Defense adjusts in second half to put away Aggies in 42-28 win
Central Michigan defensive back Kyron McKinnie-Harper watches a New Mexico State receiver Oct. 12 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
The Central Michigan defense was far from perfect in the first half against New Mexico State, but halftime adjustments helped the Chippewas lock down and hold the Aggies to a single second half touchdown.
From a defensive standpoint, the adjustment was crucial in the 42-28 victory on Oct. 12 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
With the win, CMU moves to 4-3 overall on the season while NMSU remains winless at 0-7 overall.
The game started well for the Chippewa defense: they allowed just one first down before forcing a punt after only three minutes of game time.
CMU’s offense then rattled off an efficient drive that ended with a touchdown strike from senior quarterback Quinten Dormady to sophomore wideout Kalil Pimpleton. The score gave the Chippewas a lead that would be threatened but never relinquished.
NMSU gained only six yards on its next drive, then punted. This time, it took 15 seconds for CMU to find its way back to the end zone on a 57-yard run by sophomore running back Kobe Lewis.
The Aggies’ third drive had even fewer plays than their previous possession: a fumble swung their second play from a major gain into a disappointing trot back to the sideline.
NMSU sophomore quarterback Josh Adkins completed a pass over the middle to freshman wideout Naveon Mitchell around midfield, whereupon Mitchell cut upfield after the catch to gain more yards.
He didn’t feel CMU’s Kyron McKinnie-Harper coming from behind.
The true freshman cornerback closed the distance quickly and swung his arm through as he tackled Mitchell, popping the ball free, where it was greedily gathered by senior linebacker Michael Oliver to give the Chippewas possession.
Through over eight minutes of game time, CMU’s defense had dominated.
But the rest of the half got away from the Chippewas defensively as NMSU began to pick apart the holes in the secondary.
In recent games, CMU has opted to use a 4-2-5 defense, pulling a linebacker off the field in favor of an additional defensive back.
Senior safety Da’Quaun Jamison has moved down near the line of scrimmage on the side of the field considered more of a threat on a given play. He normally aligns himself in front of the slot receiver to disrupt his route in passing situations and then covers short passes into the flat.
Jamison, in this role, had six tackles against the Aggies, including a stop on third down early in the game where he blew up the play by running over his blocker and tripping up the ballcarrier after a completed screen pass.
Due to Jamison’s presence in the flats, the cornerback on the strong side of the field bails deeper to prevent longer passes and squeezes towards the middle of the field if he sees a threat down the seam.
This coverage prevents deep balls from being completed.
However, by playing to stop the passes into the flats and discouraging the deep ball, there was room on the sidelines between 7 and 12 yards past the line of scrimmage where no one was able to recover in time to defend a good pass and sharp route.
The Aggies took advantage of that – at least three or four times throughout the rest of the second half. NMSU receivers ran downfield to the first down marker, chopped their feet and turned to haul in the pass for a fresh set of downs because the corner was too deep to break up the play in time.
“In the first half, they game-planned well for our checks,” sophomore linebacker Troy Brown said. “Everything you saw wasn’t necessarily open, it was just that they had our ‘beaters.'"
Extending its drives with these “sticks” routes, NMSU marched down the field for three touchdowns in the final eighteen minutes of the first half.
The Aggies’ ability to move the ball wasn’t surprising to CMU, but the Chippewas were frustrated by the number of broken tackles forces by NMSU.
"I felt our guys on defense, at times, were just trying to shoulder tackle rather than wrap up, which is what good teams don't do," said first-year coach Jim McElwain. "We let the guys out a couple times, which we shouldn't. We've got to get better this week at tackling."
With 1:27 to play in the first half, the Aggies had the ball at their 39-yard line. They gained 17 yards on a sideline sticks route, then got another 7 yards on a slightly shorter hitch route.
On the very next play, NMSU star running back Jason Huntley burst past the mass of linemen and shucked a tackle, then angled outside. He spun once to evade a tackle, spun again to dodge another Chippewa flying in and kept his balance on the glancing blow.
From there, Huntley outran the clutches of the defense and dove into the left corner of the end zone to make it a one-score game at 28-21, in favor of CMU, going into halftime.
“We knew coming into the game that this team could really go, that this offense could score,” Brown said. “(Our objective was) keeping the receivers on the outside and just keeping them in front of us, and then doing well tackling the ball. I felt like sometimes we got away from it. Then again, you play well enough to come out with a win.”
At halftime, defensive coordinator Robb Akey made some adjustments to his scheme to limit Huntley’s production and cut down on the easy Aggie first downs gained by throttling down into open areas on their routes.
“We came out in the second half with some coverage changes, and we rotated well,” Brown said.
The changes paid off. In the second 30 minutes of play, the Chippewa defense nearly pitched a shutout. They allowed a mere 11 yards rushing in the second half and put consistent pressure on Adkins, forcing him to flush out of the pocket and make uncomfortable throws.
The changes paid off for Brown in particular.
With a little over three minutes in the third quarter, the junior linebacker secured his first interception of the season after senior defensive tackle D’Andre Dill rushed Adkins’ pass on a throwback to a running back.
Brown spotted the running back leaking out of the backfield on a wheel route and did a masterful job of positioning himself so that regardless of whether to throw was back-shoulder or over the top, he was set to make a play on the ball.
“Big shout-out to Dill,” he said of the play, a big smile on his face. “First pick of the season; hopefully, there’s more to come.”
The Aggies’ lone touchdown of the second half came on a 34-yard connection from Adkins to junior wideout Jared Wyatt with 6:21 to play in the fourth. At that point in the game, the Chippewas had all but wrapped up a victory.
Brown was proud of his team’s second-half performance and cited the defense’s mentality as a key factor in the improvements seen on the field.
“I felt like everything was more tight and crisp, because it came down to the line where, ‘If they don’t score, that’s how we win,’” Brown said.
“We came out with that mindset and we got it done.”
