CMU/Indiana: Kellen Lewis to start?

First of all, an update on Indiana quarterback Kellen Lewis. IU coach Bill Lynch is mum on who will start Saturday, saying as much as "I don't know." Lewis missed the last couple of weeks with a high ankle sprain, paving the way for backup Ben Chappell.

Does this matter, considering Chappell led IU over a ranked Northwestern team last week? Yes, considering Lewis, with 404 yards on 57 attempts, is the team's leading rusher despite playing in two less games than starting running back Marcus Thigpen. Any team that has to deal with junior quarterback Dan LeFevour and the CMU offense can attest to this: Dealing with a running quarterback blows open a completely different dimension to an offense. While CMU already beat a mobile quarterback in Ohio's Boo Jackson, he's not a LeFevour or a Lewis. Those guys can really scramble and open holes in the secondary - a simple scramble to the outside can cause a defender to lose his man. 

Chappell is a much better matchup for Central. He's not a dominating passer, completing just 52.2 percent of his passes, but as already mentioned, he did beat Northwestern. That counts for something.

Within the next 24 hours, my hope is to get into the whole "Purdue part deux" topic a little bit - does CMU absolutely have to win this game to earn some national respect? I'll write about that on Wednesday.