the MAC proved dangerous for a second straight year.

#7 - Stefon Johnson Cements Another Big Game Loss For OSU

The Ohio State defense had proved up to the task, holding the physical USC run game in check and smacking Matt Barkley around. The offense and Pryor - that was another story. Either way, USC had summoned the energy to drive late on the stingy Buckeye defense. On first and goal, Johnson sprinted untouched in to the right side of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. This was the back breaker - I don't think many people believed TP (in the midst of a dastardly 11-25, 175 yard, 1 INT performance) could lead the Bucks on a comeback drive.

A Look At How Our Opponents Fared: Week 7

Brian @ BCI — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:17:06 -0000

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Touchdowns count for 6 points, not 5, buddy. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Another week, another set of games that our soon-to-be-vanquished-foes played. Last week, upcoming Eagle opponents went 2-2 on the week, with Central Michigan winning the battle of the half-decent directional Michigans and Virginia defeating Maryland in an ugly affair. The aforementioned Maryland and Notre Dame were the teams that lost last weekend, while North Carolina enjoyed the bye week and prepared for their Thursday night showdown with the Seminoles.

Let us take a trip around the box scores.

Southern Cal 34, Notre Dame 27. And yet again, the Irish go down to the wire in a game. This time, however, despite the best efforts of the refs, the Irish came up with the short end of the stick. Despite two very suspect calls on the game's final drive - a personal foul call on USC on 4th and 10 with under 0:42 seconds to play, and a roughing the pretty boy passer call on 1st and goal - the Irish couldn't tie it up in the games final seconds and lost 34-27. The Trojans built a 34-14 lead early in the fourth quarter before Jimmy Clausen led the Irish on back-to-back touchdown drives to cut the lead to 7. Clausen finished the day with 24-of-43 passing, 260 yards and two touchdowns. Golden Tate caught both Jimmy Clausen touchdown passes and tallied 8 total catches for 117 yards. Armando Allen Jr. paced the Irish rushing game with 51 yards on 12 carries. Despite the Notre Dame offense's best efforts, the Irish defense gave up over 500 yards on the day, including 380 through the air from freshman QB Matt Barkley. On the bright side, the Irish defense was able to limit Joe McKnight to only 79 yards on 19 carries. The Irish have not beaten the Trojans since 2001, a year after Notre Dame's last win over Boston College.

Central Michigan 34, Western Michigan 23. Another week, same result. The Central Michigan games week in and week out are nothing more than the Dan LeFevour show. LeFevour completed 18-of-30 passes for 2 touchdowns, and added 76 yards and a touchdown on the ground to defeat the Chippewas arch-rival Broncos 34-23. CMU running back Antonio Brown had 100 yards on only 8 carries. With the win, Central Michigan remains the only unbeaten team in the MAC West. The encouraging news from this game is that the Central Michigan defense surrendered nearly 500 yards to the Western Michigan offense, including a whopping 410 yards through the air (compared to only 87 on the ground). Hopefully Shinskie, Gunnell and Larmond Jr. can enjoy similar success through the air in two weeks time vs. the Chippewas. Because we know LeFevour is going to have some success against BC. Central Michigan next travels to Bowling Green before traveling to Chestnut Hill on Halloween.

Virginia 20, Maryland 9. Don't let this final score fool you. This was definitely the game of the weak in the ACC this past weekend. It wasn't nearly as decisive as the final score would indicate. Virginia running back Rashawn Jackson scored the game's only offensive touchdown on the day as the Virginia Cavaliers downed the Maryland Terrapins 20-9 in College Park, Maryland. Maryland built up a 6-3 halftime lead and later lead 9-3 late in the third quarter from the foot of kicker Nick Ferrera, who was good from 48, 30 and 29 yards. The 'Hoos, however, were able to capitalize on 4 Terrapin turnovers, including converting a Nate Collins interception into a 32-yard return for a score and the game-winning touchdown. Ugly quarterback lines from both starters. Maryland QB Chris Turner finished 16-of-38 for 158 yards and 2 interceptions, while Virginia signal caller James Sewell went 13-of-23 for 137 yards. Neither team was able to establish much offense on the day, with Virginia amassing a mere 201 yards of total offense on the day (and a mere 63 yards on the ground). You can surmise two possible conclusions from this game - either the Virginia and Maryland offenses are really, really bad ... or the Virginia and Maryland defenses are really, really good. We'll err on the side of the offenses being bad, and the defenses enjoying success at the expense of the opposing offense. Virginia hosts Georgia Tech this weekend, while Maryland travels to Durham to face Duke. In a game that they are currently the underdog, mind you. Yes, it's that bad these days in College Park.

North Carolina was busy regrouping from an 0-2 start in ACC play and preparing to host the Florida State Seminoles this Thursday night in a virtual bowl-elimination game.