#56 Central Michigan

Mount Pleasant, MI

Kelly/Shorts Stadium

November 10, 2021

Central Michigan 54 - Kent State 30 (ESPN Recap)

After a full day of meetings in Grand Rapids, we headed north to Mt Pleasant to Fire Up Chips!

First take away is that if you're a MAC recruit deciding between Western and Central for your college football playing experience, the facilities and fan engagement do not compare and you’ve got to choose CMU.

Nice tour from New England soccer Amy who is a CMU big shot. Robert, Matt I., and I were then set up in the end zone top golf-esque bays with TVs, coolers, meal service, and the critical warm president’s lounge one floor below where the players run from the locker room to the field. Thanks to Matt I’s contact for the hook up! The student section for CMU was great and made me realize that I was too cold to notice that Western Michigan did not have any students at their game last night.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone since it’s MACtion after all, but for the second straight night, the score went high and the game was a bit whacky.

CMU fell behind 14-0 early and then lost a Water Boy accidental on-sides kick near the end of Q1. CMU defense held after the turnover and then scored 26 unanswered in Q2, eventually winning the game 54-30. I won my CMU -3 bet but lost the prop of “CMU will score in every quarter” which was unfortunate since they scored 54 points across Q2-Q4.

Staying with the same format as last night’s game, here is a list of weird plays/stats that happened in this one:

Kent St wanted NOTHING to do with Kalil Pimpleton’s return game. They gave him Devin Hester respect.

CMU missed an XP and both teams missed 2-pt conversions. Late in the game, CMU punted inside the 5 yard line and the punt brushed the shoulder of a Kent St player and was recovered by CMU on the 1-yard line (ESPN video below).

Kent St is not actually a state, as the fans of CMU pointed out with signs and various chants. Most impressive of all, Freshman Lew Nichols III was a man and workhorse. He had 43 carries for 215 and 4 TDs. Of all the college football games I have ever attended, this was the second most carries I’ve seen one back get. Add 4 receptions into the mix and he possessed the ball 47 of CMU's 80 offensive plays. That's 47 times he was tackled without fumbling or getting injured. Hope he gets some rest this week. I hope to see him again in the next season or two and see if he gets 100 touches in 3 games.

Thanks to Amy, I’ll be a Chippewas MAC supporter as long as she is there. Will line up some future MAC stadiums to be when CMU is on the road playing them.

This is a wrap for 2021 season of stadium tours. Posted a 9-spot to go from 47 to 56, which matches my total number of subscribers...