 CENTRAL MICHIGAN 23, AKRON 22
The Zips scored twice in the game's final three minutes to draw within a point, including a 9-yard touchdown pass on fourth down on the final play of regulation. Akron went for two points and the win with no time on the clock, but CMU's John Carr broke up the pass to preserve the victory.
"We were desperate to win a game," said CMU head coach Dan Enos. "We've lost some close ones just like that over the last couple weeks, so we were due to win one like that. You have to give Akron a bunch of credit. Those guys mounted a great comeback. We've got a lot of freshmen out there, and we made some freshmen mistakes down the stretch, but I'm just proud of our team to be able to hang on and win."
After trading punts on the game's first three possessions, the Chippewas (3-6 overall, 2-3 MAC) strung together an eight-play drive that covered 77 yards midway through the first quarter. Ryan Radcliff connected with Courtney Williams on a 19-yard reception to get deep into Zips territory, and the pair hooked up again on third-and-9 for a 27-yard touchdown across the middle that put CMU up 7-0 at the 6:21 mark.
The Chippewas added to their lead with 8:01 left in the second quarter on a 39-yard field goal by David Harman that capped a 10-play, 35-yard drive.
Akron (1-7 overall, 0-4 MAC) threatened late in the half with their only first-half drive in which they didn't punt. After punting on their first six possessions, a conversion on fourth-and-2 at the 34-yard line kept the Zips' drive alive but Carr wrestled the ball away from receiver Keith Sconiers in the end zone on the very next play for his first interception of the season.
Regaining possession with just 33 seconds left in the half, Garland broke several tackles for a 58-yard dash before he was brought down at the Zips 22-yard line with 20 seconds to play. That gave the Chippewas one more opportunity to score. On his first trip of the game into the red zone, Radcliff was able to control the clock with three consecutive short completions to the sidelines. Garland was then stopped at the 1-yard line with four seconds remaining, forcing CMU to take an 18-yd field goal and giving them a 13-0 halftime lead.
The 58-yard run accounted for all but 20 yards of the first-half ground game for the Chippewas and gave Garland a career-high 71 yards before halftime. The defense, meanwhile, limited Akron to 26 rushing yards and 51 passing yards for a first-half total of 77 after accumulating just 34 total yards in the first quarter.
The Chippewas had the first possession of the second half, and came out of the blocks with first-down passes to Titus Davis and Cody Wilson to get across midfield. Garland busted through the line for a 26-yard touchdown run to cap a 5-play, 68-yard drive that took just 2:21 to put CMU up 20-0 and give the freshman 103 yards on just eight carries. Garland entered the game with 146 yards on 41 carries this season.
With its best field position of the game, Akron put together a four-play, 46-yard drive, highlighted by a 38-yard touchdown run by Jawon Chisholm to get on the scoreboard with 4:34 left in the third. The run doubled the team's rushing yards up to that point, but it was a sign of things to come as Akron got its ground game going. The Zips followed with their longest drive of the season, 91 yards, resulting in a 23-yard field goal that cut the deficit to 11, 20-9, less than a minute into the fourth quarter, after Clayton Moore missed a wide open Rhyne Landrach in the end zone.
Harman's career-best third field goal of the game, a 32-yarder, stretched the Chippewas' lead to 23-9 with 8:57 remaining, but CMU's offense went three-and-out on its next two possessions while Akron's offense caught fire.
A 10-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 21-yard touchdown pass to Marquelo Suel, cut CMU's lead in half with 2:57 remaining. After the Chippewas went three-and-out for the second straight possession, Akron's comeback was nearly completed when Moore hit Marquelo Suel in the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown catch as time expired. Carr's tight coverage on the two-point play, however, forced an incompletion and sealed the win for CMU.
Garland finished with 141 yards on 19 carries for CMU. Radcliff completed 17-of-31 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown without an interception. Armond Staten and Shamari Benton led the CMU defense with 10 and nine tackles, respectively.
The Chippewas will return to Northeast Ohio on a short week, visiting Kent State next Friday night. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
Courtesy of Central Michigan Athletics
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