Certainly, an offense deserves credit when it scored 40 points and turns a tight game into a rout with relentless pounding and explosive plays.
Yet in the final analysis, the Central Michigan defense deserves the game ball after the Chippewas' 40-10 dismantling of Northern Illinois on Wednesday at NIU's Huskie Stadium.
"That was really the story of the game," CMU coach Jim McElwain said of his defense, which did not surrender a point until the fourth quarter and the Chippewas were up, 33-0. "Nearly pitched a shutout and played their tails off."
The Chippewas limited the Huskies to 77 rushing yards and 244 total. NIU averaged under four yards per offensive play.
And it was the defense that maintained while CMU's offense struggled to find its rhythm in the first half. The Chippewas scored on their first possession and then later added a safety for a 9-0 halftime lead.
CMU's offense ignited after halftime and it wasn't a raise-the-roof halftime speech from McElwain that lit the match.
"I tell them all the time that if they're waiting for me to give a rah-rah speech to get them ready to play then something's wrong," McElwain said. "Really it's just, 'Let's go out and do our job.'
"I felt that the defense had a lot of momentum. They kept playing and were so excited on the sideline. I felt really good where they were."
Nickelback Richard Bowens led the Chippewas with nine tackles, while middle linebacker George Douglas had eight. Safety Gage Kreski and Dishon McNary were credited with six tackles apiece. Both are career bests.
Bowens, Devonni Reed and Alonzo McCoy were each credited with a pass breakup as the Chippewas surrendered just three plays of 20 yards or more. NIU's longest play was a 31-yard touchdown pass with just 11 seconds remaining.
The Chippewa defense forced two fumbles and though it did not record a sack, it applied consistent pressure to NIU quarterback Ross Bowers, who had 139 yards on 16-of-32 passing.
CMU finished with eight tackles-for-loss and two quarterback hurries, both by defensive end Troy Hairston.
Turning Point
The Chippewas drove 94 yards in 12 plays and took more than six minutes off the clock on their opening drive of the second half. Kobe Lewis capped it with a 1-yard TD run on fourth down, extending the Chippewas' lead to 16-0.
If NIU had hung its hopes on the fact that it trailed just 9-0 at halftime, the drive and the touchdown likely put a damper on that.
"We needed that drive right after half and I think that kind of took the wind out of their sails," McElwain said.
Sweet Lew
Lew Nichols had his best game as a Chippewa, rushing for 91 yards on 12 carries and catching two passes for 59 yards. He scored on a 58-yard screen pass from Daniel Richardson and on a 36-yard run.
Both the rushing and receiving totals were career highs for the redshirt freshman from Detroit, as was his number of carries. His touchdown reception was the first of his career and it was just the second time he caught a pass in a Chippewa uniform.
In 2019, Nichols played in four games, the NCAA limit in order to preserve his redshirt. He carried 19 times for 93 yards in those four games.
"Last year was kind of a tough year," said Nichols, who starred at prep powerhouse Cass Tech. "I just kind of sat back, got a couple carries, and learned from the older guys, Kobe Lewis and Jonathan Ward. When I finally got my chance, I knew I had to seize it. I worked hard in the offseason … just went out and made it happen."
With the graduation of Ward (who is now with the Arizona Cardinals), the plan heading into 2020 was for Nichols to share the rushing load with Lewis, who finished with 59 yards on 16 carries on Wednesday.
"Sweet Lew did a good job," McElwain said. "He hit it up in there. He's a guy that we knew was obviously going to carry a big load for us this year. I think he showed some things with his speed that were really, really good. I think he's just growing into a heck of a back. He's going to be a really good player for us in this program. I'm glad he's a Chip."
Nichols spearheaded a rushing attack that produced 237 yards.
Wildcat
Nichols' TD run came out of the wildcat formation, something CMU has employed effectively in its first two games. Generally, it is Lewis or Darius Bracy taking snaps in the formation.
"Every time I get in, or every time Kobe gets in, or every time Bracy gets in, we're fresh and ready to go," Nichols said. "I think it makes us real dangerous. Every time any one of us touches the ball, we're looking to score."
A Bunch of Firsts
While Nichols' TD reception was his first as a Chippewa, he wasn't the only CMU player to break through in Wednesday's game.
Dallas Dixon's 58-yard TD reception on the game's opening drive – he made a smooth over-the-shoulder grab of a perfectly placed long ball from Richardson – was his first score in a CMU uniform.
Backup quarterback Ty Brock capped the Chippewa scoring with a 10-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. It was also the first time he had visited the end zone in a Chippewa uniform.
Both Dixon and Brock are juniors in their first year in the program. Dixon transferred from Northern Michigan, Brock from Sam Houston State.
Kicking Game
Freshman kicker Marshall Meeder booted a 40-yard field goal in the third quarter and was good on all seven of his PAT attempts.
He has made both of his field goal attempts this season, and both came at key times. His first was a 22-yarder in the fourth quarter that proved to be the game-winning points in CMU's season-opening victory last week over Ohio.
His kick on Wednesday extended CMU's lead to 19-0 and came during a 17-point Chippewa third quarter.
CMU punter Luke Elzinga averaged 34.8 yards on four punts with two of them being downed inside the NIU 20-yard line.
Much Improved
Meeder kicked off seven times for an average of 62.6 yards with one touchback.
NIU averaged 23.6 yards per kickoff return with a long of 28. Last week, Ohio averaged 34.4 yards per kickoff return against the Chippewas. Included in that total was a 93-yard return for a touchdown.
Safety
The Chippewas' first-half safety came when the NIU punter failed to handle a low snap in the second quarter with the Huskies deep in their own territory.
The ball was loose on the turf and, after a scramble involving players from both teams, eventually was batted through the end zone by an NIU player.
It was CMU's first safety since Sept. 21, 2019, when it fell at Miami (Fla.), 17-12.
Long Day
The Chippewas departed Mount Pleasant early Wednesday morning and returned home immediately after the game. It's a near six-hour drive to DeKalb, and CMU's travel plans were a departure from the norm.
In any other year, they would have left for DeKalb a day earlier, and spent the night before the game in a hotel. But with COVID-19, the decision was made to eschew the overnight stay, McElwain said.
He added that in talking with some of his colleagues, he discovered that the overnight stay brought with it risks.
"We just felt that the bubble was pretty strong for us," he said. "We broke the trip up. A lot of times when you play a night game you end up laying around in your hotel room and we just laid around on a bus and at the same time saved a bunch of money."
The Chippewas took it in stride.
"That's part of the job," Douglas said. "We've got to go places, we've got to play, we've got to be ready. It's just as simple as that. Yes, it was a challenge coming all the way to NIU, five-, six-hour drive, but the way we handled it, I believe it was the best way.
"We came here for a reason and that's what we drilled into our guys' heads. We didn't come here on bus ride for five, six hours to lose. We had to handle our business."
Next
The Chippewas will face their archrival in a game that is critical in the MAC standings. CMU and Western Michigan are both 2-0 and tied atop the West.
They meet at Kelly/Shorts Stadium on Wednesday, Nov. 18 (7 p.m.).
Western Michigan opened the season with a 58-13 drubbing of Akron. On Wednesday, the Broncos trailed Toledo by 10 points, 38-28, with under three minutes remaining and then pulled out a 41-38 win, scoring two touchdowns in the final 45 seconds.
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Chippewa Notebook: Defense 'The Story Of The Game' - Central Michigan University Chippewas
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