Deep Inside Central Michigan

Ah, yes, it's Tuesday once again and it's time for your old pal, GMoney, to drop some MAC knowledge on all you fools. Needless to say, I'm giddy as hell after the Redhawks win over Buffalo this past Saturday. I got back to the bar from Hineygate just in time to see Drew Willy fumble away his hopes and dreams and celebrated with 2 quick shots of Goldschlager and an Irish Car Bomb...not good.



Anyway, I survived and today I've got something special for you. That's right, insider information!!! For that, I've enlisted the help of Scott Rex, assistant Sports Information Director at Central Michigan. Scott and I played high school football together and since I succeeded in not letting him get sacked too much, I figured he owed me an interview. Here we go, sit back and learn about the Chips.



1. Brian Kelly left last season to be the head cheese at Cincinnati. In response, CMU hired West Virginia WR's coach, Butch Jones, to run the show. What kind of different things are the Chips doing on offense and defense under the new regime?


The biggest difference, I think, is on offense. It is a very up-tempo style that really limits a defense's ability to substitute. The scheme is not in the same mold of the run-and-shoot Buffalo Bills of our youth, but it is a no-huddle, spread attack that often uses four or five receivers. We lost a pair of deep threats in Damien Linson and Obed Cetoute from last year's team, so there is more of a focus on the intermediate passing game and creating mismatches with our receivers. I think there is also more of a commitment to the running game this season, which may sound strange with having a player like Dan LeFevour at quarterback.

The average fan probably does not see a huge difference in our defensive scheme from the past, but our linebackers are asked to do a lot both in coverage and in putting pressure on the quarterback. Our entire defense has really struggled with injuries all season. We have had nine different players start at least one game in the secondary alone this year, and that is almost exclusively due to injuries.

The great thing about Butch is that he was here before as an assistant, so a lot of our older players were already familiar with him. He also helped recruit Dan LeFevour before going to West Virginia.

2. I would say that last year was QB Dan LeFevour's coming out party. The guy was unstoppable. But it appears, at least through the box scores, that he's had an up and down sophomore season. What has changed? Has he been dinged up at all? Also, I love the way he plays. He kind of reminds me of a Tebow-type, doesn't mind the contact QB. You are a former high school quarterbacking great, who does LeFevour remind you of?

Dan's been healthy all year. His greatest attribute is his intelligence, but even he admits that worked against him a little early in the year and he was over-thinking in some situations. He has gotten more comfortable with the offense as the year has gone on and our retooled offensive line has not allowed a sack in four games entering Tuesday night's game at Western Michigan. Of the five starters up front, by the way, two are redshirt freshmen, one is a junior in his first season as a starter, and another is a junior who started at right tackle the last two years but moved to left tackle this season.

Back to LeFevour though. He is such a methodical player that a lot of times you don't realize the type of numbers he's putting up until you look at the box score at the end of the game. He just works his way through his progressions and is willing to take a 5-yard throw underneath if that is what is there. I wouldn't say that we design a lot of runs for him, but he can pick his spots and is faster than you would expect when he's in the open field.

It's tough to compare him with any one quarterback. He is the equivalent of a basketball gym rat in that he is always studying tape and seems to be ready for anything a defense will show him on any given week. Like I said before, he is an extremely smart kid and has this calmness about him on the field that is uncanny for a sophomore. He was a running back growing up, but moved to quarterback as a high school sophomore and was a varsity backup. This really is just his fourth season as a starting quarterback, so he is still continuing to grow into the position.

3. CMU is having somewhat of a strange season. The Chips are playing great in the MAC, but when they go out of conference, it's been pretty ugly. Now, I'm not going to say that they are terrible because losing at Purdue, Clemson, and Kansas is nothing to be ashamed of. But losing 44-14 to North Dakota State at home??? Come on, explain that one. Also, being an Ohioan, Kansas is never on tv yet I keep telling everyone I know that they are for real (Why, I have no idea). Are the Fightin' Mangino's the real deal?

North Dakota State came into our place with something to prove. They are a great football team, and I would expect them to win a I-AA national title sooner rather than later. They were big up front, physical, and had excellent athletes at the skill positions.

I think Clemson is a very underrated football team. Everybody knows about the running backs, but their defense is as fast as I've seen. The gameday atmosphere there is incredible too. As for Kansas, yeah I think they are for real. Reesing does a good job of managing their offense and they can run the ball pretty well. Obviously they have the ability to throw it too, which Nebraska found out last weekend. The defense is fast and physical. Aqib Talib could play for anyone in the country. Unfortunately for him, I think he gets lost in the mix a little bit because there are still a lot of people that just don't want to believe in the Jayhawks.

4. Finally (I said this would be quick), I've been to a few football games, in my younger days, up in Mt. Pleasant but it's been awhile. One thing that always stood out was the exubernace and intensity of the students at the game. It's refreshing that at least one school in the MAC has students that care! My question is, is it still like that? And if it is, do you think any of them would transfer to Miami to wake up our students? FIRE UP CHIPS!


Our student support is the best in the MAC. Their tailgating lot opens three hours before kickoff, and they start lining up to get into the lot at least an hour before that. The student seating section is now in the south end zone (closed end of the stadium), and they always fill those sections and spill around the corners of the end zone as well. When our players take the field before the game, they run out of the locker room in the north end zone all the way to the student section in the south end to help get the students fired up. It's a pretty cool thing to see. We led the MAC in attendance last season, and our students were a big reason for that. I hope that no one here ever takes the support we get for granted, because we do have a loyal fan base both on campus and in the community and surrounding areas.



Thanks a lot for your time, Scotty, time for you to focus on beating up on those Broncos. I hope to be going to head-to-head with you over the MAC title come December.