Notebook: WMU’s Jon Wassink finds way to win, penalties haunt Chippewas
Central Michigan wide receiver JaCorey Sullivan catches a pass from quarterback David Moore and is tackled in the red zone against Western Michigan Sept. 28 at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo.
KALAMAZOO – Central Michigan’s football players jogged off the field without speaking a word.
The hope coming into the rivalry was that the team would be carrying the Victory Cannon trophy out of Waldo Stadium and on the bus for a return trip to Mount Pleasant.
Instead, it was Western Michigan – cheering while hoisting the prize that will remain in Kalamazoo for another year.
And it wasn’t even close.
Outside of a late touchdown from the Chippewas, the Broncos were in complete control. With less than five minutes to play, Western held a 31-9 lead. In the third quarter, it was 24-0.
In the Mid-American Conference showdown, the Broncos (3-2, 1-0 MAC) earned a 31-15 victory over Central in Jim McElwain’s first signature game as coach.
McElwain took full responsibility for the loss.
"I let a lot of people down, a lot of Chippewas down, in this rivalry game and I'm very disappointed," McElwain said. "I take full responsibility."
Tim Lester, the coach on the other side of the outcome, was proud of his team for the convincing win.
“We had to match their intensity, and I thought we did,” Lester said. “We won a rivalry, are 1-0 in MAC play and have a lot to fix, which is a good thing.”
‘It was like backyard football’
Western Michigan senior quarterback Jon Wassink, taking part in his final WMU-CMU rivalry, missed a few throws. He also threw an interception. He wasn’t the best player on the field at all times.
What Wassink did, however, was control the game and run the show. When the Broncos needed him to make plays, he did just that – no mistakes in the clutch.
The same couldn’t have been said for Central Michigan junior quarterback David Moore, who had more yards and a better completion percentage than Wassink. Yet, his successes didn’t outweigh his mistakes.
“He was efficient, good enough for us to win,” Lester said of his quarterback. “He used his feet. The deep ball wasn’t his thing today. We only had 66 plays, so we had to get past them.”
The Chippewas opened the game in a cover 3 zone defense, and the Broncos were prepared for it. Four plays, 59 yards and 1:22 off the clock were all WMU needed to open the scoring, 7-0, with 11:33 left in the first quarter.
Eventually, CMU was forced to play man-to-man defense. That was part of Lester’s plan.
“Everyone is beating them over the top, so now, it was our turn,” Lester said. “It was like backyard football. Roll, throw as far as you can, and we’re going to give it a shot.”
But Wassink struggled to complete deep-ball passes, so he was forced to execute on pop, dig, flat and boot routes, along with moving the chains with his legs. Even though Wassink didn’t have his best performance, he found a way to win.
“That’s the great thing about Jon,” Lester said. “He’s got enough ability. If he’s got it all going, it’ll be a long day for you.”
Wassink was 18-of-29 through the air for 244 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also carried the ball six times for 65 yards and a score.
Lester said CMU’s defense featured 17 different coverages, which made the game like a “final exam” for Wassink.
He passed.
“We just wanted to come out and show our best,” said tight end Giovanni Ricci. “As an offense, we just kept fighting.”
Making his third career start, Moore was 33-of-48 for 330 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. One of the interceptions was caught by senior safety Justin Tranquill.
“Coaches put us in good positions, put me in a good position,” Tranquill said. “Even on that interception, that’s something (safeties coach Dontae Wright) had been hammering on all week.”
Penalties cause suffering for both
Thirty penalties for 262 yards.
When Lester met with McElwain on the field after the game, it was the first thing the coaches spoke about. Lester wasn’t pleased, neither was McElwain. Both were embarrassed, to say the least.
Lester went as far to apologize for the 15 penalties for 167 yards called on his team.
“I’m going to watch each one of them and get it fixed,” Lester told McElwain.
“Yeah, we have to do the same,” McElwain responded, as the Chippewas had 15 penalties for 95 yards.
While a majority of WMU’s penalties were dished out in the fourth quarter, that wasn’t how it occurred for the opposition. As a matter of fact, CMU had seven defensive linemen jump offsides throughout the game.
“Just dummy counts,” McElwain said. “Nothing that you didn’t do in pee-wee ball. Pretty ridiculous, to be honest with you.”
When true freshman defensive tackle Jacques Bristol was called offsides for his third time, he flopped to the ground like a fish and repeatedly slammed his right hand into the ground. He ran to the sideline and threw his helmet to the turf.
“These guys saw us jumping offsides and took advantage of it,” McElwain said.
That’s right.
From the film Lester watched on CMU leading up to the game, he said delivering on hard counts were a part of the plan. He expected to get the Chippewas jumping offsides just once, but it turned out to be seven times.
“There was video evidence of offsides,” Lester said. “We planned on going on multiple cadences a lot. We got a lot of free yards off that.”
Fourth-down mistakes diminish Chips
Four attempts on fourth down but just one conversion.
Two of those three turnovers on downs were inside the red zone before the midway point of the contest, meaning Central Michigan left key points on the board.
On fourth-and-3 from the WMU 9-yard line with 7:59 left in the first quarter, McElwain could’ve made it a 7-3 deficit with the leg of his kicker, senior Ryan Tice. Instead, sophomore backup running back Kobe Lewis took a direct snap and was dropped for no gain.
"We go and know we're going to go for it against a team on the road when we know we needed to get touchdowns, especially the way they moved it on us,” McElwain said, explaining his reasoning for the play-call.
Down 17-0 and in desperate need for points, CMU was just 15 yards away from the end zone in a fourth-and-1 situation with less than a minute to play in the first half.
Lewis earned the carry, and he was dropped for a 2-yard loss. Another turnover on downs and no points to show for the drive.
"Hindsight is pretty good, take the points," McElwain said. "Ultimately, we knew what we were going to do, and we didn't execute. We probably left nine points out there. That being said, if you can't get a yard, you don't deserve to win the game."
A reliable weapon, Tice has missed just three field goals in two seasons with the Chippewas since coming over as a transfer from Michigan. He made a 55-yard field goal last weekend.
Junior safety A.J. Thomas was in on both plays for the tackle, and senior linebacker Drake Spears assisted on the first fourth-down takedown of Lewis.
Lester was pleased with his defense’s ability to keep CMU off the board in the first half. It was Western’s first shutout in the first half since the 2018 game against the Chippewas.
The final fourth down attempt McElwain went for was on fourth-and-goal from the WMU 2. Moore was sacked for a loss of 10 yards for another turnover on downs to end the game.
“I know the game wasn’t on the line, but I wanted them in that situation,” Lester said. “I wanted them in that position.”
