2018 Central Michigan Chippewas football team

The 2018 Central Michigan Chippewas football team represented Central Michigan University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach John Bonamego and played their home games at Kelly/Shorts Stadium as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 1–11, 0–8 in MAC play to finish in last place in the West Division.

2018 Central Michigan Chippewas football
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West Division
Record	1–11 (0–8 MAC)
Head coach	John Bonamego (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Chris Ostrowsky (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Greg Colby (4th season)
Home stadium	Kelly/Shorts Stadium
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Mid-American Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Buffalo x		7	–	1					10	–	4
Miami (OH)		6	–	2					6	–	6
Ohio		6	–	2					9	–	4
Akron		2	–	6					4	–	8
Bowling Green		2	–	6					3	–	9
Kent State		1	–	7					2	–	10
West Division
Northern Illinois x$		6	–	2					8	–	6
Western Michigan		5	–	3					7	–	6
Eastern Michigan		5	–	3					7	–	6
Toledo		5	–	3					7	–	6
Ball State		3	–	5					4	–	8
Central Michigan		0	–	8					1	–	11
Championship: Northern Illinois 30, Buffalo 29
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions

On November 23, following a loss to Toledo, head coach John Bonamego was fired.^[1] He finished at Central Michigan with a four-year record of 22–29. On December 2, the school hired Michigan wide receivers coach Jim McElwain, who previously served as head coach at Colorado State and Florida.^[2]

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Wuerffel Trophy[3]	Mitch Stanitzek	DL	SR

Preseason media poll

The MAC released their preseason media poll on July 24, 2018, with the Chippewas predicted to finish in fifth place in the West Division.^[4]

West Division
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Northern Illinois	133 (15)
2	Toledo	125 (7)
3	Western Michigan	87 (1)
4	Eastern Michigan	67
5	Central Michigan	58 (1)
6	Ball State	34

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	3:30 p.m.	at Kentucky*	Kroger Field Lexington, KY	ESPNU	L 20–35	49,138
September 8	3:00 p.m.	Kansas*	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN+	L 7–31	18,127
September 15	3:30 p.m.	at Northern Illinois	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPN+	L 16–24	12,354
September 22	3:00 p.m.	No. 13 (FCS) Maine*	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN+	W 17–5	16,474
September 29	12:00 p.m.	at No. 21 Michigan State*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	FS1	L 20–31	73,752
October 6	12:00 p.m.	Buffalo	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	CBSSN	L 24–34	14,044
October 13	3:00 p.m.	Ball State	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN3	L 23–24	10,255
October 20	3:30 p.m.	Western Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI (rivalry)	ESPN+	L 10–35	10,097
October 27	12:00 p.m.	at Akron	InfoCision Stadium Akron, OH	ESPN3	L 10–17	17,582
November 3	12:00 p.m.	at Eastern Michigan	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI (rivalry)	ESPN3	L 7–17	13,468
November 10	3:00 p.m.	Bowling Green	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN+	L 13–24	8,041
November 23	12:00 p.m.	at Toledo	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH	ESPN3	L 13–51	15,521
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[5]

Game summaries

At Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	3	17	0	0	20
Wildcats	7	14	7	7	35

See also: 2018 Kentucky Wildcats football team

Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jayhawks	0	7	14	10	31
Chippewas	0	0	7	0	7

See also: 2018 Kansas Jayhawks football team

At Northern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	0	3	7	6	16
Huskies	0	14	7	3	24

See also: 2018 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 (FCS) Black Bears	0	0	3	2	5
Chippewas	0	10	0	7	17

See also: 2018 Maine Black Bears football team

At Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	3	0	0	17	20
No. 21 Spartans	0	17	14	0	31

See also: 2018 Michigan State Spartans football team

Buffalo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	7	10	7	10	34
Chippewas	3	0	14	7	24

See also: 2018 Buffalo Bulls football team

Ball State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	7	0	17	24
Chippewas	3	17	0	3	23

See also: 2018 Ball State Cardinals football team

Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	7	14	0	14	35
Chippewas	0	0	10	0	10

See also: 2018 Western Michigan Broncos football team, Michigan MAC Trophy, and Central Michigan–Western Michigan football rivalry

At Akron

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	0	0	10	0	10
Zips	7	10	0	0	17

See also: 2018 Akron Zips football team

At Eastern Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	0	7	0	0	7
Eagles	7	0	0	10	17

See also: 2018 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team, Michigan MAC Trophy, and Central Michigan–Eastern Michigan football rivalry

Bowling Green

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	0	0	17	7	24
Chippewas	7	6	0	0	13

See also: 2018 Bowling Green Falcons football team

Toledo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	0	0	0	13	13
Rockets	14	10	13	14	51

See also: 2018 Toledo Rockets football team

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2019 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
2	39	Sean Murphy-Bunting	CB	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
6	195	Xavier Crawford	CB	Houston Texans