NCAA Football FanHouse

Bowl Season '08: Central Michigan Drops Virtual Home Game

Brian Grummell — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 05:00:00 EST

Filed under: Central Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Sun Belt, MAC, Bowl Games

You have to hand it to Howard Schnellenberger -- he may be really, really old but he also is really, really good at winning bowl games. We're talking historic good. In defeating Central Michigan to capture the bailout-free Motor City Bowl, the wannabe Captain Kangaroo pushed his bowl record to 6-0.

No, it didn't come with a national championship as happened with Miami in the 1983 Orange Bowl, a 31-30 classic over Nebraska. However, it did come with the sweet feeling of restoration as this moustachioed legend guided awkward sounding football novice Florida Atlantic to its second bowl victory in four years of D-I play. For reference, Notre Dame's second most recent bowl victory prior to this week's triumph over Hawaii was in January 1993.

Last night's victory came about with a little good luck and some questionable decisions by CMU.

An evenly played game turned FAU's way early in the third quarter. After taking the ball at their two yard line, FAU worked its way towards midfield. After a personal foul penalty negated what would have been a stalled third down play and likely punt, FAU quarterback Rusty Smith scrambled and found a streaking Chris Bonner deep downfield. Bonner was not the intended target, rather a sliding teammate but he was in the right place and the right time and the teammate helped create traffic that helped free Bonner for the final few yards of the score.

Central Michigan never really recovered after the shocking 98-yard drive. They did inch back at 17-13, but FAU then put together a coldly efficient drive early in the fourth quarter capped by an 18-yard pass to receiver Cortez Gent to go ahead 24-13.

From there they let CMU create their own undoing. On a too-long five-minute drive, CMU found itself inside the red zone and facing fourth down and about seven minutes to go. Ditching a gimme field goal that would have made it a one-score game at 24-16, the Chippewas failed to make a first down and wasted a great deal of time. Their defense managed to make a stop and a bad FAU punt gave them the ball inside midfield. This time they found the end zone and converted the two point try to get to within three at 24-21 with 3:09 left.

FAU woke up after that, recovering the onside kick and converting several first downs with their run game to kill the clock and game deep in CMU territory, never requiring a field goal attempt or punt. It was an impressive showing of late-game confidence and dominance against a desperate foe.

For his success, Schnellenberger was doused with a water bath and was briefly carried by his players.

Bowl Season '08: Central Michigan Drops Virtual Home Game originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 05:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Turkey Legs to Go: Motor City Bowl Travel Guide, Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan

Will Brinson — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 07:30:00 EST

Filed under: Central Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Coaching, Fans, Bowl Games

Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the Motor City Bowl (Detroit, Michigan), which pits Florida Atlantic against Central Michigan.

Overview / Matchup: The idea of "Florida Atlantic versus Central Michigan" isn't sexy. It's just not. But you should be more enthralled for this tilt than you actually think. Dan LeFevour (who I feel like has been a Chippewa for nine years now) averaged over 300 passing yards per game and Rusty Smith is no slouch either. In other words, if you like an obscene amount of points being scored by two teams that you've never really heard of, Detroit is a pretty good place to be on the day after Christmas.

Oh yeah, there's an additional bonus too: it'll be the best football you'll see in Detroit all year! Zing!

Hotels: For luxury accommodation and top-notch service, the MGM Grand Detroit is the best hotel in town. The Omni Detroit River Place is in a historic landmark building and offers river views. The Leland is your bargain bet and one of the only city center hotels with rooms under 100 a night. All of our suggested hotels are within one or two miles of the stadium.

Restaurants: Rattlesnake Club is the best restaurant in Detroit and single-handedly put the motor-city on the culinary map... try the pan-roasted sterling salmon. Open for more than 60 years, Carl's Chop House is the king of Detroit steakhouses. Jacoby's since 1904 offers quality German food at reasonable prices... they also have 12 beers on tap and more than 70 bottled beers from around the world.

Nightlife: If Jacoby's doesn't cut it for you as bar, try Town Pump Tavern. The Tavern has a library-like 1920s with gleaming wood and leather chairs. It probably draws the most eclectic crowd of any downtown bar and features live music (usually jazz or blues) on the weekends. Hockeytown Cafe is a favorite for Red Wings fanatics but sports fans of all kinds will feel at home here. The bar has a lively atmosphere, rooftop seating and occasional dance parties.

All travel related information provided courtesy of Professional Travel Guide.

Turkey Legs to Go: Motor City Bowl Travel Guide, Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 09 Dec 2008 07:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Knowshown Moreno Gets His McGuffie On

Brian Cook — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:23:00 EST

Filed under: Central Michigan, Georgia, Video

Most of the nation missed Georgia's blowout of Central Michigan, as per usual when the nation's #1(-ish) team is throttling a MAC foe. But if you're like me you've seen the remarkable picture of Knowshown Moreno auditioning for the 110 meter hurdles at the London Olympics and thought "how did I not see a replay of that?"

Replay of that:

You may now resume normal activities.

Knowshown Moreno Gets His McGuffie On originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:23:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Coach Mark Richt Uses Brand New Blog to Inspire Bulldogs' Throttling of Central Michigan

Will Brinson — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:15:00 EST

Filed under: Central Michigan, Georgia, SEC

Matthew Stafford was decently efficient (18 of 28 for 213 and two touches) and Knowshon Moreno was an absolute monster (18 carries for 168 yards and three trips to the end zone) but I think we all know that it was Mark Richt's message on his brand spankin' new blog (MarkRicht.com) that inspired Georgia to a 56-17 slaughterhouse of Central Michigan on Saturday.

I want to see if our atmosphere can exceed anything Central Michigan has ever experienced. I am challenging the fans to get as loud as they can when Central Michigan is on offense and they're trying to communicate signals, plays and audible. You can make a difference! I want Central Michigan to see what SEC Football is all about.

Coach Mark Richt

Truly inspiring. And kind of impressive that Richt has a blog. Too bad he doesn't even know what one is.

Georgia coach Mark Richt plans to blog Sunday. Sometime between now and then he'll have to figure out exactly what that is.

"I don't even know what a blog is, to be honest with you," Richt said with a laugh Thursday afternoon.

Yet ... he ... somehow ... already ..... blogged? Is it meta? Or does Richt just not care? I'm guessing the latter. Also, it would be nice to hear him blog about red-shirting Moreno, an act he admitted was a pretty big mistake after tonight's game. I'm not guessing he mentions that though.

(Double fist head pound to Game On for finding said site.)

Coach Mark Richt Uses Brand New Blog to Inspire Bulldogs' Throttling of Central Michigan originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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