Football blown out by Broncos in front of more than 30,000
WMU 49, CMU 10
For the past four seasons, Cooper Rush has started at quarterback for Central Michigan during the Western Michigan vs. Central Michigan rivalry game.
Three out of those four seasons, Rush has left the field as the Broncos celebrated a victory.
The Chippewas came into Saturday’s battle for the Victory Cannon Trophy coming off of a 49-35 loss at Virginia and were hoping to get back on track by knocking off the undefeated Broncos at home.
Instead, WMU dismantled the Chippewas 49-10 — the largest margin of victory in the rivalry in over 40 years.
Rush was sacked a season-high eight times and threw an interception that was returned 85-yards for a Broncos’ touchdown, pushing their lead to 35-3 in the third quarter and sealing defeat for the Chippewas.
As Rush and his teammates left the field with another loss to their rivals, the Broncos celebrated the win by sprinting to the well-traveled student section, hoisting the trophy and singing the WMU fight song.
“It hurts, but it’s a long season,” Rush said. “That’s how college football works. You can’t hang on to that last game very long. We’ll bounce back.”
As he sat at the press conference table and answered questions about his team’s performance, head coach John Bonamego was emphatic on how disappointing the loss to WMU was for him.
“I’d rather go through eight weeks of chemo and radiation again, than to lose to that team the way we lost tonight,” Bonamego said.The Chippewas were 3-0 two weeks ago, but now find themselves in the midst of a two-game losing streak, allowing 49 points in each of the last two games.
Defensively, the Chippewas have been inconsistent, giving up a record 421 passing last week in Charlottesville and allowing 254 rushing yards against WMU.
“We have to keep everybody focused,” said senior defensive lineman Jabari Dean. “(We have) to make sure we keep our eyes forward. We can’t control what’s in the past, we can only control what’s in the future.”
The difference from the first three games to now, was clear for the three-year starting quarterback, Rush.
“We’ve hurt ourselves,” he said. “We always talk about who can beat us is ourselves. If we don’t beat ourselves, we can have a chance to win every game, but I think we’ve been doing that a little bit.”
Rush said the key to moving forward would be setting the past two weeks aside and continuing to look ahead.
“You don’t want a team from last weekend to beat you twice, basically by having them hang around and everyone feeling sorry for themselves,” he said. “We’ll come together and refocus.”
CMU will be looking at a 3-3 record if it’s not able to regroup in time before their matchup with Ball State on Oct. 8 for Homecoming.
“I’m evaluating everything,” Bonamego said. “You have to do it one game at a time. We have to regroup this week and put all our focus and energy into beating Ball State. We can’t get the last two weeks back.”
Bonamego said he hopes the 39-point loss in front of 30,411 people — the largest crowd at Kelly/Shorts Stadium since 2012 — will help refuel his team.
“Getting beat like that is motivation enough,” he said. “I can’t wait to play again. I want to get this taste out of my mouth as quickly as possible, and the only way to do that is to go out and win a football game.”
Bonamego apologized to the fans and spectators for his team's showing.
“I appreciate everyone for coming out tonight,” he said. “Don’t give up on our football team.”
