Those at Kelly/Shorts Stadium for Central Michigan's game against Kent State saw this university’s true colors — a suitcase college with a lackluster athletics culture and a football team going through the motions.

An hour before kickoff, whatever students who were not in East Lansing for the Michigan vs. Michigan State game went through the motions of tailgating in a sparsely populated parking lot.

The football team and coaching staff went through the motions on the field, turning the ball over four times against Kent State, missing numerous field goals and giving a generally lackluster performance that resulted in a 27-24 defeat.

On the first play of the game, the Chippewas recovered a KSU fumble in the Golden Flashes' Red Zone. But CMU's offense went three-and-out before a bad snap caused kicker Brian Eavey to miss the field goal. The Chippewas were unable to convert the turnover into points.

In the bleachers, the seemingly shrinking group of faithful CMU fans went through the motions of cheering on the Chippewas, who did not provide much to cheer about, and singing the exhausted CMU fight song.

The culture surrounding the football program can be summed up simply: It’s tired.

Gone is the excitement that was the promise of a MAC title and the excitement of a new head coach — that has all passed. The filled stadium bleachers seen during the Presbyterian, UNLV and Western Michigan games seemed like a season ago on Saturday.

The muffled, awkwardly quiet music played over the loud speakers, the little games fans play during timeouts, “T-Shirt Time.” It’s all the same old, same old. Week in and week out.

The athletics department announced 9,236 people were in attendance at Kelly/Shorts Stadium on Saturday. I have my doubts about the accuracy of that number.

This university lacks a significant number of students who truly are invested in being a CMU football fan. That’s because this university lacks an on-field football product that captivates and nurtures a fanbase.

It will always be about winning.

CMU has a terrible habit of garnering the student bodies’ excitement early in the season, then losing the big game that would have been the season’s signature win that would make the team elite. It's a terrible habit of falling into being average and spending much of the season going through the motions.

Heading into CMU’s game against Western Michigan in week five, the Chippewas’ fanbase was the most energized it had been in years. Then CMU laid an egg in front of 30,000 people on its home field against its biggest rival.

Moving forward, now is when the legacy of head coach John Bonamego will be made.

Now that the preliminary infatuation with the new coach has passed, how will he get down to the business of making people’s interest in CMU football great again? How can Bonamego and the team create a culture so students stay in Mount Pleasant even when Michigan and Michigan State are playing down the road on Halloween weekend? How can he give the program the shot it needs to pump some new energy in?

When will CMU stop going through the motions?

The answer is simple. As former Oakland Raiders Owner Al Davis once said, “Just win, baby.”