By:  Jason Harter

Saturday October 17th, 2009 - Western Michigan vs. Central Michigan

 

Bronc's Get Chip-Clip'd

     Here we go.  Western vs. Central weekend.  The second largest inter-state rivalry in Michigan, only behind Michigan vs. Michigan St.  In the 1990’s it was enough to cause riots/extreme party’s, and cars being flipped/burned.  So obviously the police stepped up enforcement and and have kept things under control, in both Kalamazoo and Mt. Pleasant, ever since.

     Western comes into this weekend 3-3.  Central comes in 5-1.  Western has a loss to Michigan (as previously reported below) and Central has a win over Michigan St.  This is a tale of two good teams, and two great quarterbacks.  Western’s Tim Hiller and Central’s Dan LeFevour.  Both are potential NFL draft pics, with LeFevour possibly having the edge with his scrambling ability.

     Two great teams, great October weather, full house, toilet paper and paper airplanes flying, the WMU cheerleaders threw up a human pyramid just to get Waldo Stadium jacked (pictured above), let's go.

    

     Western gets the opening kickoff (pictured above), and they do a 4 and out.  Central gets the ball, moves down field close enough to muster a field goal.  At 6:59 left in the first Western’s John Potter ties it up at 3-3.  With 1:41 left Dan LeFevour drives the Chippewa’s 84 yards, to take it in himself, and score from 2 yards out, with :25 seconds left in the first quarter.  Central leads 10-3.

     The first 9:18 of the second quarter ended with both Central and Western driving for field goals.  Score Central leads 13-6.  But wait, there is still 5:42 left.  Western gets the ball and drives 50 yards in 9 plays, setting up a Tim Hiller to Juan Nunez 18 yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end-zone, along with an excessive celebration penalty (both pictured Below).  This touchdown throw also put Tim Hiller in the record books.  He is now the All-Time Western Michigan leader with 88 TD's.  With 2:33 left in the half the score is 13-13.  Not only is Western keeping pace, but they are primed to take control.

     But there is still 2:33 left in the half.  Hoping to just hold off Central for the rest of the half, the wheels came off.  Central gets the ball back and drives 51 yards in 1:51 ending with LeFevour’s pass to Bryan Schroeder from 15 yards out.  There is still 1:20 left in the second when Western gets the ball.  Tim Hiller throws his one interception, and Central punches it in again just before halftime.  This would be the turning point in the game.  Central never looked back.

Halftime:  Central Michigan leads 27-13.

 

     The second half only saw Western’s John Potter kick a 27 yard field goal, Central’s Dan Lefevour throw for 9 yards to Antonio Brown for a touchdown, and Western’s Tim Hiller throw to Trey Smith from 5 yards out for the TD.

     A good win for the Chippewa's.  But I have to believe that a lot of Bronco's are looking to travel to Mt. Pleasant next year to defeat the Chippewa's in their own house.

Final Score:  Central 34 – Western 23

Game Stats:

Passing:

W – Tim Hiller – 37/60 for 360 yards with 2 TD and 1 INT

C  -  Dan LeFevour -  18/30 for 238 yards and 2 TD

Rushing:

W – Brandon West – 20 carries for 97 yards with a long of 30

C  -  Antonio Brown – 8 carries for 100 yards with an AVG. of 12.5

Receiving:

W – Robert Arnheim – 8 receptions for 87 yards

W – Juan Nunez – 5 receptions for 47 yards and 1 TD

C  - Bryan Anderson – 7 receptions for 133 yards with a long of 65

C  - Antonio Brown – 5 receptions for 39 yards and 1 TD

Kickers:

W – John Potter – 3/4 for FG’s with a long of 38

C  - Andrew Aguila – 2/3 for FG’s with a long of 40

 

 

By:  Jason Harter

 

Saturday September 5th, 2009 - Western Michigan vs. Michigan

 

 

A Forcier To Be Robinsoned With

 

     I don't head east as often as I head north, but when I do, I am usually headed to Ann Arbor.  Having gone to bed at Sunrise, the 3:30p.m. start is a blessing.  There will be no pre game Bar-B-Que for this reporter, I have traded that for sleep. 

     Now I am one of those people that got on the get rid of Lloyd Carr bandwagon.  I felt Michigan football had reached a turning point and needed a more explosive style.  But in hind sight was getting rid of a Schembechler protige really neccessary?  I thought Rich Rodriguez was exactly what we needed to get there.  But after a year and a half I am starting to wonder, was it a good move?

     I could totally be happy, if not giddy,  with a 4 - 8 season.  But those four wins better be Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Notre Dame.  Last years 3 - 9 campaign only could muster Minnesota off of that list.  So by all measures last year was a disaster.  But to keep the Little Brown Jug is the highlight from last year for me.

     So last year there was turmoil.  Anyone that wanted to leave did.  Most notably top recruit O.J. McDuffie.  But everyone that is on this squad wants to be here.  And we have a couple of top recruits in Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson at quarterback.  Now normally when a team uses two quarterbacks regularly it means that they don't have one good one.  But there is that rare exception, think Joe Montana and Steve Young in San Francisco, that a team has two great quarterbacks and simply can't keep either one off of the field.  This looks to be the case with Forcier and Robinson.

     Forcier has the shotgun arm with some feet that can scramble.  Robinson has the explosive feet that can keep people off gaurd and get his arm into some favorable situations.  And the two play perfectly into Rich Rodriguez's main goal which is to keep the defense off balance. 

     I have been to Michigan Stadium many times before.  My father introduced me back in the early eighties and I have hated Notre Dame and Ohio State ever since.  To me Michigan Football is the more exciting than the NFL.  It will be an honor to cover this game.

     I always park in the Pioneer High School Lot (shout out to Colin and Dave, WMU roomates, Pioneer Alums, and also pictured below) which is right accross the street from Michigan Stadium.  Now there are 100,000 people here and no matter when you arrive there are hoards of people crossing the streets.  The game starts at 3:30 and I get off I-94 with 45 minutes to spare.  I have never parked in the media parking lot which is tucked in the far opposite corner of the stadium from the Pioneer Lots.

 

     Needless to say I spend 45 minutes+ trying to get to the road that the map says it's on.  Only to find that Keech is blocked off at main St. (which I am on).  I try and go all the way around the southern side only to get farther from where I think I am on the map.  There is a FOX News Jeep out of Toledo in front of me and I can only assume through his erratic behavior that he is looking for the same lot. 

     I decide to just go for what I know and park in the Pioneer Lot.  The game has just started and I can already hear the cheers.

     I walk in the Main Gate (Pictured below) and am instantly escorted by a police officer to the search table.  With only my laptop, notepad, pen, stickers, camera, and cigarettes in tow, I am quickly on my way. 

     The press box entrance has an elevator with a female officer there  as well.  She has a small 13 inch tv on the wall and can notice the ten second delay.  She is working, but she to is at the Michigan game, so it has to be one of the better parts of the job.  Now you might think a police presence is a bad thing, but it is quite the contrary.  They are not here to harass you, they are providing order and safety for the masses.  It is no small feat to block off streets, and still keep taffic moving, all while letting 1,000 people diagonally across the streat every 10 minutes, with no one getting hurt.

     Michigan Stadium is one of the few places on earth that sells popped maize (pictured below).

     Once I am up the elevator to the press box I am instantly exposed to the greatness.  The Michigan Media Hall Of Fame (pictured below).  All of the greats are there, Hayes, The Jackson 5 +1, Ufer, and Hemmingway.  I also notice that there are a few open spots.  Could it be?

         Upon entering I realize that I have an assigned seat, B-24.  There are 3 rows, A-B-C, and about 50 seats per row.  I find my seat with 8:34 left in the first qurter.  It is just like you would think.  Typewriters, sweat, hot dogs, coffee, and cigarettes.  All at about the 50 yard line.

     The cheering that I heard was from Tate Forcier's first touchdown pass to Junior Hemingway from 28 yards out.  I get to see both Michigan and Western Michigan do 4 and outs.  Then Michigan gets the ball and Denard Robinson checks in.

     His first play from scrimmage he lines up in the shotgun.  He fumbles the snap and instantly has to run.  And run he does.  He gets the ball, sprints right, gets a block, spins left, finds a small curve seem, and high tales it to the endzone from about 43 yards out.  If this is option B then we are bound for a good season.

     The second quarter saw Forcier return to march them down the field and hit Kevin Koger in the back of the endzone from 7 yards out.  After another series and Jason Olesnavage's 44 yard field goal it is now 24 to nothing.

     Again Western is forced to punt, and again Tate Forcier moves the Wolverines wherever he wants.  He hits Junior Hemmingway again from 44 yards out for their second touchdown connection of the day. 

     To be honest after Michigan's season last year I thought that Western, being a very good team, had more than a fair chance at beating Michigan for the first time ever.  But Michigan was much better than I had anticipated.  It wasn't even close.  Just when Western was marching down the field before half they had to settle for a field goal, and then proceeded to miss it.  

     HALFTIME - Michigan 31 , Western Michigan 0

     Michigan's band even won the haltime segment.  Western Michigan came out with a tear jerking rendition of "When a man loves a woman."  Then Michigan's band came out and quietly went into a 15 minute Jimmy Buffett medely.  Margarittaville->Volcano->Why don't we get drunk and screw->Cheeseburger in paradise.  Again it wasn't even close.

     From this point on Michigan just put it in cruise control while Western's only saving grace came with 10:46 left in the fourth quarter when Western's Tim Hiller hooked up with Juan Nunez from 73 yards out.  This was the last score of the game. 

     FINAL - Michigan 31, Western Michigan 7

     Here are some stats from the game:

Tate Forcier - 13/20 passing, for 179 yards, with 3 TD's, and 0 INT

                      -  11 carries, for 37 yards

Denard Robinson - 2/4 passing, for 18 yards, with 0 TD's, and 0 INT

                               -  11 carries, for 74 yards, and 1 TD

Junior Hemmingway - 5 receptions, for 103 yards, and 2 TD's

     Forcier and Robinson combined for 308 yards passing/rushing, with 4 Touchdowns.  Not a bad first game for the two young wolverines.

     Total attendance for this beautiful September day was 109,019.