2019 Central Michigan Chippewas football team

The 2019 Central Michigan Chippewas football team represented Central Michigan University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Jim McElwain and played their home games at Kelly/Shorts Stadium as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference.

2019 Central Michigan Chippewas football
MAC West Division champion
MAC Championship Game, L 21–26 vs. Miami (OH)
New Mexico Bowl, L 11–48 vs. San Diego State
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West Division
Record	8–6 (6–2 MAC)
Head coach	Jim McElwain (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Charlie Frye (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Robb Akey (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Kelly/Shorts Stadium
Uniform
Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

2019 Mid-American Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Miami (OH) x$		6	–	2					8	–	6
Ohio		5	–	3					7	–	6
Buffalo		5	–	3					8	–	5
Kent State		5	–	3					7	–	6
Bowling Green		2	–	6					3	–	9
Akron		0	–	8					0	–	12
West Division
Central Michigan x		6	–	2					8	–	6
Western Michigan		5	–	3					7	–	6
Ball State		4	–	4					5	–	7
Northern Illinois		4	–	4					5	–	7
Toledo		3	–	5					6	–	6
Eastern Michigan		3	–	5					6	–	7
Championship: Miami 26, Central Michigan 21
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions

Offseason

Coaching changes

The 2018 team finished the season going 1–11, the worst season in program history; head coach John Bonamego was fired on November 23 following the team's regular season finale.^[1] On December 2, the university announced that Michigan wide receivers coach Jim McElwain had been hired as the program's 29th head coach.^[2][3] Prior to his time at Michigan, McElwain also served as the head coach for Colorado State and Florida.

Preseason

MAC media poll

The MAC released their preseason media poll on July 23, 2019, with the Chippewas predicted to finish in sixth place in the West Division.^[4]

West Division
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Toledo	127 (15)
2	Western Michigan	112 (5)
3	Northern Illinois	103 (3)
4	Eastern Michigan	83
5	Ball State	43
6	Central Michigan	36 (1)

MAC Championship Game
Rank	Team	Votes
1	Ohio	13
2	Toledo	7
3	Western Michigan	2
4	Northern Illinois	1
	Central Michigan	1

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	7:00 p.m.	Albany*	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN3	W 38–21	12,207
September 7	3:30 p.m.	at No. 17 Wisconsin*	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	BTN	L 0–61	74,437
September 14	3:00 p.m.	Akron	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN+	W 45–24	18,641
September 21	4:00 p.m.	at Miami (FL)*	Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, FL	ACCN	L 12–17	49,997
September 28	12:00 p.m.	at Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI (rivalry)	CBSSN	L 15–31	20,476
October 5	3:30 p.m.	Eastern Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI (rivalry)	ESPN+	W 42–16	15,235
October 12	3:00 p.m.	New Mexico State*	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN3	W 42–28	15,764
October 19	3:00 p.m.	at Bowling Green	Doyt Perry Stadium Bowling Green, OH	ESPN3	W 38–20	15,000
October 26	3:30 p.m.	at Buffalo	University at Buffalo Stadium Amherst, NY	ESPN+	L 20–43	14,850
November 2	12:00 p.m.	Northern Illinois	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	CBSSN	W 48–10	10,438
November 16	3:30 p.m.	at Ball State	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN	CBSSN	W 45–44	7,249
November 29	12:00 p.m.	Toledo	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPNU	W 49–7	9,101
December 7	12:00 p.m.	vs. Miami (OH)	Ford Field Detroit, MI (MAC Championship Game)	ESPN2	L 21–26	22,427
December 21	2:00 p.m.	vs. San Diego State*	Dreamstyle Stadium Albuquerque, NM (New Mexico Bowl)	ESPN	L 11–48	18,823
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 5 released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

^[5]

Game summaries

Albany

See also: 2019 Albany Great Danes football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	0	7	7	7	21
Chippewas	7	17	7	7	38

Statistics	ALB	CMU
First downs	13	31
Total yards	244	529
Rushing yards	45	244
Passing yards	199	285
Turnovers	1	3
Time of possession	23:22	36:38

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Albany	Passing	Jeff Undercuffer Jr.	15/28, 199 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Karl Mofor	16 rushes, 45 yards
	Receiving	Juwan Green	5 receptions, 94 yards, 2 TD
Central Michigan	Passing	Quinten Dormady	27/37, 285 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Jonathan Ward	22 rushes, 158 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Ty Scott	5 receptions, 93 yards, 2 TD

At No. 17 Wisconsin

See also: 2019 Wisconsin Badgers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	0	0	0	0	0
No. 17 Badgers	16	28	10	7	61

Statistics	CMU	WIS
First downs	3	37
Total yards	58	599
Rushing yards	15	199
Passing yards	43	400
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	20:33	39:27

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Central Michigan	Passing	Quinten Dormady	5/12, 36 yards, INT
	Rushing	Tommy Lazzaro	4 rushes, 11 yards
	Receiving	Kalil Pimpleton	3 receptions, 18 yards
Wisconsin	Passing	Jack Coan	26/33, 363 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Jonathan Taylor	19 rushes, 102 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving	Quintez Cephus	6 receptions, 130 yards, 2 TD

Akron

See also: 2019 Akron Zips football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Zips	0	10	0	14	24
Chippewas	3	24	3	15	45

Statistics	AKR	CMU
First downs	16	21
Total yards	326	533
Rushing yards	42	189
Passing yards	284	344
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	31:10	28:50

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Akron Zips	Passing	Kato Nelson	25/41, 243 yards, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	Kato Nelson	16 rushes, 28 yards
	Receiving	Nate Stewart	5 receptions, 78 yards, TD
Central Michigan	Passing	David Moore	20/31, 316 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Kobe Lewis	27 rushes, 146 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving	Kalil Pimpleton	7 receptions, 116 yards, TD

At Miami (FL)

See also: 2019 Miami Hurricanes football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	0	2	3	7	12
Hurricanes	7	0	7	3	17

Statistics	CMU	MIA
First downs	21	16
Total yards	248	301
Rushing yards	31	51
Passing yards	217	250
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	32:46	27:14

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Central Michigan	Passing	David Moore	23/50, 217 yards, INT
	Rushing	Kobe Lewis	15 rushes, 45 yards
	Receiving	Kalil Pimpleton	11 receptions, 73 yards
Miami (FL)	Passing	Jarren Williams	17/24, 250 yards, TD
	Rushing	DeeJay Dallas	14 rushes, 34 yards, TD
	Receiving	Brevin Jordan	3 receptions, 70 yards

At Western Michigan

See also: 2019 Western Michigan Broncos football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	0	0	0	15	15
Broncos	10	7	7	7	31

Statistics	CMU	WMU
First downs	31	22
Total yards	437	432
Rushing yards	107	188
Passing yards	330	244
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	28:30	31:30

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Central Michigan	Passing	David Moore	33/48, 330 yards, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Jonathan Ward	19 rushes, 107 yards
	Receiving	Ty Scott	6 receptions, 81 yards
Western Michigan	Passing	Jon Wassink	18/29, 244 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	LeVante Bellamy	25 rushes, 105 yards, TD
	Receiving	Skyy Moore	4 receptions, 67 yards

Eastern Michigan

See also: 2019 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	3	0	7	6	16
Chippewas	7	14	14	7	42

Statistics	EMU	CMU
First downs	22	24
Total yards	285	587
Rushing yards	63	308
Passing yards	222	279
Turnovers	1	2
Time of possession	27:48	32:12

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Eastern Michigan	Passing	Mike Glass III	20/34, 207 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Willie Parker	8 rushes, 29 yards
	Receiving	Mathew Sexton	5 receptions, 56 yards, TD
Central Michigan	Passing	David Moore	15/24, 279 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Jonathan Ward	12 rushes, 132 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Kalil Pimpleton	5 receptions, 112 yards, TD

New Mexico State

See also: 2019 New Mexico State Aggies football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	7	14	0	7	28
Chippewas	14	14	6	8	42

Statistics	NMSU	CMU
First downs	18	22
Total yards	384	486
Rushing yards	121	352
Passing yards	263	134
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	24:59	35:01

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
New Mexico State	Passing	Josh Adkins	24/40, 263 yards, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	Jason Huntley	10 rushes, 67 yards, TD
	Receiving	Tony Nicholson	7 receptions, 86 yards
Central Michigan	Passing	Quinten Dormady	14/24, 134 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Kobe Lewis	23 rushes, 161 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Kalil Pimpleton	6 receptions, 59 yards, TD

At Bowling Green

See also: 2019 Bowling Green Falcons football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	14	7	10	38
Falcons	7	0	7	6	20

Statistics	CMU	BGSU
First downs	26	19
Total yards	553	344
Rushing yards	254	178
Passing yards	299	166
Turnovers	2	3
Time of possession	35:25	24:35

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Central Michigan	Passing	Quinten Dormady	22/36, 295 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Jonathan Ward	21 rushes, 130 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving	JaCorey Sullivan	8 receptions, 126 yards, TD
Bowling Green	Passing	Grant Loy	13/29, 166 yards, TD, 3 INT
	Rushing	Grant Loy	18 rushes, 67 yards, TD
	Receiving	Quintin Morris	4 receptions, 69 yards

At Buffalo

See also: 2019 Buffalo Bulls football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	7	0	6	20
Bulls	3	27	3	10	43

Statistics	CMU	BUFF
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Central Michigan	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Buffalo	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Northern Illinois

See also: 2019 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	3	7	0	0	10
Chippewas	21	17	0	10	48

Statistics	NIU	CMU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Central Michigan	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

At Ball State

See also: 2019 Ball State Cardinals football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	3	8	20	14	45
Cardinals	3	24	14	3	44

Statistics	CMU	BALL
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Central Michigan	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Ball State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Toledo

See also: 2019 Toledo Rockets football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rockets	0	7	0	0	7
Chippewas	14	21	7	7	49

Statistics	TOL	CMU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Toledo	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Central Michigan	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Vs. Miami (OH)–MAC Championship Game

See also: 2019 Miami RedHawks football team and 2019 MAC Championship Game

	1	2	3	4	Total
RedHawks	7	3	7	9	26
Chippewas	0	14	0	7	21

Statistics	MOH	CMU
First downs	15	20
Total yards	272	355
Rushing yards	76	99
Passing yards	196	256
Turnovers	0	1
Time of possession	30:05	29:55

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Miami (OH)	Passing	Brett Gabbert	14/27, 196 yards, TD
	Rushing	Jaylon Bester	20 rushes, 66 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jack Sorenson	8 receptions, 123 yards, TD
Central Michigan	Passing	Quinten Dormady	26/41, 232 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Tommy Lazzaro	6 rushes, 48 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	JaCorey Sullivan	7 receptions, 64 yards

Vs. San Diego State (New Mexico Bowl)

See also: 2019 San Diego State Aztecs football team and 2019 New Mexico Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	3	0	8	0	11
Aztecs	7	13	21	7	48

Statistics	CMU	SDSU
First downs	7	24
Total yards	277	510
Rushing yards	112	223
Passing yards	165	287
Turnovers	5	1
Time of possession	21:41	38:19

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Central Michigan	Passing	Quinten Dormady	11/26, 164 yards, 3 INT
	Rushing	Kobe Lewis	5 rushes, 97 yards, TD
	Receiving	Kalil Pimpleton	3 receptions, 71 yards
San Diego State	Passing	Ryan Agnew	18/31, 287 yards, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	Jordan Byrd	17 rushes, 139 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jesse Matthews	3 receptions, 111 yards, 2 TD

References

1. Thomas, Chris (November 23, 2018). "Central Michigan fires John Bonamego after historically bad 1-11 season". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
2. Baumgardner, Nick (December 2, 2018). "Michigan football assistant Jim McElwain hired to coach Central Michigan". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
3. "McElwain Named 29th CMU Head Football Coach". Central Michigan University Athletics. December 2, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
4. "MAC Announces 2019 Preseason Football Poll". getsomemaction.com. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
5. 2019 Central Michigan Chippewas football schedule 'FBSchedules.com'. Accessed March 8, 2019.