A Look at the Chippewas — 8/27/2013
By SkwdCop
Posted at 2:30 pm by Skwdcop
The Chippewa of Central Michigan coming off a win against Western Kentucky in the Little Caesars Bowl look to continue their success as they roll into Ann Arbor August 31st for a match-up with the Wolverines. The CMU squad when you think of state-heavy roster is just that, and 69 of their 90-man squad hail from Michigan. A roster that last year saw their offensive tackle Eric Fisher taken as the first pick of the first round of the NFL draft. They were also a team that finished with a 7-6 record, winning four of their last five games, and during their abysmal start one of their two wins was a 32-31 victory against Iowa at Kinnick Stadium. The point is the Chips are on a roll, and I believe the Michigan fan base will never again roll their collective eyes at an opponent after Appalachageddon. This team has a lot of returning depth, and as Hoke identified in this week’s Inside Michigan Football broadcast a lot of big guys in the trenches.
2012 Season Overview
Record: 7-6, 4-4 (MAC)
Rushing Offense 72 – GM AVG 150
Passing Offense 51 – GM AVG 244.23
Total Offense 63 – GM AVG 394.77
Scoring Offense 63 – GM AVG 28.85
Rushing Defense 93 – GM AVG 192.85
Pass Efficiency Defense 79 – GM AVG 136.66
Total Defense 89 – GM AVG 433.92
Scoring Defense 94 – GM AVG 32.38
Net Punting 87 – AVG 35.60
Punt Returns 115 – AVG 2.58
Kickoff Returns 47 – AVG 22.48
Turnover Margin 50 – +.15
Pass Defense 73 – GM AVG 241.08
Passing Efficiency 50 – GM AVG 137.70
Sacks 100 – GM AVG 1.38
Tackles For Loss 119 – GM AVG 3.77
Sacks Allowed T-17 – GM AVG 1.15
Coach Dan Enos is a name we should all be familiar with as he played for the Spartans, and has spent several tours with MSU in varying rolls including stints as the Sparty QB and RB Coach. This is his first gig as a HC which he took over in 2010 and he has a 13–24 record.
CMU Spring game: Highlights
On Offense
CMU returns seven starters on the offensive side of the ball in a predominantly pro-style format. Quarterback Cody Kater a junior only played in two games last year, attempting a total of four passes and connecting on two. However, the offensive line despite the loss of Fisher has solid size and experience, all the big uglies, and their back-ups are over 300 pounds and for the most part have game reps. More importantly the offensive weapons for CMU last year are all returning. RB Zurlon Tipton amassed nearly 1,500 yards, and 19 rushing touchdowns, in which he averaged almost six yards a carry, and 113 yards per game, he also tallied one receiving TD. The entire wide-receiver and tight-end corps (Wilson, Davis, Williams, Flory, and McCord) returns and combined they racked up 2,400 yards receiving, and 18 of the Chippewa’s 23 receiving TDs. Titus Davis averaged over 70 yards a game, and accounted for nearly 50% of the receiving scores. Coach Enos has told his starting QB in the Michigan game not to “try to win the game by himself!”
Offensive Two-Deep
QB 7 Cody Kater 6-3, 220 Jr. – 3 Star
QB 2 Alex Niznak 6-3, 227 Soph. – 3 Star
RB 34 Zurlon Tipton 6-1, 219 Sr. – 2 Star
RB 44 Anthony Garland 6-1, 218 Jr. – 2 Star
FB 42 Tyler Lombardo 6-1, 248 Sr. – 2 Star
FB 49 Adam Fenton 6-2, 246 Sr. – 2 Star
WR 84 Titus Davis 6-2, 190 Jr. – 2 Star
WR 9 Andrew Flory 6-0, 182 Soph. – 2 Star
WR 25 Courtney Williams 6-1, 212 Jr. – 2 Star
WR 88 Jesse Kroll 6-3, 214 Soph. – 2 Star
WR 9 Andrew Flory 6-0, 182 Soph. – 2 Star
WR 86 Ryan Hansen 6-3, 180 Soph. – NR – Walk-on
TE 83 Ben McCord 6-4, 243 Soph. – 3 Star
TE 89 Connor Odykirk 6-3, 242 Sr. – NR
LT 73 Jake Olson 6-8, 305 Sr. – 2 Star
LT 77 Ramadan Ahmeti 6-7, 300 Soph. – 3 Star
LG 66 Andy Phillips 6-3, 306 Jr. – 2 Star
LG 60 Kevin Henry 6-4, 306 Jr. – NR
C 54 Nick Beamish 6-3, 305 Soph. – 2 Star
LG 66 Andy Phillips 6-3, 306 Jr. – 2 Star
RG 72 Cody Petit 6-3, 300 Sr. – 2 Star
63 Connor Collins 6-3, 279 RFr. – 2 Star
LG 60 Kevin Henry 6-4, 306 Jr. – NR
LT 73 Jake Olson 6-8, 305 Sr. – 2 Star
On Defense
The CMU defense also returns a large portion of its 2012 starters. The eight Chippewa veterans will probably attempt to run a form of a 4-2-5 defensive scheme though the Defensive Coordinator Joe Tumpkin is lacking a lot of skill at the end positions, and thus will probably revert to a 4-3 and rely on his proven linebacker stable. Middle linebacker Justin Cherocci returns to the defense and he accumulated 132 tackles as the lead tackler for the Chips, and will have to be an even greater presence as the leader in tackles for loss and sack leader Caesar Rodriguez has graduated (though even with Rodriguez it was not extraordinary as CMU was near the bottom in sacks, and second from the bottom in TFLs). Expect to see free safety Avery Cunningham around the box a lot in run support, and a solid performance by strong-side backer Shamari Benton who is pretty athletic and pursues well. The secondary itself are all returnees; however, their play last year was less than impressive, inconsistent, and had six less picks than Michigan did in 2012, even with a primarily veteran squad.
Defensive Two-Deep
DE 46 Blake Serpa 6-3, 250 Soph. – 2 Star
DE 56 Louis Palmer 6-2, 283 Soph. – 2 Star
NT 58 Leterrius Walton 6-5 300 Jr. – 2 Star
NT 50 Matt Losiniecki 6-3, 280 Jr. – 3 star
DT 52 Jabari Dean 6-2, 288 Soph. – 2 Star
DT 56 Louis Palmer 6-2, 283 Soph. – 2 Star
DE 31 Kenny McClendon 6-2, 250 Sr. – 2 Star
DE 32 Alex Smith 6-3, 250 Sr. – NR
SLB 26 Shamari Benton 6-0, 223 Sr. – 3 Star
SLB 43 Tim Hamilton 6-1, 233 Soph. – 2 Star
MLB 41 Justin Cherocci 6-0, 231 Jr. – NR
MLB 51 Cody Lopez 6-1, 217 Jr. – 2 Star
WLB 51 Cody Lopez 6-1, 217 Jr. – 2 Star
WLB 59 Nathan Ricketts 6-3, 221 Soph. – 3 Star
CB 14 Jason Wilson 6-0, 174 Jr. – 2 Star
CB 16 Stefon Armstead 5-10, 175 Soph. – 2 Star
FS 36 Avery Cunningham 6-0, 203, Sr. – NR
FS 38 Kavon Frazier 6-0, 213 Soph. – 2 Star
SS 18 Denzel Wimberly 5-10, 201 Soph. – 2 Star
SS 35 Brandon Greer 6-1, 203 Soph. – 2 Star
CB 29 Jarret Chapman 6-0, 194 Jr. – 2 Star
CB 6 Jordan Fields 5-11, 170 RFr. – 3 Star
The Rundown
Nothing about the Chippewa team is going to wow anyone, but the Iowa game shows if you are not prepared you can get beat in your own house by this squad, even though the Hawkeyes were in a chaotic state when they played. The reality is Michigan should control the game from start to finish; there isn’t a sneaky kick returner or anything flashy about CMU, and their QB has practically no real experience heading into this game so I expect we will see a heavy dose of CMU running. However, one thing you can count on is that in the trenches they are big, and on the offensive side the line is very well coached tying for 17th in sacks allowed in 2012. But we also know what looking past a team can do, and cause – so Hoke and company will be prepared. I expect an outcome much like the Chips visit to East Lansing where Sparty beat the central team 41-7. Michigan has played CMU three times starting in 1931, and the last time was in 2006. In those games Michigan has not dropped a contest, that record will be intact on Setember 1st, 2013.
