While the nation paid close attention to the Little Brother (Michigan State) – Little Sister (Michigan) grudge match in East Lansing, Saturday afternoon offered Michigan residents another traditional rivalry as Western Michigan visited Central Michigan for the 89th edition in their rivalry. WMU was no doubt still smarting from blowing a 28-14 fourth quarter lead in their 2017 duel.
The Odyssey’s Senior MAC Correspondent, Chris Roeder, was in attendance and offered the following:
Strong winds altered game plans. For example, WMU’s more-than-capable QB, Jon Wassink, attempted just one pass in the third quarter. Western did not want to deal with the teeth of a strong wind. WMU ran the ball effectively, racking up 300+ rushing yards in a convincing 35-10 win.
Central continues to have massive QB issues. The Chippewas benched Tony Poljan a month ago in favor of Tommy Lazzaro. While the wind was no doubt a factor, his throws were often of such nature that a GPS would have been useful in getting balls to their intended destination.
Poljan entered the game late in garbage time. Was this a reward or a punishment? CMU’s coach, John Bonamego, evidently wanted to prolong the agony as he curiously called timeout with 6 seconds to go in the game.
The crowd was a huge disappointment. Announced attendance was 10,000 and that crowd was reduced by at least 50% after a lighting delay (a similar delay occurred earlier in the afternoon in East Lansing). Was the small crowd a byproduct of Central’s 1-6 start? Or did the interest in the televised Michigan-MSU game keep away fans? Or is it the fact that Central’s low octane offense does not raise pulse rates?
The dismal weather, which also featured a combination of rain, sleet and snow, certainly made one wonder as to why the game’s locale was in not-so-aptly named Mt. Pleasant (The “Fire Up Chips” sign in the stadium may be a helpful suggestion as to how fans can best avoid frostbite). The weather proved a metaphor for one of the most miserable weeks in Chip history. One week earlier, CMU had a 20-7 lead in the fourth quarter against Ball State in Mt. Pleasant. A Ball State team that had won all of 4 games in 2017 and 2018. Regardless, the Chips succumbed, 24-23, on a last-minute field goal.
We guesstimate that the Chippewas will finish with a 2-10 mark. Is that record and a general lack of interest in the program enough to get 4th year coach John Bonamego fired? Given that Central did make a bowl game in each of Bonamego’s first three years and that a contract extension was inked thru 2022, our guess is “no” but he should definitely not buy new real estate in the area.
Both Central and Western’s latest coaching hires have one interesting parallel: Tim Lester, WMU’s coach, and Bonamego are alums who were quarterbacks. Perhaps the thinking, in both cases, was that their alumni status would make them less likely to jump ship in case of successful stints. Tenures of MAC coaches tend not to be long. Either they successfully (think Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, Ara Parseghian, Don James, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Gary Pinkel) get “promoted” to a Power 5 program or are canned. So, unlike Western Kentucky’s Mike Sanford, who will get fired after last night’s bizarre loss to Old Dominion, we believe Mr. Bonamego will not be shown the door in a month (But if the Odyssey can make a suggestion: Recruit a quarterback or two!!)