Central Michigan gears up as underdog in Miami Beach Bowl battle with Tulsa
John Bonamego was not about to allow this week to become anything other than a business trip.
That is not to say the second-year Central Michigan football coach is anti-fun, not in the slightest.
Bonamego is more than happy to allow his football team to take part in the entertainment and festivities that the Miami Beach Bowl have brought with it, such as Saturday?s Beach Bash that included a barbecue for both the Chippewas and Monday?s opponent in Tulsa.
There are also gentler and more giving moments like Sunday morning?s event where CMU players and cheerleaders visited Baptist Children?s Hospital in Coral Gables.
But make no mistake about the purpose of the trip - Central Michigan is in Miami to play a football game.
The Chippewas (6-6) will face Tulsa (9-3) Monday at 2:30 p.m. in the Miami Beach Bowl at Marlins Park. The game will be televised by ESPN.
?I showed them what the bus ride back to Mount Pleasant was like,? Bonamego said. ?It?s a 41-and-a-half bus ride. This is a business trip. I?ll have a backpack together with a couple comic books, four bottles of water, a sleeve of Ritz cracker, two cans of tuna fish and some apples if someone misses the point of the trip. If we feel someone is not invested, we?ll send them home.?
Central Michigan flew to Miami Thursday morning and as of Sunday afternoon, no one on the roster had received Bonamego?s offer of the bus trip.
Although the Chippewas are 12.5-point underdogs against a Golden Hurricane team equipped with a potent offense, there have been enough instances where CMU has surprised in recent years that it would be entirely unfair to call it before the two teams take the field.
?We?re going down there for a purpose and it?s not a vacation,? Bonamego stated.
Central Michigan has lost four of its last five games to limp into the Miami Beach Bowl, while Tulsa has won five of its last six games and scored at least 35 points in all of them.
The Chippewas offense will be led by four-year starting quarterback Cooper Rush, who will be aiming to break the Mid-American Conference?s all-time record for career passing yards held by former Chippewa Dan LeFevour (12,905). Rush enters with 12,643 and needs 263 yards to break the mark.
Rush?s top target in the passing game has been junior Corey Willis, who has hauled in 69 catches for 1,028 yards and nine touchdowns. Junior wideout Mark Chapman has 40 receptions for 563 yards and four scores, while junior tight end Tyler Conklin has made 40 catches for 539 yards and six TDs.
Junior Devon Spalding paces the CMU run game with 131 carries for 737 yards and six touchdowns. Jahray Hayes has 140 carries for 468 yards and eight TDs, while true freshman Jonathan Ward (33 carries, 186 yards, two TDs) is back to full strength after missing time with a knee injury.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Malik Fountain has provided strong play all season for the Chippewas. He enters Monday?s game with 84 tackles including 10 for a loss, recording one interception and one forced fumble.
All-MAC first team junior cornerback Amari Coleman will miss the game, providing a major vacancy in the secondary against a powerful Tulsa passing attack.
?We?re healthier than we were a few weeks ago,? Bonamego said. ?We?re still pretty beat up. We?ve had somewhere around 16 season-ending surgeries. So we?ve had more than our fair share. And they?ve all been freak injuries. We had only one injury that would fall into a soft tissue category. So it?s not about guys not being well-conditioned. We?ve just had some bad luck.?
?The good thing about that is you are forced to play some younger guys and get them experience. The downside to that is that any time you play a younger player, there is going to be an adjustment period. They?re a little bit more prone to mistakes, but that is how they learn. The game experience should serve those guys well.?
Central Michigan is 3-6 all-time in bowl games, falling 21-14 to Minnesota last year in the Quick Lane Bowl. The Chippewas are 1-1 all-time versus Tulsa, the meetings coming in 1986 and 1987.
