CMU/Indiana: The Day After

The trip from Mount Pleasant to Bloomington is longer than it seems. We took a four-person car down to the game on Saturday, starting at 5 a.m. - bright and early - and we did not get back home until about 11 p.m. I told my roommate, once I got home, that I was going to take about a half hour to shut my eyes for a little bit. Next thing I know, my clock reads 8:30 a.m.

Okay, so it was actually 7:30 a.m. because of the time change, but that's still a long nap! It was a long day indeed, and for CMU, a fulfilling one. The Chippewas finally beat a Big Ten team, and really, it came two months too late. Flashback to Sept. 20. As you probably know, they led Purdue 25-23 with 1:18 to go in that game, only to lose on one long kickoff return and one long touchdown run by Kory Sheets.

CMU wasn't about to let that happen again. The defense played phenomenally in the fourth quarter on Saturday. Out the door were the three- and four-man rushes that were putting little pressure on IU quarterbacks Kellen Lewis and Ben Chappell, and in were the blitz calls which kept Chappell running and making poor decisions. One was defensive back Kirkston Edwards' interception.

Despite Indiana's 272-yard rushing performance, that was the main difference in the game: Line play. It almost always comes down to that. This time, it did in the fourth quarter. Once guys at the line started tackling the running backs better, that meant IU had to throw the ball. And once guys like defensive end Mark Dietz (three sacks) started getting to Chappell and Lewis and forcing them to run out of the pocket, that set the Hoosiers off balance, especially when they had Chappell in the game.

As for the offense, everything that could be said about senior quarterback Brian Brunner was. He was about as good as you can get for a backup quarterback (and was nominated for AT&T All-America Player of the Week). But the real question heading into this week is the running game. Senior Ontario Sneed and freshman Bryan Schroeder virtually had no holes to run through on Saturday and could not seem to get going. The Chippewas actually had negative yardage on the ground heading into the fourth quarter of play. It has been a Jekyll-and-Hyde act all season at this position. This time, though, they're thankful to have Brunner around.

Later tonight or tomorrow, I hope to put the MAC in perspective a little bit since the season, believe it or not, is coming down to its final stretch. There's three games left for most teams and things still are wide open in both the East and West divisions! I hope you all had a good weekend, and make sure to vote in the above poll, if you haven't already.

(And, of course, in Tuesday's election. That's pretty important, too.)