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Location: Mount Pleasant, Michigan
Game Date: Thursday, Sept. 1@ 7:00 PM ET
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The Matchup: Central Michigan vs. South Carolina State
A CMU Win Over South Carolina State Would …
… be the Chippewas’ fifth straight win in a home opener.
… mark CMU’s third win in a season opener in the last four seasons.
… make the Chippewas’ 2-0 all-time against current members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
The Series
• Thursday’s game marks the first meeting between CMU and South Carolina State.
• The Chippewas have played just one other game in their history against a team from the state of South Carolina, a loss at Clemson in 2007.
The Friendly Confines of Kelly/Shorts Stadium
• Since Kelly/Shorts Stadium began hosting CMU football games in 1972, the Chippewas have posted a 144-58-4 record (.709 winning percentage) at home.
• The Chippewas are 18-7 at home since the start of the 2006 season.
Youth Movement
Of the 52 players listed on CMU’s offensive and defensive depth charts for the season opener, 27 are either freshmen or sophomores, including 17 who have yet to see the first game action of their collegiate careers. The Chippewas’ roster includes 69 players who are freshmen or sophomores.
Chippewas Partner with Army National Guard and Wounded Warrior Project
CMU will honor the 125th Infantry and 126th Calvary of the Michigan Army National Guard throughout the 2011 football season. The Chippewas will wear a special helmet sticker displaying the seals of the unit, and CMU will carry the unit’s flag onto the field prior to every home game this season. Members of the 125th and 126th, who are scheduled for deployment to Afghanistan later this fall, will be recognized on the field during Thursday’s game. CMU also has partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project and will honor Sgt. Thomas Pierce and retired Sgt. Douglas Szczepanski for their service during the game.
Student-Athlete Recognitions Planned for Thursday Night
The CMU athletics department will highlight the accomplishments of its student-athletes from the past academic year during the second quarter of Thursday’s game. Special recognitions are planned for first-year letterwinners who are receiving their CMU varsity jackets, student-athletes who were named to All-MAC or Academic All-MAC teams and the CMU teams that won conference championships during the 2010-11 school year.
Fritz Simons Selected Honorary Captain
The CMU football program is hosting former lettermen as honorary captains for each game this season. This week’s honorary captain is Fritz Simons, a two-year letterman as an offensive lineman in 1969 and 1970. Simons was a part of Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship teams as a freshman and sophomore, and he helped lead the Chippewas to a 7-3 record while playing an independent schedule in 1970.
Milestone Markers
• Ryan Radcliff needs 227 passing yards to move into eighth on CMU’s career passing yardage list.
• Ryan Radcliff needs 10 pass attempts to move into ninth on CMU’s career attempts list and 13 attempts to reach 500 career attempts.
• Ryan Radcliff needs 8 completions to reach 300 career completions and 28 completions to move into seventh on CMU’s career completions list.
• Cody Wilson needs 5 receptions to move into 10th on CMU’s career receptions list.
• Ryan Radcliff needs 3 touchdown passes to move into ninth on CMU’s career touchdown passes list.
CMU Head Coach Dan Enos
Enos Enters Second Season as CMU Head Coach
• Dan Enos is the 26th head coach in CMU history and the ninth since the start of the 1950 season. • The Chippewas’ 33-0 win over Hampton made Enos the first Chippewa head coach since Herb Deromedi to win his debut. Deromedi, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, defeated Kent State, 41-0, in his debut in 1978.
• Enos guided the Chippewas to wins over in-state rivals Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan in 2010, victories that left CMU in possession of both the Victory Cannon and the Michigan MAC Trophy.
• Enos is one of eight Mid-American Conference head coaches in either his first or second season at his current school. Eleven of the MAC’s 13 head coaches have been at their current school three seasons or fewer.
• In 2011, Enos is reunited with Morris Watts, who was the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Michigan State during Enos’s playing career (1987-90). Watts is in his first season as the passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach at CMU.
Central Michigan News and Notes
Four Chippewas Named Captains
Senior linebacker Mike Petrucci, senior nose guard John Williams, junior quarterback Ryan Radcliff and junior receiver Cody Wilson were named captains for the 2010 season by a vote of their teammates following preseason camp. Each of the four is serving as a captain for the first time in his career.
Experience Up Front
CMU’s projected starting five offensive linemen include a senior and four juniors who have combined for 69 career starts. Entering the 2011 season, the unit is tied for the 18th most combined starts of any offensive line in the country.
CMU Schedule Notables
CMU will play one of the most unique schedules in the history of its program in 2011:
• CMU opens Mid-American Conference play at Western Michigan on Sept. 17, the first time since 1996 the Chippewas have opened MAC play against the rival Broncos. It is the earliest calendar date for a CMU-WMU matchup since Sept. 8, 1979.
• CMU is the only team in the country with two three-game road trips on its 2011 schedule.
• CMU is one of just four teams (Colorado, Tulane, UAB) in the country scheduled to play its 12 regular-season games in 12 consecutive weeks.
• Six opponents on the 2011 schedule played in bowl games following the 2010 season, and a seventh—South Carolina State—competed in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
Coaching Staff Features Fresh Faces
CMU’s coaching staff includes three new members in 2011. Morris Watts joins the CMU staff as the passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach, Vinson Reynolds is the Chippewas’ new defensive line coach and Taylor Stubblefield will coach CMU’s receivers.
• Watts was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Michigan State during CMU head coach Dan Enos’s playing career (1987-90). The 2011 season is his 48th overall in coaching (38 years at the college level, three at the professional level and six at the high school level). Penn State’s Joe Paterno and USC’s Monte Kiffin are the only active FBS coaches with more college and pro experience than Watts.
• Reynolds was a four-year letterman (2000-03) and All-MAC first team defensive end as a player at Northern Illinois.
• Stubblefield was a consensus All-American in 2004 at Purdue and finished his career with an NCAA-record 325 receptions.
Chippewas Hold Two Traveling Trophies
CMU opens the 2011 season in possession of a pair of traveling trophies: the Victory Cannon, awarded each year to the winner of the Central Michigan-Western Michigan rivalry game, and the Michigan MAC Trophy, presented annually to the winner of the round-robin competition between Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan. CMU defeated Eastern Michigan, 52-14, and Western Michigan, 26-22, last season to claim the two trophies.
Wilson Named to Biletnikoff Watch List
Junior receiver Cody Wilson is a member of the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, presented to the nation’s top receiver. Wilson was named CMU’s Most Valuable Player in 2010 after catching 83 passes for 1,137 yards and five touchdowns. He ranked eighth nationally in receiving yards (94.8 ypg), 11th in receptions (6.9 rpg) and 13th in total receiving yards (1,137) and posted six 100-yard receiving games in 2010.
Radcliff Ranks Among Nation’s Leaders
Quarterback Ryan Radcliff ranked in the top-15 nationally in passing yards and completions in 2010, and he posted three of his best performances during the season’s final month. Over the season’s final three games, Radcliff completed 87-of-133 passes (65.4 percent) for 1,016 yards and five touchdowns. He threw for 295 or more yards in seven of the Chippewas’ 12 games in 2010, ranked 12th nationally in both passing yards (279.8 ypg) and completions (23.5 per game) and was 15th nationally in total passing yards (3,358).
Staten Receives Wilma Rudolph Award
Senior linebacker Armond Staten was one of six student-athletes nationwide to receive the Wilma Rudolph Award in 2011. Presented by the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics, the Wilma Rudolph Award honors student-athletes who have overcome great personal, academic, and/or emotional odds to achieve academic success while participating in intercollegiate athletics. Staten spent most of his childhood in foster care and group homes in Detroit and did not begin playing football until he was a sophomore at Inkster High School. Among the other award recipients was CMU track and field athlete Whitney Johnson; they are the first CMU student-athletes to receive the award, and CMU is just the third institution in the award’s 21-year history to have multiple winners in the same year.
Wilson Nominated for AFCA Good Works Team
Cody Wilson is one of 132 nominees nationwide from all divisions of college football nominated for the AFCA Good Works Team, which recognizes student-athletes who are actively involved and committed to working with a charitable organization, service group or community service while maintaining good academic standing. Wilson is a marketing major with a 3.47 grade-point average who was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV first team and was an Academic All-MAC selection in 2010. He is a member of CMU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a group that serves as a liaison between student-athletes and the athletics department and coordinates community outreach programs throughout the academic year. Along with collaborating with his teammates on several community service initiatives, Wilson has spent the past two spring breaks volunteering at various locations through mission trips organized by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
| Courtesy: CMU Athletic Communications | |
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