First matchup with Miami since 2021
Saturday, October 26 • 2 p.m. ET • Oxford, Ohio
Yager Stadium (24,000)
SATURDAY MATCHUP
Television: ESPN+ (Doug Sherman, play-by-play; Forrest Conoly, analyst; Adam Meyer, producer).
Chippewa Sports Radio Network: Adam Jaksa, play-by-play; Brock Gutierrez, color analyst; spotter: Steve Powers; host: Riley Edwards; host/engineer: Nathan Arbaugh.
Live Stats: visit https://miamiredhawks.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
CMU Social Media: Twitter (@cmu_football); Facebook (@cmufootball); Instagram (cmufootball); Website: www.cmuchippewas.com.
Coaches: Central Michigan-Jim McElwain, 6th year at CMU (32-32), 12th year overall (76-59), 39th year in coaching. Miami (OH)-Chuck Martin, 11th year at UM (59-66), 11th year overall (133-73).
Series: Central Michigan and Miami (OH) meet for the 31st time in series history. Miami leads with a 16-13-1 advantage in the series which began on Sept. 16, 1978. The two schools meet for the first time since Oct. 2, 2021. Miami has won each of the last four meetings.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN GAME NOTES
THE ESSENTIALS
Central Michigan (3-4, 1-2 MAC) plays its second straight road game when it travels to Oxford, Ohio to play Miami (OH) (3-4, 2-1 MAC) on Saturday at Yager Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. ET.
WHERE TO WATCH THE GAME
The game will be nationally streamed on ESPN+ with Doug Sherman (play-by-play) and Forest Conoly (color analyst) calling action with Adam Meyer producing.
WHERE TO LISTEN TO THE GAME
Fans can also listen to the Chippewa Sports Radio Network broadcast presented by Fabiano Brothers. Adam Jaksa (play-by-play) and former Central Michigan/NFL player and CMU Athletic Hall of Famer Brock Gutierrez (color analyst) call action on the five-station network (Mount Pleasant, Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Muskegon) and nationally on the Varsity Network app. Coverage begins with a one-hour pre-game show.
SATURDAY’S TOP STORYLINES
•Central Michigan and Miami (OH) meet for a pivotal MAC game on Saturday.
•CMU’s last four games have all been decided in the closing minutes. The Chippewas enter the contest after dropping back-to-back games by a combined six points (vs. Ohio, at EMU).
•CMU and Miami meet in football for the first time since Oct. 2, 2021. The Redhawks have won each of the last four meetings.
•McElwain is in search of his third bowl appearance and third winning season at Central Michigan in the last five full years (2019 New Mexico Bowl and 2021 Sun Bowl).
ABOUT THE CHIPPEWAS
Central Michigan (3-4, 1-2 MAC) travels to Oxford, Ohio on Saturday to face MAC rival Miami (OH) (3-4, 2-1 MAC) in the fourth and pivotal league contest for both teams. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. ET at Yager Stadium.
The Chippewas have played four consecutive close games, defeating both Ball State (37-34) and San Diego State (22-21) in the closing seconds and dropping contests to Ohio (27-25) and at Eastern Michigan (38-34). All four contests were decided by four points or less and were decided in the final minute.
On a two-game losing streak, CMU dropped a 38-34 loss at Eastern Michigan last Saturday. The Chippewas scored a touchdown and took an 18-point lead with 13:16 to play, but couldn’t hold on as Eastern Michigan scored 22 unanswered points to claim the victory. The Eagles scored the game-winning touchdown on a quarterback sneak by Cole Snyder with 1:42 to play.
CMU rushed for a season-high 285 yards (6.3 yards per carry), Marion Lukes registered his second straight 100-yard rushing game as he finished with a game-high 118 yards on 13 carries (9.1 yards per carry), quarterback Bert Emanuel, Jr. came off the bench to amass 155 total yards (63 rushing, TD and 92 passing), and starting quarterback Tyler Jefferson rushed for 79 yards on 13 carries. On defense, CMU totaled 9.0 tackles for loss and a season-high 5.0 sacks for 28 yards, Jason Williams picked up a fumble forced by Jonah Pace and ran 67 yards for a touchdown, Caleb Spann and Jordan Kwiatkowski (INT) both registered team-high 12 tackles. Placekicker Tristan Mattson led the Chippewas with 10 points and kicked two 50-yard field goals (56 and 51 yards).
Ohio handed Central Michigan a 27-25 loss on Oct. 12. The Chippewas battled back from a 24-0 halftime deficit, as they outscored Ohio 25-3 in last two quarters. Marion Lukes led the Chippewas with a career-high three rushing touchdowns, scored 20 of CMU’s 27 points, tallied a team-high 159 all-purpose yards and a season-high 110 rushing yards on 20 carries. Quarterback Tyler Jefferson came on in relief of Joe Labas and threw for 95 yards on 8-13 completions and rushed for 28 yards on 10 carries.
CMU, which committed a season-high 15 penalties in the game, had a touchdown on a punt return called back and was whistled for an illegal formation on a field goal attempt that the Chippewas blocked right before halftime. Ohio got the ball back and took advantage of a four-point swing, scoring right before halftime to make it 24-0 Bobcats.
But the Chippewas played a dominant second half and made it interesting in the last few minutes. Ohio added a field goal late in the fourth quarter to ultimately seal the win.
In both games, CMU battled back from 24-0 (Ohio) and 13-0 (at EMU) first half deficits.
Central Michigan returned 17 players who started a significant number of games in 2023, including eight players on offense and nine on defense. Several transfers were added in who play significant roles in 2024, several players return from injury, and a variety of players have improved over the offseason and are ready to contribute. The Chippewas are a year older across the board with a majority of their talent returning.
Last year, CMU narrowly missed advancing to a bowl game as it entered its season finale against No. 23 Toledo needing one more win to become bowl eligible. CMU dropped a 32-17 decision.
Combining the last three seasons (2022-24), CMU has accumulated an 12-18 record and the Chippewas are coming off back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 2010 and 2011 when they went 3-9 in consecutive years. Central Michigan is hoping to erase the memory of those two seasons that saw it finish an identical 3-5 in Mid-American Conference play.
The last two seasons were a drastic change from the course that Head Coach Jim McElwain has put the Chippewas on since his arrival in 2019. In his first year guiding the program in 2019, he took over a team that finished 1-11 and 0-8 in MAC play and led the Chippewas to one of the nation’s top turnarounds, an 8-6 record, 6-2 in the MAC with a berth in the 2019 New Mexico Bowl. After a COVID-shortened 2020 season, he led CMU to a 9-4 overall, 6-2 MAC record and berth in the 2021 Sun Bowl, where the Chippewas closed the year on a five-game win streak, including a 24-21 Sun Bowl win over Washington State.
A WIN OVER MIAMI WOULD…
•Even CMU’s record at 2-2 in MAC play.
•Give CMU a 4-4 start to a campaign and put CMU in a position to win only two more games to become bowl eligible.
•Snap a seven-game road losing streak. CMU’s last road win was at Northern Illinois on Nov. 2, 2022 (35-22).
•Snap a four-game losing streak to Miami (OH) in the series.
•Snap a two-game losing streak to Miami in games played in Oxford.
COMEBACK KIDS
Central Michigan has proved the ability to come-back-from behind and overcome deficits. In each of its last four games, the Chippewas have trailed by double-digits and have come back to either win the game or have an opportunity to win it in the end.
Here is a look at each comeback:
•CMU trailed 13-0 at EMU in the second quarter before regaining the lead in the second half.
•Against Ohio, CMU trailed 24-0 at halftime, but battled back and gave itself an opportunity to win at the end.
•Against San Diego State, CMU trailed by as many as 11 points (21-10) in the first half and 21-13 at halftime before scoring the game’s final nine points, including a game-winning 46-yard field goal with five seconds to play by Tristan Mattson to win 22-21.
•Versus Ball State, the Chippewas trailed 10-0 in the first quarter. They trailed 27-23 with 8:39 to play, came back to take the lead with a touchdown, then trailed 34-30 before Joe Labas hit Chris Parker on a 20-yard touchdown pass to win the game with 16 seconds left.
SERIES VS. MIAMI (OH)
•Central Michigan and Miami (OH) meet for the first time in three years and since Oct. 2, 2021.
•CMU and Miami (OH) meet for the 31st time since the series began in 1978.
•Miami holds a 16-13-1 all-time advantage in the series.
•In games played at Miami, the teams are tied with a 7-7 record.
HOME, SWEET, HOME
Under Head Coach Jim McElwain, Central Michigan has enjoyed a tremendous home field advantage. The Chippewas are a combined 21-9 under Coach Mac with a .700 win percentage within the confines of Kelly/Shorts Stadium since 2019.
CMU will enter its next home game vs. Bowling Green (Nov. 5) after having won three of its last four and seven of its last nine home contests.
The last time CMU completed a season with an undefeated home record was during McElwain’s first year in 2019, when the Chippewas went a perfect 6-0. The last several seasons, CMU went 1-2 in 2020, 5-1 in 2021, 2-4 in 2022, 4-1 in 2023, and now 3-1in 2024 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
Since 1950, CMU has registered 13 undefeated seasons at home: 1953 (4-0), 1954 (4-0), 1955 (4-0), 1956 (4-0), 1967 (4-0), 1970 (4-0), 1977 (5-0), 1979 (5-0), 1980 (6-0), 1994 (5-0), 1998 (5-0), 2009 (5-0), and 2019 (6-0).
MATTSON ON HOT STREAK
Senior placekicker Tristan Mattson was named the MAC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this year, the MAC announced on Monday. He also earned the honor on Sept. 30, 2024.
At Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Mattson converted two 50-yard field goals and led the Chippewas with 10 points. He converted a season-long 56-yard field goal and a 51-yarder, both in the third quarter. He has now converted 10 consecutive field goals and he improved to a spectacular 11-12 on the season. Mattson also leads CMU in scoring with 52 points and has converted 19-20 point after attempts. In addition, his 56-yard field goal was the longest by an opponent at Rynearson Stadium as the previous record was a 54-yarder by Ohio’s Mike Fultz on Oct. 31, 1987.
EASTERN MICHIGAN POST-GAME NOTES
The Central Michigan loss…
•Dropped Central Michigan to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the MAC.
•Extended CMU’s road game losing streak to seven consecutive games. CMU has lost five straight MAC road games.
•Handed CMU its second loss to EMU in its last six meetings. CMU has now defeated EMU four times in the last six meetings, nine times in the last 13 meetings and 11 times in the last 16 matchups.
•Handed CMU its second straight loss in games played at Ypsilanti. The Eagles have won four of the last five games played in Ypsilanti.
Team Notes
•For the second straight week, Central Michigan did not score in the first quarter and trailed 13-0 with under two minutes to play in the first half before battling back with two touchdowns in a 41-second span to take a 14-13 lead. But Eastern Michigan converted a field goal right before halftime to take a 16-14 lead into halftime.
•Central Michigan led by 18 points with 13:26 to play, but Eastern Michigan scored the game’s final 22 points for the victory.
•CMU rushed for a season-high 285 yards and two touchdowns and completed just five passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. The Chippewas totaled 383 yards of offense.
•Eastern Michigan registered opponent-season highs of 450 total offensive yards and 300 passing yards.
•For the second straight week, Central Michigan forced two turnovers (interception and fumble recovery).
•Central Michigan intercepted its second pass of the year when Jordan Kwiatkowski stepped in front of a pass on the first series.
•CMU scored its second defensive touchdown of the year on a 67-yard fumble return by defensive lineman Jason Williams in the second quarter.
•Central Michigan scored two touchdowns on fumble recoveries, one on offense and the other on defense. On offense, CMU’s Gavin Harris picked up a fumble and scored from two yards out in the fourth quarter. In the second quarter, defensive lineman Jason Williams scored on a 67-yard fumble return when Jonah Pace forced a fumble and Williams picked up and rambled all the way down the field. The last time CMU scored on a fumble return was when Kyle Moretti fell on a fumble in the end zone at Northern Illinois on Nov. 2, 2022.
•The turnover count was even, 2-2.
•CMU’s defense finished with 9.0 tackles for loss for 37 yards, finished with a season-high 5.0 sacks and forced two turnovers on the day.
Player Notes
•Redshirt freshman quarterback Tyler Jefferson made his first career start. He rushed for 79 yards on 13 carries (6.1 yards per carry) and completed 2-8 passes for six yards. He rushed for a career-long 32 yard run in the first quarter.
•Quarterback Bert Emanuel, Jr. totaled 155 yards of offense (92 passing, 63 rushing), rushed for 63 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown and completed 3-4 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. He threw his second touchdown of the season on a 22-yard pass to Evan Boyd in the second quarter. He ran for his 12th career rushing touchdown on a 2-yard carry in the third quarter. He exited the game in the fourth quarter with 10:57 to play.
•Running back Marion Lukes finished with his second 100-yard rushing game of the season as he finished with 118 yards rushing on 13 carries (9.1 yards per carry average). He totaled a game-high 140 all-purpose yards (118 rushing, 22 receiving) on the day. He went on the longest run of his career in the third quarter, a 66-yard scamper to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Bert Emanuel, Jr.
•Tight end Gavin Harris picked up a fumble and scored a touchdown in the third quarter. He also ran for a 13-yard carry, the first run of his career.
•Wide receiver Evan Boyd caught his second career touchdown pass on a 22-yard reception from Bert Emanuel, Jr. in the second quarter.
•Defensive back Caleb Spann made a career-high 12 tackles, a career-high eight solo tackles.
•Linebacker Jordan Kwiatkowski finished with 12 tackles, his fifth career 10-plus tackle game. He intercepted his first career pass in the first quarter and had a seven-yard return on the play. He also finished with 1.5 tackles for loss on the day.
•Linebacker Justin Whiteside registered his sixth career sack in the second quarter.
•Linebacker Dakota Cochran finished with seven tackles and a sack for two yards.
•Defensive lineman Jason Williams tied a career-high with six tackles and scored a touchdown on a 67-yard fumble return in the second quarter.
•Defensive lineman Jonah Pace finished with four tackles, tied a career-high with one sack and forced a fumble.
•Defensive lineman Jaden Davis registered his first career sack in the second quarter. He also made a career-high five tackles.
•With two quarterback hurries, defensive lineman Michael Heldman set the school record for most QB hurries in a career. He now has 16 and surpassed the previous record of 15 held by two other players—Jacques Bristol (2019-23) and Blake Serpa (2011-15). Heldman finished the day with four tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss.
•Defensive lineman Pius Odjugo had two quarterback hurries on the day.
•Placekicker Tristan Mattson converted two 50-yard field goals in the game. He converted a season-long 56-yard field goal in the third quarter and a 51-yarder in the third quarter. He has now converted 10 consecutive field goals and he improved to 11-12 on the year. In addition, his 56-yard field goal is the longest by an opponent at Rynearson Stadium. The previous record was 54 yards by Ohio’s Mike Fultz on Oct. 31, 1987.
•Tight end Rory Callahan made his first career start.
Miscellaneous
•Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan met for the 102nd time in a series which began on Nov. 1, 1902.
•Central Michigan wore all white uniforms.
•Today’s weather at kickoff at Rynearson Stadium was 66 degrees and sunny.
•The contest was televised live on ESPN+.
ROAD GAME WOES
Central Michigan will enter its upcoming contest at Miami (OH) on a seven-game road losing streak.
CMU’s last road victory was a 34-30 win at South Alabama on Sept. 23, 2023. Five of those losses were to MAC teams. The last time CMU won a MAC road game was at Northern Illinois on Nov. 2, 2022 (35-22).
The seven-game streak ranks tied for the fifth longest in school history. Here is a list of the longest road losing streaks in school history:
| No. | Streak Started | Streak Ended |
| 12 | at Toledo, Nov. 9, 2002 | at Miami, Sept. 10, 2005 |
| 10 | at Northwestern, Sept. 25, 2010 | at Akron, Oct. 29, 2011 |
| 9 | at Kentucky, Sept. 1, 2018 | at Bwl. Grn, Oct. 19, 2019 |
| 9 | at Toledo, Nov. 9, 1996 | at EMU., Oct. 10, 1998 |
| 7 | at Buffalo, Oct. 7, 2023 | current |
| 7 | at Purdue, Sept. 2, 2000 | at Buffalo, Sept. 29, 2001 |
| 6 | at NIU, Oct. 17, 1998 | at Buffalo, Oct. 9, 1999 |
| 6 | at Miami, Oct. 10, 1992 | at WMU., Oct. 9, 1993 |
JEFFERSON STARTS FIRST GAME
Lefthanded redshirt freshman Tyler Jefferson started his first career game at quarterback against Eastern Michigan. He rushed for 79 yards on 13 carries and completed 2-8 passes for six yards.
On the year, Jefferson has seen action in five games, thrown for 218 yards on 19-34 passes and rushed for 131 yards on 30 carries (4.4 average yards per carry).
CMU IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
After seven games, Central Michigan is ranked among the nation’s top-35 national leaders in seven statistical categories. The Chippewas rank:
•No. 6 in tackles per loss (8.1 per game).
•No. 10 in defensive touchdowns (1).
•No. 11 in kickoff return defense (15.5).
•No. 22 in punt returns (14.3).
•No. 23 in red zone offense (92.3).
•No. 25 in sacks (2.71 per game).
•No. 34 in rushing offense (194.4).
In addition, several individuals were ranked among the nation’s top-35 in seven different statistics:
•Donte Kent, No. 1 in punt return touchdowns (1).
•Jordan Kwiatkowski, No. 4 in tackles for loss (1.4).
•Tristan Mattson, No. 8 in field goal percentage (.917).
•Donte Kent, No. 11 in punt returns (14.3).
•Marion Lukes, No. 14 in all-purpose yards (131.0).
•Tristan Mattson, No. 23 in field goals per game (1.57).
•Dakota Cochran, Elijah Rikard, Jason Williams, No. 28 in fumbles recovered (1).