Won for the road
Mike Dzikowski
The Chippewas had not won on the road since their final game of the 1999 campaign when they defeated Ball State 27-21. But they changed that Saturday night with a 16-8 victory.
“It really helps a lot, you start to gain confidence when you go into someone’s arena and win,” said Senior Center Anders Hill.
CMU looked to have its first shutout since 1996 against Akron, but Buffalo scored with 45 seconds to go in the game to end the hope of a shutout.
Bulls quarterback Joe Freedy completed a 32-yard pass to Chad Bartoszek for the Bulls only score. The same duo connected again, this time for a two point conversion.
“It was tough but we got the win, a win is a win, we all came out and played hard,” France said.
Three Chippewa running backs gained more than 70-yards on the ground. Terrence Jackson led the offense carrying the ball 28 times for 123-yards. Robbie Mixon carried nine times for 70 yards before leaving the game in the first quarter with an injured left foot. Kenan Lawhorne ran 16 times for 72-yards until forced to leave with a strained hamstring.
“Our offensive line did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage. I thought Terrence Jackson came in and ran the ball extremely well,” DeBord said.
Mixon made an impact before leaving the game. He scored the Chippewas’ only touchdown in the first quarter on a 20-yard run, giving CMU the early 7-0 lead.
Senior kicker Paul Savich kicked well, making field goals on 44, 33 and 19 yards.
“I am disappointed that we didn’t get touchdowns and we had to kick field goals,” DeBord said.
But Jackson was the story, Playing the last two games with a dislocated left thumb.
“I have to give it to my line first, the holes were pretty big and my fullback because that hole was pretty big too,” Jackson said.
Jackson did some of it himself.
“I think the backs ran the ball hard. I thought Jackson ran the ball exceptionally hard. But our offensive line did a great job of knocking them off the ball and staying on their blocks,” DeBord said.
Jackson will have pins put into his thumb today, giving him enough time to heal with before the Chippewas host Ohio next Saturday,
“I am going to play with the pins in,” Jackson said.
“Running to the right is a problem, I am not used to holding the ball with my right (hand) and also you can’t fight off as many people,” Jackson said.
The Chippewas defense was outstanding holding Buffalo to only 236 yards of total offense.
“Our goal this week was to go out tackle and stop the run. The linebackers did a great job filling the holes and we had to cover. Our goal was to come in tackle and stop the run and I think we did that,” defensive back Tedaro France said.
Included in the 236 yards were only 42 rushing yards on 24 attempts.
“I thought our defense played exceptionally well. They held them to only 240 yards or so. It was an outstanding effort by our defense,” DeBord said.
The CMU defense had two interceptions, one by France and the other by Ed Hillery, his first career.
“That was a big play, we needed a big play and I just stepped up and made the play. I just went up and grabbed it, one handed,” France said.
Central dominated almost every offensive category.
The Chippewas had more rushing yards, 285, then the Bulls total.
The Chippewas used the running game to open up the passing attack. Derrick Vickers threw for 139 yards, completing 14-of-28.
CMU held a 35:33 to 24:27 advantage in time of possession. Buffalo had to earn every yard finding themselves in passing situations on third down. The Bulls got 10 first downs through the air; to their one on the ground.
CMU takes a week off to heal their injuries before hosting Ohio, Saturday Oct. 13.
