By Neil Rosan / @neilandsports
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Whenever a school plays one of the nation’s best teams, they need to limit mistakes in order to have a chance to win.
For the Central Michigan Chippewas, it was the mistakes that cost the team a shot at upsetting the number two team in the nation during Saturday’s 30-10 loss against Michigan State.
“We battled back in the 2nd half, but we made too many mistakes down the stretch,” Central Michigan head coach John Bonamego said. “In the 4th quarter, we had too many penalties on offense and too many missed tackles on defense.”
CMU had more penalty yards than rushing yards on the afternoon. The Chippewas committed nine penalties for 70 yards, while rushing for only 55 yards on 26 attempts.
“You can’t have negative plays and penalties,” Bonamego said. “They are drive killers and they are game killers, particularly when you are playing someone as good as Michigan State.”
Mistakes were amplified given that the Spartans blocked the Chippewas’ first two field goal attempts. 
“When you are scratching and clawing to get down there and to come out empty handed is very discouraging,” Bonamego said. “We thought about running a fake on the first one, but we didn’t get the look we wanted. When it’s that early in the game, you are just looking to get the points. ”
On the defensive side of the ball, the Chippewas had a very strong first half. The united limited the Spartans to 157 total yards of offense and 17 points.
Freshman linebacker Malik Fountain had a career game leading CMU with 10 tackles.
Freshman running back Madre London struck pay dirt first with a pounding 6-yard run. A 47-yard field goal followed up by a 5-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Connor Cook to junior tight end Josiah Price gave MSU a sizable lead nearing halftime.
CMU’s offense gave the team a lifeline going into halftime, as junior quarterback Cooper Rush led the Chippewas on a 13-play, 80-yard drive. Rush found wide receiver Anthony Rice in the right side of the end zone on a 1-yard pass to make the score 17-7 going into halftime.
“It’s great to play with Cooper because you know he is going to stand in there and take the hit.” Rice said. “He really creates opportunities for the wide receivers to get open after our initial route is ran.”
Rush was 26-of-38 for 285 yards and a touchdown on the afternoon. Rice led all receivers with 78 yards on eight touches.
Central Michigan’s defense continued to keep the game close in the second half. CMU forced MSU off the field three times without any points, as kicker Brian Eavey tacked on a 42-yard field goal to make it 17-10.
“It was right there for us,” Rush said. “Not much more you can ask for than being down seven going into the 4th against the number two team in the nation.”
In the end, mistakes would end the Chippewas’ hope of pulling off an upset. Down 24-10 with eight minutes on the clock, Rush completed a 23-yard pass to Jesse Kroll who fumbled the ball, setting up the Spartans with a short field.
The running back tandem of London and Gerald Holmes would be too much as Holmes scampered 6 yards for his second touchdown of the day. London gained 73 yards on 15 carries, averaging 4.9 yards per carry.
“You can’t tell those guys apart,” Bonamego said. “They are all big, young and can run. They are kids that can move the pile. You would think you are stopping them for no-yard gain, but then they surge forward.”
CMU is now 0-3 against power-five conference teams and has lost those games by a total of 24 points. The Chippewas must now gear up for the Mid-American Conference schedule, which starts with Northern Illinois University next Saturday.
“We are sick of (being close to winning),” Rush said. “We are very excited about this challenge ahead of us against NIU. We are ready to get back on track.”
