Tag it:

?

It was a rough night for the CMU offense / Photo: Paul Nelson

Ford Field was CMU’s home away from home the last three seasons, where it won two Mid-American Conference championships and the 2006 Motor City Bowl. Friday, it had the advantage of 41,399 fans, most of which donned maroon and gold.

But in the end, it was too much of FAU quarterback Rusty Smith, who threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

“I thought we played defensively, well enough to win,” said CMU coach Butch Jones. “Offensively, I was really disappointed with our performance.”

CMU came within three, 24-21, with a touchdown and two-point conversion with 3:09 remaining. But after a failed onside kick, CMU was unable to stop Charles Pierre and FAU’s running game, and the Owls were able to run out the clock.

“We didn’t stop the run,” said CMU junior defensive end Sam Williams. “You can’t win if you can’t stop the run. That’s very uncharacteristic of our defense.”

In a game that promised plenty of offense, both teams’ defense stepped up instead. The game was tied 10-10 at halftime.

“What bothers me is that we didn’t even execute the base stuff on offense,” Jones said. “That’s the disappointing thing — we felt like we left a lot of opportunities out there.”

Perhaps the most disheartening play for Central came at the end of the third quarter, with CMU down 17-13.

Sophomore Antonio Brown took a pitch on an end-around play and cut up field for a 72-yard touchdown. But CMU sophomore Kito Poblah grabbed an FAU defender’s facemask at the 20-yard line. Coupled with an FAU offsides penalty, the fouls offset and the down was replayed.

“We didn’t have any quick-strike throws or touchdowns,” Jones said. “I think that hurt us and took some momentum away as well.”

CMU ran the play again, but lost six yards as the quarter came to a close. Two plays later, FAU had the ball and finished a 70-yard drive with Smith’s 18-yard pass to Cortez Gent to make the score 24-13.

The Chippewas got the ball back and drove 65 yards to the FAU 6-yard line, where they went for a touchdown on fourth down but junior quarterback Dan LeFevour’s pass to Brown was broken up by FAU linebacker Frantz Joseph.

“I knew if we kicked a field goal, it would get (the deficit) to eight,” Jones said. “But I liked where our field position was and I knew if we stopped them, we’d get good field position.”

FAU and MVP Rusty Smith (11) celebrate win with championship trophy. Photo: Paul Nelson

CMU stopped the Owls on three plays on FAU’s next possession and took over on the FAU 34-yard line. The Chippewas narrowed the deficit when LeFevour connected with Brown for 15 yards and to Poblah for the two-point conversion.

Earlier in the contest, Poblah made the play of the game on a 5-yard touchdown catch, reaching out with his left hand and snagging the pass as he fell out of bounds in the left corner of the end zone. His reception tied the game at seven in the first quarter,

LeFevour finished 28-of-40 for 253 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The interception came one play after Smith fumbled on the Owls’ second possession.

“It’s very disappointing for us,” LeFevour said. “The sad part is we don’t have another opportunity this year. But hopefully it makes us hungry for next year, and we’ll take care of the problems that we made today.”

Jones said the pain of the loss would linger as the offseason begins.

CMU WR Kito Poblah Photo: Paul Nelson

“We’re not going to forget this,” he said. “This is something that we’ll carry on through winter conditioning and spring football. I’m just extremely upset for our seniors. Our seniors have meant so much to this football family. We wanted to send them out with a victory.”

For the Owls, and legendary coach Howard Schnellenberger, the win was monumental. Only in their eighth season as a football program, they became the third Sun Belt Conference team to defeat a MAC opponent this season.

“Certainly this is going to go down as the most meaningful game that we’ve had in our history at Florida Atlantic University,” said FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger. “Not so much that we held on to win this game against a very powerful and talented football team, but because of the things that led up to it and the things that will follow.”